Windows production house, which turned 15 this year, is backing a film by a director other than Shibu-Nandita. You also did not go for famous faces as the lead in Projapoti Biskut. Why?

Shiboprosad:  We believe content is king.  That has always been the case with our films. Anindya’s debut film Open Tee Bioscope revolved around kids.

Anindya: I had thought of casting known faces. Shibu and Nanditadi gave me the courage.  I could then go ahead and experiment. That I have a star or not is not important to me. What is important is that they should be able to act. Stereotypes are being broken. With Projapoti Biskut, I wanted to make a slice-of-life film set in real locations. Earlier we used to see aspiration in cinema. Now we like to see our reality. That’s what I feel is real India.  The story is set in Calcutta (Bhowanipore) and Howrah and we have shot in exactly those places, in real lived-in houses.  That adds value to films.

Shiboprosad: Aditya Sengupta and Ishaa Saha are perfect for this film. They fit the characters. 
 
How did you go about casting Aditya and Ishaa? Were they the first choice?

Shiboprosad: I must say this now...

Nandita: Shibu thought that he would (smiles)...

Shiboprosad: No no no, I didn’t think... what?! Anindyada only told me to act in the film, to do the role that Aditya has done now. And he wondered if Mimi (Chakraborty) would do the girl’s role.

Anindya: I had thought of Shibu and Mimi. That’s how the script was. Shibu is one of the finest actors we have.  But then maybe Shibu thought twice about acting in the film (laughs). After all I had only directed one film before this!

Nandita: Shibu was worried that people would think he has cast himself because he is the producer.

Shiboprosad: Jokes apart, after listening to the script we felt that a fresh pair, new faces would be more believable.

Anindya: I had seen Ishaa on television and she has a very interesting Bangali face.  She is the right age. I did a TVC with her, she was nice.  And I met Aditya at a coffee shop through a friend. His way of speaking, which is a bit hesitant, his bhadrota... he did not have the street-smart thing in his way of speaking. Then I called Shibu and told him that I had found Antar. Both have acted brilliantly.

Shiboprosad: And their debut film is a Puja release. That’s a huge thing.

Anindya: I don’t think they are aware of the enormity of the situation. That their film is releasing along with so many more.
 
A Shibu-Nandita film doesn’t  come out during Puja. So why this change for Projapoti Biskut?

Shiboprosad: We were never that privileged that our films would come out during Puja or Christmas. So I felt as producers,we should give that privilege  to Anindya.  We will give him what we did not get.  We went with what we got. For Posto, I got only one show at Nandan at 1.15pm. And we created history by making Posto housefull for 25 days at a stretch at Nandan. Even Praktan initially got one show at Nandan, and by merit we got double shows. No silver spoons  and red carpets for us.

When we decided Windows would produce films directed by other filmmakers, Anindyada was the first choice. We believe in narrative filmmaking. But we were also looking for an alternative film. That is Anindyada’s cinema. His films are very lyrical. I found Open Tee Bioscope like a Lorca poem. And now that he has joined us, the bouquet (from Windows) looks good. Projapoti Biskut has some beautiful moments. It’s like a poem too.
 
The film tells the story of a married couple having difficulty conceiving, and how they deal with the situation in a joint family. What was the germ of the idea?

Anindya: This is also a known story for me. Newly married couples lead such stressful lifestyles these days.  There is this constant social pressure. I felt as a subject this was quite haunting. Of course even I have something to say about the issue and that’ll come across in the film. This idea for a film was there with me for some time, before Open Tee Bioscope. I wanted to make it  my first film.

Nandita: We found the idea very contemporary and relatable. The issue is rampant. We immediately agreed to produce it.

Shiboprosad: Of course, one of my favourite things about the film is the dialogue... the wordplay.

Nandita: That’s Anindya’s forte.

Shiboprosad: The cast is like a football team, with a number of actors like Rajatava Dutta and Aparajita Adhya in specific roles.
 
And how did you arrive at the tone in which the story would be told?

Anindya: How I have presented the film... is the film. It’s very difficult to describe it in a few words. You can tell very serious things moja korey. I like this form, maybe it’s Chaplin-esque. The two characters in the middle are tense, are facing challenges,  but life around them is going on. And specks of joy are scattered around. This is a sweet, romantic film.  
 
Did the producers visit the sets?

Shiboprosad: We hardly went there. The second film is very important  for a director. We didn’t want to influence in any way. I’ll give you an example... my entire unit rejected Bela Sheshe (at the first preview, before the release). But we decided not to change a single frame. I want to hear it from the audience. The collective mass onnyo kotha boley. We don’t know them. Things change when you watch a film with the audience in a theatre, as opposed to watching it alone in your room.  Cinema is about collective viewing. 
 
Did you have suggestions at the script level?

Shiboprosad: No.

Anindya: Both my films have been produced by successful directors (Shoojit Sircar produced Open Tee Bioscope). Film is about the director’s vision. One has to trust the director when producing a film. Just that one has to figure out how passionate and honest the director is.
 
What happened with the song Ahare mon (sung, written and composed by Anupam Roy)? We heard you wanted to use it in a Shibu-Nandita film?

Shiboprosad: I don’t have anything to say on this.  This is a shorojontro between dada (Anindya) and bhai (Anupam) (laughs out loud).

Anindya: For Shibu it is now Ahare and for me it is mon (laughs). The song stays with Windows only.
 
So there was one creative difference?!

Shiboprosad: Anupam secretly played the song to Anindyada and they figured out how to go about it. The song was made for our film, and before we could figure it out Anindyada had it.  But the song appears brilliantly in the film.

Anindya: It is one of Anupam’s best.

Arindam Chatterjee
Picture: Pabitra Das