First look: Anjan Dutt as Dutta senior and Ronodeep Basu as Dutta junior. Pictures by Agniva Chakraborty

Dutta vs Dutta sounds like it is semi-autobiographical...

It is full-fledged autobiographical. It’s a growing-up film, the coming-of-age story of a boy based on my experiences. I have always wanted to do a coming-of-age film.... See, there comes a time in every filmmaker’s life when you want to tell your own story — the most precious story. Several filmmakers across the world have done that. They start reflecting on their personal experiences. It’s more exciting than making up a story.

Dutta vs Dutta roughly tracks the journey of this boy, Rono, over a few years in the ’70s. It’s set in the mid-Seventies actually, during the Emergency. That way it’s a period film. But the story is told by an elderly voiceover.... When we say ’70s, we usually think of the student movement, Naxalbari... and a little bit of the hippies. But it’s more than that. It’s the time when the Bengali bourgeoisie was at its peak. Park Street was happening.... The film is about what the contributing factors were in my growing up.

What about the ‘vs’ between the two Duttas?

Basically, it’s a father-son story. Rono is a 17-year-old boy from a bonedi family in Calcutta. His father is a lawyer but Rono wants to be an actor. So he is breaking away from his father’s legacy. This boy studies in Darjeeling but he has to come back and join a school in Calcutta because his father’s practice is crumbling and he can’t afford his education in Darjeeling. But this boy can’t adjust to Calcutta, he can’t adjust to his family... and from there to how the city becomes his own city to the point that he starts writing songs on Calcutta is the transformation that the film is all about.

There are a lot of interesting characters in the film. There’s this grandfather who had long left the house to become a brahmachari who resurfaces one day out of nowhere and starts a music school in the house. He plays the violin and that influences the boy, musically. Rono’s elder sister runs off with a Naxalite and then settles down in the US with her husband. Rono’s jyathamoshai (elder uncle) is not as educated as his father. Then there’s a mad uncle in the house who keeps saying that he wants to get married. Rono’s mother is a brilliant pianist but her talent is never recognised; she is a neurotic now. And there’s the father, who is very proud of his bearings. The family’s fortunes may be on the down slide, but the thaat-baat is all there. He has an affair with Rono’s mashi (aunt), who is the modern woman who actually recognises Rono’s talent.... Rono is also influenced by a bohemian character, like Goutam Chattopadhyay (of Mohiner Ghoraguli) and several other people of that time, called Tony Mukherjee, a very interesting man... When Rono is about 21, he tries to get into advertising, wants to be an actor, meets Mrinal Sen and then becomes a director. At one point, he wants to walk out of his father’s house....

So, these are characters that I have seen and grown up with. In every Ghosh, Bose or Mukherjee bari of the ’70s, there was one daughter who had run off, one mad uncle, one grandmother who was refusing to die, one feminist aunt who smoked, partied and watched Supriya Chowdhury’s films.... It’s the same story in every bonedi family of that time. They all had their little secrets. The ’70s was the last stage of the babu culture... shaaj goj kore Park Street jaoa and all that... So in a way, it would be telling the stories of many families and I think people will be able to relate. I think I have grown old enough to be objective about it; this film is not an emotional rambling. I can do justice to this subject now. I can let the skeletons out of the cupboard.

You’re going to reveal very private things about yourself in the process. Doesn’t that bother you?

No, not really. See these skeletons are harmless. And I feel it’s important to share. I think there’s a lot of Aparna Sen in Iti Mrinalini. There’s definitely going to be a lot of Rituparno (Ghosh) in Chitrangada. Both of them have read my script and encouraged me go ahead with the film. You need to be old enough to do that. I am looking back with a lot of wit, fun and humour. It’s a celebration of that period. It’s not morbid. And as I said I am tired of making up stories.

But you’ve shared autobiographical elements in some of your other films...

Yes I did, a little. Like in Ranjana Ami Ar Aashbona and Chowrasta.... I have never done films outside my milieu, except for Bomkesh Bakshi but there I was following someone else. I am 58 now... Dutta vs Dutta is like my swansong, not that I am saying goodbye to films... Rinadi (Aparna Sen) had once told me something that I will never forget. Which is that cinema has to come from a deeply felt experience, otherwise it doesn’t ring true. And I totally agree with her. I have done films on what I have experienced in life. This I don’t get in too many Bengali films, except for Aparna Sen. I find her in all her films. And also in the later films of Rituparno (Ghosh), I find him there... Films like Fellini’s Amarcord, Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander and Truffaut’s Day for Night pull me now... films where directors are talking about themselves....

Did you cast Ronodeep Basu as Rono after seeing him in Egaro?

No, no... Ronodeep had acted in a telefilm of mine called Amar Baba when he was a kid. His grandfather Soumitra Chatterjee was there in it too. He is a guitar player now, a student of Amyt Datta, and that’s how I got to know him better. Also, Neel (Dutt, son) told me about him. And then I saw him in Egaro. Even Ronodeep — though he has this legacy of cinema from his grandfather — is more keen on doing music than cinema.... It was a toss-up between him and Gourab (Chatterjee). I went for Ronodeep because he is younger, he is fresh. He would be introduced in the film, like it happened with Parno (Mittra) in Ranjana. He has a certain westernisation, doesn’t speak Bangla too well... and he gradually becomes a Bangali in the film.

Were you your first choice to play the father?

No, I had thought of other people, like Dhritiman (Chaterji). But I decided to do this role for two reasons. First, my producers (Orion Entertainment) wanted me to act in the film. Second, I thought it was better do it myself than explain the whole thing to someone else. After the first reading of the script, all my technicians felt that I should play the father. Because it is very important to understand that time, that period. The way people would talk and walk....

What’s next on this journey?

I will move towards other personal aspects, like Darjeeling. I will make another film on Darjeeling.

Who’s who in Dutta vs Dutta

Father: Anjan Dutt
Son (Rono): Ronodeep Basu
Grandfather: Dipankar De
Mother: Rita Koyral
Aunt and father’s mistress: Roopa Ganguly
Elder uncle: Biswajit Chakraborty
Mad uncle: Subhashish Mukherjee
Rono’s sister: Arpita
Rono’s girlfriend: Parno Mittra