Kay Kay, Sonali and Parvin on the sets of Via Darjeeling

For his directorial debut, Arindam Nandy has chosen a murder mystery with some of the best actors in Bollywood. Arindam tells t2 how the Hindi Via Darjeeling emerged from the very Bengali Ashare Goppo.

How did Via Darjeeling happen?

I had written the script and was looking for a producer. I met Joy (Ganguly) and he liked my script. I had written it in Bengali and named it Ashare Goppo. But Joy wanted to make it in Hindi, so he renamed it Take 5 and then All Tales. Finally we zeroed in on Via Darjeeling. I had no problems making the film in Hindi as it meant a wider audience.

You are quite brave to start off with an ensemble film...

Well, the story of Via Darjeeling demanded it. While writing the story, I knew I was taking a risk with my first film but I had to have eight main characters.

What’s Via Darjeeling about?

It’s about eight people who are friends. Kay Kay Menon and Sonali Kulkarni are the couple. Kay Kay goes missing on their return trip from Darjeeling. Parvin Dabas is Sonali’s ex-lover. Vinay (Pathak) is a cop, while Rajat (Kapoor) and Simone (Singh) are the other couple. It’s in their house that the adda takes place where Sonali, Prroshant (Narayannan), Sandhya (Mridul) and Parvin meet.

Why didn’t you think of casting anyone from Tollywood?

There are a few actors from Tollywood — Arindam Sil has an important role; Rupam of Fossils too has a part. Actually Via Darjeeling is a Hindi film and we wanted it to release nationally. It’s not a Bengali film made in Hindi. I was very clear about that.

It’s essentially a Hindi film made in Hindi from Bengal. So I had to have actors from Bollywood. We are releasing the film with over 85 prints across India. We are also looking for an international release.

But there’s no big Bolly star...

That’s because the story is the star. I want my audience to focus on the film. Having a big star would have diverted their attention.

Wasn’t it difficult managing such a big group of quality actors?

No, not really. Everybody was very co-operative. It was great fun. When I narrated the script to each one of them, they were all very interested and got hooked to it. Plus, most of them are friends off screen too, like Sandhya, Rajat, Simone....

What did you do before turning director?

I studied Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University and then did a short film appreciation course from FTII Pune. Then I made a documentary film, Bhalo-basha’r Kobi Dampati, on Narendra Dev and Radharani Debi, Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s parents, for which I also interviewed Satyajit Ray. It was in 1988. After that I worked as the chief creative director of Response and &M in New York. But I was always very passionate about films.