Radhika in Antaheen

Editor

Arghyakamal Mitra on how he snipped Antaheen to involve the audience with the characters and situations...

Antaheen is a racy urban film. How did you go about editing the footage?

I decide everything after seeing the rushes. While watching the rushes, I observe the characters and the situations, and how they change and evolve. Then I generate a pace which suits the film best. In Antaheen, I took great care to allow the audience to associate themselves with the situations and the characters. I couldn’t let them be laid-back. I would say Antaheen has a very progressive pace. There is a sense of evolution. The characters are constantly on the move and so the audience have to move too. I had to keep in mind that the audience should be asking questions in every scene and getting the answers in the next.

What was Aniruddha’s brief to you?

He told me that the approach should be very smart but we shouldn’t forget that it’s basically a Bangla film. We must maintain the Bangaliana, at the same time it should be very crisp. He told me that the film had to have a certain nostalgia but not be boring.

Does an ensemble cast like Antaheen’s pose a greater challenge for the editor?

I don’t think so. See, I have edited Herbert and Chaturanga, which had ensemble casts. Besides, I have worked with Rinadi (Aparna Sen) in Paromitar Ekdin and Titli, and with Sharmiladi (Tagore) in Shubha Mahurat. Antaheen is different because here Sharmiladi and Rinadi are working together for the first time. Plus, there are complete newcomers like Radhika Apte and Kalyan Ray, alongside a seasoned actor like Rahul Bose. It’s a combination of different kinds of actors. Now whether they deserve equal space depends on the scriptwriter. I had to keep in mind that the characters should flow smoothly from one scene to the other.

How did you do that?

I tried my best to show the actors as characters and not as stars. On the edit table the rushes became my script and there was no character blocking.

What is character blocking?

While writing the script, the writer arranges the scenes in a particular way. But on the edit table, you need not stick to that. A scene may look perfect when written but may change when the director shoots it. So the script may have scene B after scene A but I have brought a part of scene B before scene A.

Production designer

Malay Bhattacharya on how he has used the colour palette to enhance the contrast between the characters...

What is the job of a production designer?

A production designer works in association with the director and the cinematographer. A director imagines his film, we give it a visual shape. We determine the look of the film — the colour, the props, the nature of shots and the ambience.

What kind of a colour palette did you choose for Antaheen?

For Radhika and Rahul, who are the youngest in the film, we’ve used green. Green suggests a positive vibe and youthfulness. So, most of the time we have a green background for them. For Kalyan Ray, we have used black and white. His room and his space are predominantly in monochrome to depict his loneliness. We’ve used a lot of vibrant colours for Aparna Sen. For Sharmila Tagore too, we’ve used vibrant colours to depict a sophisticated, cultured Bengali woman.

Do locations play an important role in Antaheen?

Yes, understanding the background of the characters was very important in designing their look in the film. For instance, Kalyan Ray lives in a 14th-floor apartment from where you can see the city. That’s because he is cerebrally elevated and mature. We have kept Aparna as a contrast to Kalyan. She lives on the ground floor.... There are about 20-25 locations in the film and we have worked very hard on them. It was challenging as most of the film was shot in real locations.

When did you get involved with the script?

Since the time it was written. It’s important because there are five main characters in the film and we had to maintain a synthesis. I was involved with the costumes, make-up and how the film would progress.

Make-up artiste

Aniruddha Chakladar on styling the three main women of Antaheen...

What look did you choose for newcomer Radhika Apte?

Tony (Aniruddha) didn’t want a lot of make-up on Radhika as she plays a journalist. I have modelled Radhika’s look on my journalist friends. I have given her a natural look and maintained her skin tone. She is slightly dusky, so I gave her a glow and since her eyes are her main assets, I just lined them with kohl. She wears peach lipsticks. Actually Brinda (Radhika) is a person who’s very confident and doesn’t spend too much time in front of the mirror.

What is Sharmila Tagore’s look?

In Antaheen, she is a spinster but not a typical middle-aged woman. She is very modern. So, I gave her a nice natural low bun and used a lot of beige and brown in her make-up. Tony’s wife Indrani gave her some of her own jewellery. I had given her my grandmother’s pearl ring. The jewellery needed to look like something she has inherited as heirloom.

What about Aparna Sen?

Rinadi’s (Aparna) character is a lot like what she is in real life. Her personal style matched with the role. Her look had to be a contrast to Sharmila’s. So I have used very vibrant colours on her, like nice wine lipsticks and bold eye make-up while retaining her natural skin tone.

Of the three women, whose make-up was the most challenging?

Radhika’s. We are presenting a fresh face and so I took a lot of care. Radhika has chubby cheeks, so I had to pay attention to that. We used to keep an eye on her diet. She would have lemon tart for lunch everyday!