Badshah Moitra and Rituparna Sengupta in Byatikrami

Shunyo Theke Shuru and Kichhu Sanglap Kichhu Prolaap had earned Ashoke Viswanathan the reputation of an experimental film-maker who catered to a very niche audience. But Byatikrami (The Exception), set to release at Nandan on Wednesday, should show the man treading a different track.

Starring Rituparna Sengupta, Badshah Moitra, Nandini Ghosal, Bhaskar Banerjee, N. Viswanathan and the director himself, Byatikrami is the story of an estranged woman?s obsession with her elder sister?s husband. Anuradha (played by Rituparna) develops schizophrenic disorders after she loses her baby in the post-natal period. Her husband leaves her, and Anuradha?s affections are diverted towards her sister?s husband (Badshah).

?The elder sister (Nandini) drives him out suspecting an illicit relationship. And as Anuradha starts regaining normalcy, her sister?s husband starts sinking into an abyss. So all three characters are estranged... Society has deemed that all relations exist in given parameters. I am trying to see if physical relationships outside marriage can be an option or if sex can act as therapy,? says Viswanathan.

?Anuradha seems to be mentally unstable. Her point of view, which is also the film-maker?s, is different from others. I am trying to analyse her case from the psychiatric point of view. I am also trying to explore the archaeology of madness,? says Viswanathan, who was motivated by Michel Foucault?s Madness and Civilisation, and will be seen as the psychiatrist in the film.

Unlike his other works, Byatikrami has a well-rounded plot and follows a straightforward linear narrative. So, has it been a conscious decision in order to broaden his viewership?

?Well, maybe? I chose the narrative technique after reading the story and also because I wanted to work in melodrama. The characters are all set in a middle class north Calcutta family. I have never worked with this milieu, the middle-class values,? says Viswanathan. The story and screenplay have been written by Alok Mukhopadhyay.

?There is a lot of restraint in my portrayal of the schizophrenic character. The abnormalities in her come out sporadically. I think Anuradha suffers from an identity crisis which is complicated by the fact that she can?t relate to her husband,? feels Rituparna.

?Rituparna has underplayed the character, the madness comes in through her dialogues? But there are three or four short dances which might be a little disturbing,? adds Viswanathan, having also finished shooting his fifth film, Andhakarer Swapno. His third film Swapner Sandhane has not been released yet.

Byatikrami has been shot on location at several spots across the city, from Sealdah station to the streets in Tollygunge and Dalhousie and the Maidan.