Chaiti Ghosal and (below) Badshah in Subhadro Chowdhury?s Tricolour trilogy

Three values and an urban life under scrutiny. With Tricolour, screened recently at Gorky Sadan, Subhadro Chowdhury brings the values ingrained in our Tricolour under the camera for closer introspection.

In Saffron (Gerua), an accidental phone call leads to a relationship between a corporate executive and a sophisticated prostitute who eventually sacrifices her love. White (Shada) explores the lack of communication between a married couple, while Green (Sabuj) is a unusual love story that blossoms between a TV actress and an admirer, both of whom interact through letters but never come face to face.

?The trilogy is a re-look at Indian morals ? how the three values of sacrifice, truth and love exist in an urban contemporary milieu,? says Subhadro, a graduate from FTII, Pune.

His first feature film Prohor, starring Debasree Roy, had won the national award for best first film of a director in 2003. Tricolour stars Chaiti Ghosal in all three films and Badshah Moitra in White and Green.

Though the stories and scripts have been conceived by Subhadro, the director admits to have been inspired by ?a Saadat Hasan Manto story and Mrinal Sen?s Antareen? for Saffron.

Of the three, it?s Green that Subhadro feels has been the most challenging. ?This film didn?t have a tight plot and so scripting was very difficult. A man watches an interview of the actress being telecast on TV and falls for her. After that, they communicate through letters but never meet. So, it?s more like a collage of moments. It was also difficult for the actors to act out a love story as there was no physical proximity between them.?

Playing the aloof actress, Chaiti couldn?t agree more. ?Green was the most challenging for me too as I had no co-actors. There was only the camera with me. So emoting was very difficult.?

Also, unlike White and Saffron, Green doesn?t have any elements of television in it. ?White and Saffron have interior drama, close-ups and mid-shots. Green has landscape, outdoors ? it was partly shot in Darjeeling ? and wide shots,? says Subhadro.

For Chaiti, who switched from prostitute to wife to actress, the first role was one she had never essayed before. ?I didn?t get the help of the usual language and get-up that we associate with the role of a prostitute. I made my character look very graceful. I wanted to focus on her mind,? says she.

The three 72-minute films have been made on the digital video format and aired on Tara Muzik. ?But I want to explore other avenues of digital film screening,? says Subhadro, planning another digital trilogy ? on sex, money and violence.