The Social Thinker - Aparna sen

In her debut film she played a tomboyish village girl. In one scene, a squirrel was supposed to slip out of her hand. But at the crucial moment the fidgety squirrel just stayed put. "So I let it slip from my hand," she recalls. "And then, as if I suddenly realised it had gone, ran after it. I remember Bansi kaka (Bansi Chandragupta), the art director, said, "Oh hoy ni, hoy ni (Didn't work)." But Manik kaka (Satyajit Ray) said, "I rather liked it." Aparna Sen doesn't need instructions any more. The shy schoolgirl from Samapti now calls the shots. On a recent visit to the US, the actress-director spoke to Sandip Roy about a remarkable career, both before and behind the camera.

How did Satyajit Ray discover you? Satyajit and my father (Chidananda Das Gupta) knew each other since they were both 15, 16 years old. They were friends who discovered their love for cinema and music together. They also worked in an advertising company, which is now Clarion Advertising. When Satyajit was looking for someone to play Aparna in Apur Sansar he came to our house. It was my sister's birthday. I was in a skirt. He thought I was too young. Then Sharmila (Tagore) was found and cast. But I think he remembered that I was around and when he wanted to make Samapti (the last part of Teen Kanya) his wife Manku mashi remembered me. I was 13 or 14 -- in class 8 then.

Any incidents you remember about Samapti? Oh, there was this sari I had to wear and I didn't have a blouse and I thought it was too thin and I started crying. I told my mother and she told Manku mashi. And she said, "Don't worry. We'll just have to tell Manik." I said, "You can't tell Manikkaka." You know, at that age girls are painfully shy. And she said, "No, I have to tell him. He is the director." He was told. And he packed up shooting that day. Next day I got a thicker sari. I was mortified. But the incident was never referred to again. All he would keep telling me was, "Nobody is looking at you. No one is here," because I kept covering myself.

Was it hard to shake off your urban sophistication to play a village girl? Yes, but I don't think Manik kaka cared too much about that. There were a lot of things wrong with my pronunciation as was with Rinku's (Sharmila Tagore's). But he said "Oh ei shob English mediumey pora meyeder ektu erokom hoy (Oh these girls who study in English medium schools are a bit like that).

When you finally saw Samapti on screen, what did you think? Now I see the innocence and fun of it. Then I hated myself. I thought I looked awful and had acted badly. Our idea of prettiness at that time was very soppy. When the photographer Brian Brake came to shoot the Indian monsoon, he took me up to the roof of this zamindar's house where we were staying and had me sprayed with a hose pipe, or a watering can, and got these droplets of water on my face. That photograph came out everywhere -- Life and Paris Match ! I was so embarrassed. I thought I looked awful. I was just a vain little thing at that time. Brian inscribed it as the Monsoon Girl. (I think he forgot my name). And ever since then I have thought of that picture as the monsoon girl. And there was this cartoon that came out in Punch with huge eyes. I didn't know what Punch was and I was so upset that they had made a caricature of me. I was a little girl more than anything else, unable to understand any of this.

After Samapti it was many years before you acted in a Ray film -- the short film, Pikoo? In between I did two cameos in two others -- Aranyer Din Ratri and Seemabaddha. Talking about you in a scene in Pikoo, Ray said, "She's probably not very adept at crying on the screen. There are certain actresses who have this difficulty. It called for about three-four takes before she can really weep." That must have been a handicap in Bengali cinema. We never got to talking about that which I wish we had, because we were friends. I have done so many scenes of crying in cinema. I did a crying scene in his Seemabaddha -- a teardrop rolls down and I lick it off. He liked it very much. So I don't understand why he said this. But I found it very difficult to cry in that scene (in Pikoo) because I didn't feel the tears were justified. I was supposed to see Pikoo down there playing with his flowers and feel I was betraying him. But I felt I was not betraying the child. I was betraying the father if I was betraying anyone. So I found that transition to crying difficult. In Pikoo, I found it a little difficult, because I felt Satyajit had been very unsympathetic to the mother and the lover. I think Pikoo is a beautiful film, but the attitude towards the parents is judgmental.

Were there any other roles in his films you had wanted? I'm sure you must have read that he was supposed to cast me as Bimala in Ghare Bairey. During the 1976 Film Festival in India, I was one of the jury members and he was the chairman. He said, "I'm going to cast you as Bimala." I'd cut my hair very short and he got very angry and said, "Erokom bidhoba pishimar moto chul kaatley Bimala kora jaay na (If you cut your hair like a widowed aunt you can't do Bimala)." Then later he said, "We can't do Bimala now because the communal situation is not good in India." So Ghare Bairey was postponed. And then when it was finally made again, he had cast Swatilekha. I didn't say anything. I think I would have done it better though.

As a director, what did you learn from him? It was very difficult not to be influenced by him in the same way that writers were influenced by Tagore. At that time, he was like a huge banyan tree. We had come from the same kind of background -- enlightened liberal Brahmo stock. But in cinema what I really got from him was attention to detail. In fact he commented that in 36 Chowringhee Lane he liked the dense quality of the details. Also, you will find that in almost all of his films, usually there are several motifs repeated again and again. I have done in it too like the tree in Paroma, the gramophone and Sir Toby, the cat, in36.

You had a short stint in Bombay. What was that like? I did my first Bombay film because after Samapti, Baksa Badal and Akash Kusum didn't do too well. And I wasn't getting any offers. I was very upset and thought of going into advertising. Then I got this offer from Bombay and against my father's wishes I accepted because I thought this would get me the desired attention in Bengal. Which happened and I gotAparajito, which was my first big commercial success, and then there was no looking back. I think the very fact that I was acting in a Bombay film added a certain glamour. And that made my career in Bengal. Which was what I wanted.



What was that first film in Bombay? (Sighs) Oh,Vishwas. It was terrible. I would keep praying that it wouldn't be released.

What has been the impact of the Bombay film industry on Calcutta's film industry? See, what Bengal had was the strength of the narrative. I think it actually is a weakness if you ask me, because the language of cinema was never allowed to grow. It instead borrowed heavily from literature. Our literature was very strong. So that strength imparted itself to the films. It was good healthy, strong narrative cinema -- nothing spectacular. But Bombay had all the song and dance and fight routines that were photographed very well. And they were shooting in Kashmir and Kulu Manali and god knows where else. They had lots of money to spend. And all this captured the imagination of the audiences. So Bengal started to copy them and make a poor man's version of Bombay films, which were very bad. Now what has happened is that they are frightened of boring the audiences. In the earlier films, say by Asit Sen and Ajay Kar, you would have certain moods created and pains taken to create those moods. Now they try to make their films very fast-paced. So they leave no emotional impact at all. And the audience gets bored anyway.

Was there a difference in playing a heroine in Bengali cinema and Hindi cinema? 'If I'd made more compromises I may have been more successful'

Interview..................after Mr and Mrs Iyer

What prompted you to make a film set amidst the backdrop of violence?

Actually, it is not only about violence and fundamentalism. That is just a strain running through the film. It is actually about a journey of two people --- a Tamilian Brahmin woman Meenakshi Iyer, and a Bengali man, Raja Choudhury. It is about what happens when two people are thrown together in unforeseen circumstances, amidst something as destructive as a riot. It is about how relationships grow and are nurtured when people are forced to be together on a journey. It leaves them both richer. In a sense, it is a road movie. About three-fourths of it happens with the passengers travelling in a bus --- from the hilly terrain of some indeterminate place in India down to the plains. I kept the geographical setting undefined and unstated because it is a journey that could take place anywhere.

How important is the backdrop of violence in the film?

The violence brings a little poignancy to the story. Fear and uncertainty brings the people together. Some of the timeless love stories --- English Patient, Dr Zhivago --- were set in the backdrop of violence. The film is set some time after the attacks on the Indian Parliament December 13, 2001. I have been deeply concerned about the ugly head of fundamentalism that has been ravaging the country continuously. Violence once had no place in Indian society or its thought process. I have expressed this concern time and again in my editorials in Sananda, the Kolkata woman's fortnightly that I edit. It pains me to see that the secularism that Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi stood up for is almost extinct. Even among the urban middle class and the upper middle class, the so-called educated, enlightened class, secularism is absent.

Why did you choose English as your narrative?

That is because the film deals with characters from diverse backgrounds. While Raja Choudhary is a Bengali, Meenakshi Iyer is a Tamilian Brahmin. Obviously, she cannot speak Bengali. Even the other characters in the film come from different regions of India --- they represent the country's several parts and cultures. Like there is a Muslim couple, a Jew, even two Sikhs. Don't we tend to speak to people from our community in our language, but with people from other communities in English? English is the medium of communication for people all over India. I am also trying to reach the urban, young, English-speaking audience both in India and abroad.

What do you think of the spate of English films being made by Indian directors?

I think it is a positive trend, since they reach an audience that is beyond one particular group. But I also believe that a film should be made in English only if the subject deserves it, if it is a universal subject and if it talks to people beyond a certain region.

How did you decide the cast for the film?

Rahul Bose I had seen Rahul Bose's work in English August and Split Wide Open. He is a good actor, very controlled and intelligent. I made him go through a costume and makeup test, and felt he would be perfect for Raja Choudhary. My daughter Konkona plays Mrs Iyer. I think she is a very sensitive actress. She puts in a lot of research into her work. She worked quite a lot to portray the character of Meenakshi, a postgraduate in Physics. The rest of the cast include Bhisham Sahni and Surekha Sikri, who play a Muslim couple. Bharat Kaul plays an officer of the Rapid Action Force.

Was there anything you had to keep in mind while making the film?

I had to make sure that my characters spoke in English with their regional accent. I sent Konkona to Chennai for a week to learn the nuances of the Iyers --- not only the way the speak, their expressions, the way they drape their saris, their attitude to life, their culture and the way they fit, too.

Your cinematographer Gautam Ghose has worked as cameraman for one film, his own documentary. Why did you choose him as cameraman for your film?

He is not only a close friend of mine, he is also one of the best cinematographers I know. We have a lot in common, like our passion for filmmaking and our attitude towards life. I knew he would do justice to the film.

Among all your films, which do you consider your best?

Yuganto, which dealt with subjects like ambition, ecology, politics and relationships. It was about how success makes us compromise. In terms of making a difference, it was Paroma, which dealt with an extra-marital relationship. It shocked the Bengali society, which is not yet ready to accept a woman's right to sexual freedom. It instigated a debate, made a statement.

Are you satisfied with the way Bengali cinema has evolved over the past few decades?

Mainstream Bengali cinema unashamedly tries to copy Bollywood. They forget that they don't have the kind of budgets that Hindi filmmakers have. With the kind of money Bollywood directors have, they can at least add drama, gloss and glamour to their films, even if the stories are uninspiring and run-of-the-mill. Without the huge budgets, mainstream Bengali cinema falls flat on its face. What I am happy about, though, is the rise of realistic cinema. There is an audience for realistic cinema now in West Bengal. Gautam's Dekha, Rituparno Ghosh's Utsab and my Paromitar Ek Din did very well in Bengal, which is a good trend.

As a director

1. Gulel (2009) (announced)
2. 15 Park Avenue (2005)
3. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002)
4. Paromitar Ek Din (2000) ... aka House of Memories (International: English title) (UK)
5. Yugant (1995) ... aka What the Sea Said (India: English title)
6. Picnic (1989) (TV)
7. Sati (1989)
8. Paroma (1984) ... aka Parama ... aka The Ultimate Woman
9. 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981)

As an Actress

1. Antaheen (2009) .... Paro
2. Titli (2002) .... Urmila ... aka The First Monsoon Day (International: English title)
3. Ghaath (2000) .... Suman Pandey
4. Paromitar Ek Din (2000) .... Sanaka ... aka House of Memories (International: English title) (UK)
5. Amodini (1994)
6. Unishe April (1994) .... Sarojini ... aka 19th April (India: English title)
7. Mahaprithivi (1992) .... Daughter-in-Law ... aka World Within, World Without
8. Shet Patharer Thala (1992) .... Bandara
9. Ek Din Achanak (1989) .... Professor's student ... aka Suddenly, One Day 10. Shyam Saheb (1986)
11. Paroma (1984) ... aka Parama ... aka The Ultimate Woman 12. Bishabriksha (1983) .... Suryamukhi
13. Indira (1983)
14. Pikoor Diary (1981) (TV) .... Pikoo's mother ... aka Pikoo's Day
15. Naukadubi (1979) .... Kamala
16. Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978) (TV) .... Bonnie
17. Kotwal Saab (1977) .... Prabha B. Sharma
18. Immaan Dharam (1977) .... Shyamlee ... aka Imaan Dharam (India: Hindi title: video box title)
19. Jana Aranya (1976) .... Somnath's ex-girlfriend ... aka The Masses' Music (USA) ... aka The Middleman
20. Raag Anurag (1975)
21. Sagina (1974) .... Secretary Vishaka Devi
22. Aalor Thikana (1974)
23. Asati (1974) 24. Jadu Bansha (1974) 25. Basanata Bilap (1973)
26. Kaya Hiner Kahini (1973)
27. Sonar Khancha (1973) ... aka The Golden Cage
28. Khunjey Berai (1971) 29. Bombay Talkie (1970) .... Mala
30. Aranyer Din Ratri (1970) .... Hari's former lover ... aka Days and Nights in the Forest (UK: subtitle) (USA)
31. Baksa Badal (1970)
32. Kalankita Nayak (1970)
33. The Guru (1969) .... Ghazala
34. Aparachita (1969) .... Sunita
35. Vishwas (1969) .... Radha Bannerjee
36. Hangsa-Mithun (1968)
37. Akash Kusum (1965) (as Aparna Das Gupta) .... Monica ... aka Up in the Clouds
38. Teen Kanya (1961) (as Aparna Das Gupta) .... Mrinmoyee (segment "Samapti") ... aka Three Daughters ... aka Two Daughters

Down the Director's Line

In 1981, Aparna Sen made her debut as a film director with 36 Chowringhee Lane. She also wrote its screenplay. The film, about an aged Anglo-Indian teacher living in Calcutta, won positive reviews from critics. For her debut feature, Aparna Sen won the Best Director award at the Indian National Film Awards. 36 Chowringhee Lane also won the Grand Prix (the Golden Eagle) at the Manila International Film Festival. Aparna Sen followed up this early success with several other films, notably Paroma (1984), Sati (1989) and Yugant (1995). These examined the feminine condition in modern-day India from different perspectives. She also starred in Unishe April (1994), the film by Bengali cinema's Rituparno Ghosh. Sen's next directorial effort Paromitar Ek Din (2000) was a critical hit and recalled the success of her first film. The film explored the relationship between a divorced woman (Rituparna Sengupta) and her mother-in-law, played by Aparna Sen herself. It won a number of awards on the international festival circuit. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002), was a love story set against the harsh backdrop of Hindu-Muslim sectarian violence in India. The film won a National Film Award for Sen's direction, and an acting award for Konkona Sen Sharma, the director's daughter. The film won more awards at the Locarno, Hawaii and Manila film festivals.

15, Park Avenue (2005), starred her daughter and the actors Shabana Azmi, Dhritiman Chaterji, Waheeda Rehman, Rahul Bose and Soumitra Chatterjee. The film deals with a girl (Sharma) who is a schizophrenic and her relations with her elder stepsister, played by Azmi. Her next film named The Japanese Wife (2008), stars Raima Sen, Rahul Bose and a Japanese actress. This film focuses on two women. It is based on a short story by West Bengal author Kunal Basu. In 2009, Sen announced her first hindi film Gulel , which will star Ranbir Kapoor , Farhan Akhtar , Bipasha Basu , Urmila Matondkar and Konkona Sen Sharma.

Aparna Sen - Kalyan Ray

The family............

Well-known Bengali filmmaker Aparna Sen teams up with her real life husband Kalyan Ray, a professor in the United States, in Annirudh Roy-Chowdhary’s second directorial venture “Antaheen”. Ray’s long-distance marriage with Aparna has been so satisfying that he didn’t hesitate for a minute in moving from academics to acting when she needed him to do so. “At first Kalyan was naturally very hesitant. He had never acted before. What would a man of letters have to do with the motion-picture camera? But Reenadi (Aparna) and I were convinced Kalyan was the perfect choice for her husband’s part,” the director says. “And my hunch was right. Kalyan is awesome. The camera loves him. What a terrific screen presence he has,” he added. Kalyan plays his real-life wife’s estranged husband in the Bengali film “Antaheen” and has some splendid moments of drama with his seasoned co-star. It seems history is repeating itself. In 1984, Aparna had cast journalist Mukul Sharma, her then-husband, as the leading man in “Paroma”. Mukul, who had absolutely no experience in acting, played Rakhee Gulzar’s photo-journalist-lover in the movie. However, this time Aparna is on the same side of the camera as her husband.

Astro Analysis of Aparna Sen...courtesy Topsynergy.com

Aparna does not appear to be an intensely emotional or sentimental person, and she is often unaware of her own or other people's deeper feelings and emotional needs. Tears and tantrums bewilder her and make her very uncomfortable. Aparna Sen would rather settle differences by talking things out reasonably and rationally, but she tends to ignore or poke fun at any attempt to probe her own or others' inner depths. Aparna Sen avoids heavy, demanding emotional relationships and is wary of making personal commitments. She needs ample mental stimulation and feels close to people with whom she can share thoughts and intellectual interests. Conversation is very important to Sen. The strong, silent partner is not for her. Aparna Sen has a sympathetic nature and instinctively reaches out to people in need of help.

Sen also has a deeply ingrained tendency to want to improve or "fix" other people's lives, which can be annoying to the person who has no desire to be changed or "helped" in this way. For Aparna, affection and caring must be expressed in tangible acts of some kind. Aparna Sen possesses the gifts of tact, courtesy and consideration, and has a strong desire to please and understand her love partner. Because she values harmony so highly, Aparna Sen will compromise a great deal to avoid any discord or conflict in her relationships. Aparna does not like to dwell on controversial or emotional subjects and often tries to "smooth things over" or "sweep them under the rug". In love relationships, Aparna Sen wants an intellectual peer, an equal and a friend. She is attracted to people who have a certain finesse, delicacy and subtlety. Aparna Sen appreciates good manners and refinement and is not happy with coarseness or bluntness in a person. Aparna is attracted to foreigners, exotic places, traveling and people who can expand her horizons, teach her something, or show her places and worlds she has never experienced before.

Sharing a philosophy or ideal with her love partner is important to her. Moreover, Aparna Sen feels love and kinship for people everywhere, not only for her own family, nationality, or group. Finding similarities and making links between people from differing backgrounds or with different perspectives is a gift of hers. She is kindhearted and generous with both her money and her affections, and she is not happy if she has to budget or restrict herself in any way. Pettiness or stinginess is foreign to Aparna's nature and Aparna Sen feels most comfortable in an elegant, beautiful atmosphere.

Asceticism is not for Sen. Gracious and charitable, she enjoys sponsoring social events or cultural activities. Aparna Sen has an optimistic, friendly attitude towards others and tends to bring out the finer side of people. She is likely to fall in love with someone who is successful, noble and idealistic. She is very romantic, idealistic and imaginative about love relationships. Aparna Sen yearns for her "true love" or "soul mate" and may become disappointed in those who never quite live up to her dream image of the perfect lover.

Sen frequently fantasizes about love and often falls in love with someone she can only love from afar. She may avoid making a definite personal commitment. Gentle and sensitive, Aparna Sen does not like to be approached in a very direct or aggressive manner. She is attracted to those with artistic or mystical inclinations. Aparna Sen treats others in an agreeable, affectionate and tactful way and freely shows her affection for them. Her circle of friends is likely to be large and Sen strives for the development of a strong community spirit.

Aparna's 'Paromitar Ekdin' - 1996

Only women understand women. Or, do they? Aparna Sen’s Paromitar Ekdin (1996) opens with such a question, although implied. The story can’t be simpler. Paramita (played by Rituparna Sengupta), an ambitious, sensitive young girl from South Calcutta, comes to a North Calcutta business family, after marriage. People who know Calcutta, its culture, its history through partition, can easily understand what happens next. Incompatibility everywhere — value systems, relations, even her husband’s approach in bed — all lead to a final disaster. From the beginning of the story (told in flashback), we know this is a doomed marriage, and we expect either of the two possible outcomes — a break-up, or a complete submission. The latter would have been plausible in mainstream Bengali cinema of two decades ago (few films such as Ajoy Kar’s Saat Paake Bandha being brilliant exceptions). But, here we know the former is inevitable, because the director is Aparna Sen, who always takes a feminist stand. Feminism, a very misused and misunderstood term. People who use the terms forget that the term has a recorded history. Feminism went through diverse movements, even counteracting to one another. The mainstream Anglo-American feminism is always described by three generations, or as they prefer the coinage, three waves. The first gen feminists created history by taking an active female-chauvinist stance. Although they can’t be put in the same compartment, all major movements from women’s right to vote to 60s bra-burning — all categorically belong to this first generation feminism. With such movements, new courses in literature and sociology began too. And from such academic-activist dialectics came out the second wave of feminism. In an eighties world, motherhood, femininity became things for celebration. Apparently, the movement returned to exactly from where the first feminists started. These new gen second wave feminists wanted special care from society for their femininity and motherhood. Patriarchs breathed a relief, because the pattern was restored, although it meant a few extra perks to the woman at home. At this point, the core academicians came. Women’s Studies and Gender Studies started as part of Culture Studies and Sociology, in universities across the world. Philosophies and their receptions by common man have been attacked by this time by Derrida and his followers. All cultural codes and societies themselves were read in different ways. Psychoanalysts of female sexuality came to the market to sell their own theories. All such things influenced the third wave. All variations, differences in sex, sexuality and gender were to be recognized and given a equal right in every social phenomenon, in this third wave. Differences are to be celebrated — this is why all serious third wave feminists are so much concerned about the gay and lesbian rights. They do not want to see the gender bias as an isolated event. In Aparna Sen’s cinema, we see all three feminist waves reflected. While finding the self through a celebration of female sexuality was the major issue in Parama, equality as a human being and faith in love becomes the cornerstone of Yuganta. Paramitar Ekdin is next on this row. It is very significant (and much talked about) that this film starts with a death (of Sanaka, Paramita’s mother-in-Law), and ends with a birth (Paramita’s own child in womb). It is as if the creation cycle rotates through the woman — physically, in the most concrete sense. Paramita and Sanaka, the traditional rival duo in a Bengali family space (more so, when it happens between a South Calcuttan and a Northie) — the necessary hiatus between a mother-son relationship, lose their traditional hierarchical positions by three common factors between them.

Lack of love and understanding in the family space, being mothers of abnormal children, and an almost common sensitivity to these issues — these are the factors that bonded Paramita and Sanaka (played by Aparna Sen herself) for the first time. As an idle spectator, I ask myself, “Was it necessary that Paramita had to give birth to a spastic son so that she could be equated to her mother-in-law, put on the same footing?” Was it really necessary just because Sanaka has a schizophrenic daughter that Paramita too has to bear an abnormal child? Is it not too forced? Maybe. But, this is what started the bonding between the arch-rivals, mom-in-law and daughter-in-law. They start sharing, and this bond becomes stronger when Sanaka’s husband dies in an accident, also when her failed romance to a Manida (her childhood friend, played by Soumitra Chatterjee) becomes clear to Paramita. Woman understands woman.

Courtesy Education World

Aparna Sen in the Tehelka magazine published on February 14, 2009 lashed out against the moral polices who are guarding our “Indian culture”. She rightly pointed out at the Rigveda which questions God and also mentioned the multi authoring of our Epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana. Education is definitely what is missing in the Ram Sene. With a one year course reading Indian literature, I’m sure they will change their way of looking at “culture”. Here are two must read books for them:

Abhijnanasakuntalam by Kalidasa: A play about a young girl who falls in love with a king and conceives a child with him in the process. He loses his memory and forgets her completely. Alone with her child, she knocks on the door of the king and does her best so that he remembers her again. The play ends on a happy note with the king and Sakuntala re-uniting. Apart from the story, the sleazy way it is written is what catches my attention. Passion is described using nature (bees, honey and flowers) and the physical attributes of Sakuntala are explained with no indirect references. I hope Mutalik reads it and makes his army (sena) read it as well! Having a child without marriage and that too Sakuntala being the daughter of a sadhu — well these are parts of Indian culture.

The most well known piece of Indian literature, Kamasutra is another must read for them. The book reads like a manual for love making and passion. There are chapters on same gender sex and multiple partners and the book does not talk of marriage in any way. There are chapters on how to make an environment perfect for love making and also has medical remedies to enhance sexual pleasure. Sex is not a part of Indian culture? Well, 1.2 billion population without sexual intercourse, possible?

Thankfully Narayan Murthy believes that “this (moral policing) is ridiculous. Today’s youngsters have a better value system than us.” He also was quoted wondering, “If a boy goes out with a girl, what is wrong with that?” Mutalik should answer this I’m sure, who never got a chance to commit his body and soul to a woman.

Education is definitely the reason that keeps these people away from culture. As Aparna Sen points out correctly, “To be modern, you have to know your history because what are you modern in relation to? It is important to know your own context.”

Unishe April and Aparna

Unishe April (1994) is an award-winning feature film directed by Rituparno Ghosh. This Bengali feature film stars Aparna Sen, Debashree Roy, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Dipankar Dey. The film's music is composed by Jyotishka Dasgupta. It won 2 National Film Awards in 1995, including the Golden Lotus Award for Best Film. It is a loose remake of the 1978 Ingmar Bergman film Autumn Sonata. This film portrays some of the finest gestures of Aparna Sen.

Sarojini (Aparna Sen) is a dancer, whose immense love and dedication of her art raises her to a level of a great dancer honored with lots of acclamations and numerous prizes on one hand while drifts her away from her family on the other hand. Her growing popularity and sen sex resulted in development of an inferior complex by her husband Manish (Boddhiswatta). This complexes seemed to crop up in daily family matters resulting a drift between the couple.The husband shapes their only daughter in his hands and cuddles her from her mother who is too busy after her career. She seems to find a replacement for the void in her life through dancing, however is unsure whether her blossoming career and success is really bringing her happiness.

The sudden dismise of Manish forces Sarojini to put her daughter in hostel .These trivialities , the glittering memory of her father and her mother's inability of give her proper time results in developing complexity inside little Aditi (Debasree Roy) hatred towards her mother.The film however starts when Aditi is grown up and is keen to make a go of her career as a doctor like his father. By that time there has already been a sharp cleavage between mother daughter relationship.What hammers in Aditi's mind is that her mother has forgotten her father to such an extent that she even does not remember her father's death anniversary.Misunderstanding dismatch of temperaments crop up creating an air of suffocation for both.

Aditi by that time has also chosen her life partner and is obsessed with him as she had been always looking for somebody to care for her.She wanted a love that she didn't get from her mother.Situationally she was ditched her boyfriend on that very day and situations forced mother and daughter for a face to face conversation.Gradually they unlock their hearts top each other.The story of twenty years came out for once in a lifebreath.Untold facts gets deciphered , misunderstandings seems to get cleared.All hinting to a big question "Will Aditi be able to forgive her mother ?"

Rituparno depicts their embittered relationship with utmost care.How the daughter shows indifference to her mother's activities to her mother's friends students are woven with extremely natural dialogues and sometimes quoted in "Thanx" .Some scenes like mother celebrating her success on her husband's anniversary , her daughter's not taking part in celebrations , daughter's ignorance of mother's pain in knee do justice in the weaving of the relationship.He has gone into depth in portraying the mental status of Aditi throughout the film.Some details like Aditi forgets to close the tap or switch of the light brings in the naturality of the film.The flashbacks comes quite naturally and matches with the state of the mind.Rituparno has taken care of every single character of the film which bloom forth bold performances by Debosree Roy and Aparna Sen.

The cradle of the DIRECTOR APARNA SEN

It was '36 Chowranghee Lane'(1981) which gave her first breakthrough as a director/ writer. She was approached by Shashi Kapoor for the movie, in which his wife Jennifer Kendal acts the main lead. This film in English narrates the story of a lonely Anglo-Indian schoolteacher who allows a former student to have romantic trysts in her apartment. This film has won the Grand Prix at the1982 Manila International Film Festival and the National Award for Best Direction in India.

Taken at face value, this quiet film by Aparna Sen is a melancholy tale about a lonely woman facing her twilight years. It has a clear allegorical reading, however, that is a forceful commentary on the role of the British in post-Independence India. Violet Stoneham (Jennifer Kendal) is a mousy, quiet Anglo-Indian woman. Living in 1970s Calcutta, she teaches Shakespeare to inattentive little girls, occasionally visits her senile brother (Geoffrey Kendal) in a nearby nursing home, and returns home to her tiny flat and the company of her cat, Sir Toby. One day Violet encounters one of her former students, Nandita (Debashree Roy) and Nandita's boyfriend Samaresh (Dhritiman Chatterjee). Eager to reminisce - and starved for companionship - Violet invites the young couple to her home for tea, and they politely, if reluctantly, agree. In Violet's flat, Samaresh smells opportunity - the flat would offer a perfect, discreet hideaway for afternoon trysts with Nandita. Nandita explains to Violet that while Samaresh is a writer, he finds it difficult to concentrate on poetry in his family's crowded home, and Violet is delighted to offer him the use of her flat. Nandita and Samaresh frolic there every day, taking care to be dressed and presentable when Violet returns from school. Often they serve Violet her tea or take her out for walks in the city, and their daily company cheers and energizes her. It seems a very genuine and tender friendship, but Samaresh and Nandita see it quite differently from Violet.

At its face, 36 Chowringhee Lane is a very sympathetic tale. Violet Stoneham is a lovable character, and her loneliness will resonate with anyone who has ever thought about getting older and being alone. Her increasing isolation and marginalization is poignant. And the tenderness that Nandita and Samaresh show her - at least while it appears sincere - and the warmth and joy in her response to it is touching.

But the film seethes with symbols suggesting that its real message is a strong critique of the Anglo presence in India: You are dated, you have outlived your usefulness; you aren't wanted or needed, so get lost. The young couple uses her while it's convenient, but as soon as they have the opportunity to take off on their own, they do so. The new principal at Violet's school - the school's first Indian principal, we are told - cuts back on her course load, assigning her a dreary grammar class while a new young teacher takes over the Shakespeare; even teaching quintessentially English subjects, Violet's English perspective is no longer needed. Violet's visits to her brother are particularly unsubtle; a relic of the colonial era, he is now weak, helpless and disoriented, and Violet must repeatedly explain to him that the Raj is over, that India is independent.

These two levels of meaning make 36 Chowringhee Lane a full meal, engaging, poignant, and thought-provoking. The performances are smooth and natural - unlike some of Aparna Sen's later films (such as 15 Park Avenue and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer), in which her actors sometimes fumble stiffly with English dialogue. The result is a satisfying film, and if it is a little bit sad for the increasingly irrelevant Violet Stoneham, it also portrays a confidence in the rising of an independent India.

The mesmerizing face of Indian Cinema 1960's - 70's

Aparna Sen made her film debut at the age of 16, when she played the role of Mrinmoyee in the 1961 film Teen Kanya (Three Daughters) directed by Satyajit Ray (who was a long time friend of her father's). Aparna Sen then studied at Kolkata's Presidency College.Later in life she would work with Satyajit Ray in several of his films, including the short Pikoo (1981) where she played the role of an adulterous wife and mother. In 1965, Sen resumed her film career in Mrinal Sen's Akash Kusum. From then until the end of the 1970s, she worked steadily in the Bengali film industry. Aparna Sen acted in a number of Hindi films as well during this time.

Actress, Director, Screenwriter and Editor, Aparna Sen has been one of the most celebrated member of Indian film industry for the last four decades. Born in 25th October, 1945 in Kolkata, West Bengal, Aparna Sen is the daughter of veteran critic and filmmaker Chidananda Dasgupta.In her early youth, charismatic and beautiful Aparna Sen was impressed by European cinema that strongly affected her art life. She started her film career as an actress at the age of 16 in the movie 'Samapti' the final feature of the classic 'Teen Kanya' (1961) by the renowned director Satyajit Ray, in which she played a tomboyish village girl. After 'Samapti', 'Baksa Badal' and 'Akash Kusum' (1965) didn't do too well, then came 'Aparajito', which was her first commercial hit even though she did not quite understand the medium.

Her works in cinema and theatre appeared successively getting the praise of critics. Till the end of the 1970s, she worked steadily in the Bengali film industry. She acted in a number of Hindi films as well during this time. In 1969, she appeared in The Guru, an English-language feature and the first of three films with the celebrated duo of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. She continued to work with Satyajit Ray in several of his films, including the compelling short Pikoo (1981) where she played the role of an adulterous wife and mother.

The first SHOT.........by Brian Brake

Aparna Sen was born in (then Calcutta) to a Bengali family, originally from East Bengal. Her father is the veteran critic and film-maker Chidananda Dasgupta. Her mother Supriya Dasgupta is the cousin of renowned Bengali poet Jibanananda Das. She spent her childhood in Hazaribagh and Kolkata and had her schooling in Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata. She studied her BA, English honors in Presidency College, Calcutta but did not complete the degree. She met the Magnum photographer, Brian Brake, in Kolkata in 1961 when he was visiting India to photograph his Monsoon series. Brake used Sen as the model for what was to become one of his most well known photographs - a shot of a girl holding her face to the first drops of monsoon rain. The photo shoot was set up on a Kolkata rooftop with a ladder and a watering can. Sen describes the shoot He took me up to the terrace, had me wear a red sari in the way a village girl does, and asked me to wear a green stud in my nose. To be helpful, I said let me wear a red one to match, and he said no - he was so decisive, rather brusque - I think a green one. It was stuck to my nose with glue, because my nose wasn't pierced. Someone had a large watering can, and they poured water over me. It was really a very simple affair. It took maybe half an hour.

"A clip from latest Magazine"


Her face is one of the best known images in New Zealand photography, and as Michael Field reports, she is even bigger in India.

Monsoon Girl - a young Bengali actor who became a New Zealand photo icon - is attracting headlines in India for her latest movie, The Japanese Wife.

Late New Zealand photographer Brian Brake gave Aparna Sen early stardom when, in 1961, he photographed the Indian monsoon for major publications.

The single best known picture was something of a fake; a 14-year-old Bengali girl holding her face to the first drops of monsoon rain.

But Aparna Sen was no simple Bengali and the photo was staged on a Kolkata rooftop with a ladder and a watering can.

Now a major player in the serious side of Indian film-making - as distinct from Bollywood - her now 63-year-old image is again featuring across Asia.

She has filmed Bengali writer Kunal Basu’s book about an improbable love story about an Indian maths teacher who marries a Japanese girl through an odd sequence of events.

Sen told the Indian press that the plot was unbelievable.

"It is but that’s what drove me to the story. The trigger for me was the point where everyone dismissed the idea as absurd."

Sen is no lightweight. Her father was filmmaker Chidananda Dasgupta, a founder member of the Calcutta Film Society along with legendary director Satyajit Ray.

In 1961 she debuted as an actress in Ray's Two Daughters. It was then that Brake used her.

Her directorial debut came in 1981 with the award winning 36 Chowringhee Lane.

In 2002 she made an English language film, Mr and Mrs Iyer, with her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma playing lead with Rahul Bose - who plays the teacher in The Japanese Wife.

It caused a nationwide sensation with its depiction of a subtle love affair between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man.

Sen’s own biographies no longer mention the Brake picture. She told Wellington photographer Bruce Connew how she was photographed.

“He took me up to the terrace, had me wear a red sari in the way a village girl does, and asked me to wear a green stud in my nose,” she told Connew a decade ago.

“To be helpful, I said let me wear a red one to match, and he said no - he was so decisive, rather brusque - I think a green one. It was stuck to my nose with glue, because my nose wasn't pierced.

"Someone had a large watering can, and they poured water over me. It was really a very simple affair. It took maybe half an hour."
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She plainly has no great feeling for the photo and she said she had no idea Brake was an important photographer.

“I felt I was just a model, a prop. I did what I was asked to do. Nothing more, or less. This photograph, it's amazing the way it conveys a great deal more than went into it. In a way, it's so like Ray; Ray is the master of the close-up. In one close shot, there would be so much information, emotional and physical.”

But she did not like the photo: “I looked more 28, than 14, and I was all teeth. I didn't like myself at all.”

A director of 'Assembled Thoughts'

Aparna Sen is one of a few people who are born in film industry with their feet on the right way. She was born in 1945 in Calcutta and is a great director of the serious Indian cinema. In her early youth, Aparna Sen was impressed by European cinema that strongly affected her art life. In the beginning, she started her film career as an actress when she participated in “Sampatti” by Satyajit Ray, then her works in cinema and theatre appeared successively getting the praise of critics. Twenty years of her appearance in cinema, Aparna Sen made her first movie “36 Chawranghee Lane” which is an English political movie that was the birth certificate of a realistic film director who cares for details, though she focussed in the beginning, on women issues in most cases.