Aparna Sen is asking tough questions and winning awards with ‘The Rapist’

‘Why does a man become a rapist?’ This question was lingering in the mind of filmmaker Aparna Sen for almost a decade. “This idea first came to me as a germ” [she can’t remember if it was before or after Nirbhaya, the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case]. Then it slowly turned into a story with characters and setting,” she says. now with rapistSen has raised the question in front of the world.

a very important film – or as Diversity The magazine calls it “a wide-ranging discussion starter”—there’s no side hustle. It follows Naina, played by Konkona Sen Sharma, a criminology professor in Delhi, who survives a brutal rape and assault, while putting forward different perspectives and the legitimacy of the Kairus kingdom and the death penalty. But also raises questions.

in early October, rapist It premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, and won the prestigious Kim Jiseok Award and numerous accolades. The 16th film of the actor-autobiography, it was shot in Delhi in the thin window between the first and the deadly second Covid-19 wave in 27 days. He finished shooting on 6 April; The lockdown was announced on 8th. “Actually, it should have been a few days longer. We finished prematurely thanks to our DOP. [director of photography] Ayanaka Bose, who was very fast,” she recalls of how they all stayed at the Leela Palace in Chanakyapuri. “We used to go to have breakfast with other guests staying at the hotel. So, it was not like we were living in a bubble. We also shot in an actual slum for four or five days. we were so lucky that [through the entire shoot] Nobody got sick.”

At 76 years old, Sen is still desperate to move on, with more ideas sprouting, including a memoir. In an email interview, she looks at her 40-year career as a director, and what inspired her to take on the subject. rapist.

Edited excerpt:

The title is strong.

Yes this is it. We didn’t want to hide behind a more intuitive-sounding title. However, the topic is not about whether rapists should be given the death penalty, although this question is likely to come to mind while watching the film. The theme is about what happens to three people whose lives are changed overnight after a horrific event. Yes, it is also an exploration of whether a person turns into a rapist because no one is born. Is this genetics? Is it his environment? or both? What is it in our society that makes such a large number of men rapists? social inequality? Inherent patriarchy? Jealous of the new, successful woman and desire to put her in her place? Or is it a combination of all these factors? This is an extremely complex issue that is addressed in the film, though not in an explicit or underlined manner.

Whom did you consult while writing the screenplay?

I spoke to lawyers and activists, but not rape victims. I had a feeling that they wouldn’t want to relive the experience by talking about it. Two of my feminist friends who lead organizations to help abused women gave me important information. Anuradha Kapoor, who runs Swayamvar – of which I am also a member – gave me a lot of material to read about rape victims and details about the procedures immediately after the rape was reported. Shamita Dasgupta, who heads an organization called Maanvi in ​​the US, told me about a new approach to crime called restorative justice, where victims and perpetrators meet and talk about the reasons why, who did the latter in his own way. Restorative justice is not mentioned in my film, but the knowledge was useful when I was writing some scenes. For the most part though, I relied on my intuition and observations, which have served me well in the past.

This is the sixth film in which you have worked with your daughter Konkona — from Picnic (1989), when she was about 10 years old, To rapist. How is yours Did artistic collaboration develop?

There is unwavering trust on both sides. We have the same mindset and value system. This makes it easier for them to understand what I am saying, right from the script level. And, on my part, I know Konkona has a great sense of balance, that she knows where to draw the line and will never go over the top. She has had a tremendous screen presence from a very young age. It’s hard to explain how our relationship has evolved – I think she used to be very obedient before and listens to me a lot more than she does now! But then, he is now more mature as a person and also more skilled as an actor. I rarely have to direct him now. I had only one problem before her that she felt uncomfortable doing intimate scenes. This time, I told him right in the beginning that he has to get rid of those hassles. He looked at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes and said, ‘Well, you look at me!’ And I must say, he totally gave in.

National Award winning director Aparna Sen with her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma. photo Credit: special arrangement

Tell About the unusual casting of Arjun Rampal as Naina’s husband.

Why unusual? You know, the problem is that everyone just sees Arjuna’s good looks and can’t see beyond him! I had seen him in only two movies before this, rock on!! And Politics, and I really liked him in both. But I chose him for this film because his appearance, or perhaps his personality, exudes a certain nobility. It was essential to the character. Also, I had seen that he is underacting. It was perfect for the role of Aftab. Despite all this, I was not entirely sure that he would be able to hold his own with Konkona. But I must say that I was in for a very pleasant surprise. Beneath that beautiful exterior, Arjun is an extremely sensitive, fine-tuned actor. He and Konkona displayed the most amazing chemistry together. He was quite a revelation as Aftab Malik, a sensible, intellectual, highly principled but emotionally torn apart.

In Mr and Mrs Iyer, you said that The characters should have been Muslim and not Hindu – This There was organic growth. Was it the same with this? rapist? or was Is the love angle a response to the current climate?

no it was not. At least not consciously. I had argued that being a Hindu and Muslim couple, where neither of them had the slightest desire to convert, would be the most economical way of conveying that they were indeed liberal and secular. Aftab’s line to the officer-in-charge immediately after the rape sequence,’My wife Hindu Huh. Any Difficulty have you?’ [My wife is Hindu. Do you have a problem with that?] says it all!

Delhi looks hazy and gray in film, like almost everyone NS Colour Used to be sucked.

Yes. [DOP] Bose and I decided to go for the saturated look. It’s as if the colors are flying out of the characters’ lives. It begins quite brightly with Naina and Aftab leading a happy, normal life. But after the rape incident, as the mood of the film gets darker, we gradually remove the color. In fact, both Bose and I would have been very happy if we could have shot the film in black and white, but other ideas prevailed.

How would you describe your artistic vision? How has it evolved from the 80s to the digital and OTT space we are living in?

I neither make experimental cinema nor so called formula films. I make films about human beings – tell their stories, bring out their joys and sorrows, desires and disappointments. in movies like rapist Or Mr and Mrs Iyer, who deal with issues of national importance, it is the individuals who matter and whom the audience recognizes.

Digitization, or the OTT space, has never bothered me too much. It is true that initially I was opposed to the transition from celluloid to Digi-Tape. It seemed like they were of a more brittle quality and lacked the softness of color and detail we might find in celluloid. But science does not sit still. The quality of the digital medium is improving so rapidly and producing such spectacular results, that no one remembers celluloid except for nostalgic reasons.

As far as OTT platforms are concerned, this is something we have had to accept shoulder to shoulder, especially after the start of the pandemic. But there are merits too. We get to watch the best of international cinema on the OTT platform. i have seen such movies Roma, ballad heyCh Buster Scruggs, capernaum Sitting right in front of my TV. Of course, nothing compares to the experience of sitting in a dark auditorium and watching a movie with no doorbell, no telephone, no sudden guests to bother you with a room full of people! As far as my films are concerned, most of them are intimate stories about individuals, not elaborate spectacles. Hence OTT platforms are not unsuitable to watch them.

A career of over 40 years, and yet you’They He said that when you look back on your old films, you only see mistakes. Is One You’They wish there were more people passed Seen and let’s talkEd About this?

It’s true that the biggest mistakes I see when I review my films. But it is with most of the recent ones. like when i watch an old movie 36 Chowringhee Lane Or parometer one DIn, I often find myself thinking, ‘Well, that’s not too bad!’ I wish more people could see epoch, which was somehow neglected outside Bengal. I wish I could make it with all the computer graphics available to us today, because there’s an apocalyptic scene at the end in which the ocean breaks out in flames. epoch Really should have been my swan song. The other movie that I think didn’t get its due japanese wife. It should be on at least one OTT platform so that maximum number of people can see it. But at that time it was marketed very poorly and only a few people outside Bengal got to see it.

Indian theatrical release rapist is yet to be confirmed.