Of human bondage

FILMMAKER ANIRUDDHA ROY CHOWDHURY TELLS TANISHA BHATTACHARYA THAT HE LOVES TO DIVE DEEP BENEATH THE OCEAN OF HUMAN EMOTIONS

- TANISHA BHATTACHARYA

Besides being a filmmaker, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury is also a known name in the ad world, with upto 400 ad films to his credit so far. He started his film career in 2006 with the Bengali film Anuranan and got a National Award for it. His next outing, Antaheen (2009) too got a National Award. It was the first film where Radhika Apte acted in a full-length role. Hindi viewers know him through the hard-hitting Pink (2016), which talked about female consent. It won the Best Film On Social Issues at the next year's National Award and also won the Filmfare Best Film Award. Currently, his two films, Lost and Kadak Singh, both OTT releases, were well-liked by the audience. Excerpts from an engaging talk with the director who likes to make films on societal issues.

Where does the inspiration to portray complex relationships so intricately, as seen in your National Award-winning films like Antaheen and Anuranan come from?

I think it’s life. I don’t look; I see. I don’t touch; I feel and absorb. My nature is not like a one-night stand with anything, be it the story, music, or humans. I go deeper. Growing up, all my friends were a little older than me. My father’s friends were my pals. A lot of older women were my good friends. I had a lot of relationships and those relationships were unnamed. So sex is not important, whether it’s a man or a woman. If there is a relationship, there is a relationship. See, these are certain things called realisation. When you have that, you can see things, and a lot of people confide in you. You know, I’ve seen life. I don’t know why people trust me, but I do get to know a lot of stories.