Crimson Red: A Conversation with Cunal

From canvas to camera, from brushstrokeas to storytelling — Crimson Red marks the cinematic debut of director Cunal.

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In this deeply personal conversation, he opens up about the sparks that shaped his vision, the collaborations that held him steady, and the truths that quietly seep into his art.

At first glance, Crimson Red feels like an art film, a cinematic poem more than a story. But for its director, Cunal Ranjan, it is both origin and arrival — a culmination of childhood wonder, artistic defiance, and a lifetime of quiet observation. He remembers the exact spark that lit his imagination.

“I must have been five,” he says. “Watching Amitabh Bachchan in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, and the song O Saathi Re never left me. That moment gave me my first understanding of longing, of memory, of the way cinema stays in you.”

Years later, the memory grew into a vision — one that crystallized into Crimson Red. The curtain raiser premiered at the Taj Palace in New Delhi, with filmmaker Anees Bazmee as Chief Guest and Sunil Sethi, Chairman of FDCI, as Guest of Honor, the film was unveiled with grandeur and intimacy in equal measure. Produced by Violette Ghosh of Spacebar Advertising, shot by cinematographer Sejal Shah, and accompanied by a haunting score by Sidhant Mathur, Crimson Red unfolded as more than a film: it was an experience of love, loss, and artistry.

The Hue of Love

For Cunal, crimson was never just a color.

He traces it back to pigment history. “The Kermes insect on the oak tree. Alone, neither survives. Together, they create vermilio, the deepest red pigment. That, to me, is love: two lives fusing into eternity. That is what crimson means.”

The film explores the life of Basudev Bhargav, a painter haunted and healed by his muses. His world is shaped by women who are not just inspiration but force — each embodying fragments of his soul. Actors Siddhant Karnick, Sarah Jane Dias, Pooja Bhamrah, and Sanya Sagar breathe life into these roles, creating a rhythm that feels lived-in rather than scripted.