I DON'T TAKE EVERY REVIEW SERIOUSLY

HERE is an indisputable quirk present in the characters of a Shoojit Sircar film.

- SHREYAS PANDE

HERE is an indisputable quirk present in the characters of a Shoojit Sircar film. Whether it is the eccentric old man suffering from constipation in Piku (2016), the Punjabi youngster who turns into a sperm donor in Vicky Donor (2012), or the clumsy protagonist of October (2018), who becomes an awkward caregiver to his bedridden co-worker.

There is an ordinariness to these stories which gets elevated with the presence of these quirky characters and their evolving plot points. This is what makes his stories feel 'slice-of-life'. The director tends to break that reading when he makes outwardly political and topical films like Yahaan (2005), Madras Café (2013) and Sardar Udham (2021).

For him, all his stories come from a deeper place of translating something which he experienced. "Some moments stay with you, and images keep forming in your head. Eventually, it comes out in different forms. Some people write, some talk, and some make plays. I make films," he says.