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By Sunetro Lahiri

Posted On Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 01:04:09 PM

Director Rituporno Ghosh

Film director Rituparno Ghosh has been invited to screen his latest Bengali venture, Shob Choritro Kalponik, also entitled Afterword, at the 30^th Durban Film Festival which commenced on July 22. The film will be screened out of competition on July 30, and will see its wide release almost a month later on August 28. The announcement was made by the director, working his androgynous style in a turtleneck teamed with a bandhej mirrorwork waistcoat and maroon raw silk turban and patiala on July 27.

Ghosh said, “Exposure at film festivals provides publicity push if it is written about. However, festivals like Cannes, Venice and Berlin tend to tilt slightly high on the glamour levels. Due to this, there is a danger of a film getting lost. A film needs a very high decibel to even be visible. With a relatively smaller festival like Durban’s, the agenda is more concentrated on films and their appreciation.”

Ghosh is no newcomer to the film festival circuit, having screened his films at Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Toronto and Karlovy Vary. Most of his films, including Antarmahal, Chokher Bali, Dahan and Raincoat have garnered accolades at overseas festivals.

So is the approaching date for screening giving him butterflies in his stomach? Ghosh said, “No, I am not nervous at all. First of all, I don’t consider myself a great filmmaker. No doubt what I make is dear to me but I also know

Actor Bipasha Basu stars in Shob Choritro Kalponik

and have learnt to look at my work objectively.”

The film will premiere alongside Priyadarshan’s Kancheepuram at Durban, representing the Indian consignment. Speaking of the film’s USP, Ghosh said, “I have always played with cultural eccentricities, but in Shob Choritro Kalponik, or rather Afterword, the film is about the journey that the vehicle of language makes. I am waiting with amused anxiety as to how the audiences will respond to this aspect of the film.”

While none of the stars from the film like Bipasha Basu, Jisshu Sengupta, Prosenjit and Paoli Dam, will be representing the cast at Durban, Ghosh said that later promotions will see that stars’ presence.

Speaking of the lessons he has learnt over the years, Ghosh said, “I have learnt to dedicate time and effort to nuances of subtitles. They can make or break how viewers from other cultures perceive the film.”

So how does he plan to balance profession and pleasure in Durban? “That is one of the biggest dilemmas! I am at Durban for only three days. My film is being screened on two days and I have a workshop that I am part of. That hardly leaves me with time. But I do wish to explore any place that I visit,” he chuckled.

As a part shot, Ghosh opined, “As a film-maker, I try my best to be patient and tolerant and take all the criticism and brickbats as readily as the adulation. As for discerning the constructive criticism, I trust the reviews that come close to mentioning the intrinsic motive of the film and speak of how as a film-maker I failed or succeeded to tap the potential of a plot.”

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