Nandita Das, actor and director, shares some insights about making her film Firaaq. More here
Cinema, unlike poetry or painting, is not a personal art. You
from: nanditadas.com
make it to share it with people and engage with them. As an actor, I resolved the dilemma of wanting to be part of stories that need to be told even if not many people actually wanted to hear them, by choosing to do those roles. But as a director, I also wanted to reach out to as many people as I could, of course with the story I so wanted to tell.
For those who have still not seen Firaaq, it is set a month after the Gujarat carnage of 2002 and deals with five different relationships and the impact of violence on their lives. Firaaq is about how fear, prejudice, guilt and violence linger on much after their obvious manifestation is over. In fact, there is hardly any violence in my film and yet the fear and tension are palpable. The story traces the emotional journeys of ordinary people — some who are victims, some perpetrators and some who choose to watch silently.
October 23, 2009 at 5:43 am
DU Alumni: Nandita Das – Das holds a qualification in B.A. (Hons) in Geography and M.A. in Social Work from Delhi University.She determined to make a difference in the society and has been campaigning for various causes such as AIDS and violence against women.
October 23, 2009 at 8:06 am
Thanks DU for dropping in. I didn’t know about her academic background. Thanks for filling me in.