Since you are the chairperson of SRFTI, what are your suggestions to aspiring directors who easily get frustrated because they are often offered as low as Rs 20 lakh to make films?

If today, I’m commanding a certain price, it doesn’t mean that I’ve always had that luxury. I had to sell off ornaments when I made Dooratwa. My house had to be mortgaged when I made Neem Annapurna.

To cut down on costs, food for the entire unit of 40 people was prepared at my residence. When I made Bagh Bahadur in 1987, I had a budget of Rs 24 lakhs. I couldn’t bargain at that point of time. But I trusted my imagination and my commitment towards cinema. Even today, if I’m asked to make a film within Rs 25 lakh, I know how to make it. It’s a different issue that I will not need to do it.

What’s the trick to making films on limited budgets?

n When I started off, I was clear that my budget wouldn’t permit too many artistes. Amar shudhu chhilo swapno, kanna, teen charte choritro aar ei shohorta. Most importantly, I was always ready to make impromptu changes. One has to understand that real locations often don’t afford the luxury of doing things exactly the way they were planned. Hence, one has to be ready for change.

Should film-budgeting be made a part of film-making courses?

Yes. When students are in an institute, they live in a sheltered world. Once they pass out, they have to face the world outside where they’ll definitely not get the budgets that are needed to give shape to all their dreams at one go. Aspirants must know which plot to explore at what stage in their career. You can’t just walk out of an institute and expect to get funds that permit the usage of the best technicalities available in the world. You have to earn it with your credibility in the industry to be able to afford high-end stuff.

Knowing the market is important. Is that also the reason why many directors sell certain clichés about India to the West that doesn’t sell in rural India? Your films on subjects related to the rural India don’t appeal to the masses…

That’s an accusation being levied right from the days of Satyajit Ray. Mahasweta Devi writes about the Sabars. But how many Sabars read her works? Putul Nacher Itikatha hasn’t been read by those it was written about.

Is art then about peddling the joys and pains of those who are clueless about their brandworth?

No. It’s about opening a window to a world for those who don’t share their predicament. If that’s not done, one will have to negate everything. There are so many issues in rural India that I’ll never touch.

Untouchability and bride-burning are still facts of life from rural India. Yet, I know these are not my subjects. Someone asked me to make a film on Khudiram. Though he remains my hero,
I still refused. Nandigram might be a burning issue that can be transformed into a film. But I know that my kind of magic realism doesn’t support this subject.

Without experience, how does one choose between specialising in a subject and being versatile?

That’s instinctive. One has to understand what one’s cup of tea is. One has to know one’s market, audience and never manipulate images.

When are your films releasing?

Kaalpurush will release in the last week of April. Thereafter, it will be Swapner Din and Voyeurs.

What happens to your next film?

I’ll start shooting my next Bengali film in September in India. It’s about a window. The original script is mine. It’s about a person who wants to donate a window to his school and what happens thereafter. The window acts as a metaphor in this film.