Young Sri Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara is a shade disappointed because just like Che, he too has found a following outside his home. Currently in Cannes, he is attracting eyeballs for Chatrak, the only Indian feature film at this year's fest, which has been shot in Bengali, in Kolkata
Young Sri Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara is a shade disappointed because just like Che, he too has found a following outside his home. Currently in Cannes, he is attracting eyeballs for Chatrak, the only Indian feature film at this year's fest, which has been shot in Bengali, in Kolkatau00a0
The only Indian feature film at Cannes this year is not by an Indian director. It is Chatrak (Mushrooms), produced by a Kolkata producer, directed by Vimukthi Jayasundara, a Sri Lankan, shot in Kolkata in Bengali, with a Bengali cast and an Indo-French crew. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Jeffrey Zimbalist's Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told is a documentary in the Out of Competition section. Chatrak is being screened in the Directors' Fortnight, a prestigious parallel section of the festival, that runs from May 11 to 22, 2011. "I am delighted to be at Cannes. But it is more special to be here with my first Indian film. It can open India's doors to an international audience," says Jayasundara.
Vimukthi Jayasundara, still in his early 30s, has credentials few young Indian directors can match: his debut feature The Forsaken Land won the Camera d'Or at Cannes for Best First Film, his second Between Two Worlds was at Venice, and with his third, he is back at Cannes. He studied cinema at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune and Le Fresnoy, France. Producer Vinod Lahoti, a Kolkata-based businessman dealing in defence equipments, says, "I like Vimukthi's films because of their boldness."
Chatrak features Bengali topliner Paoli Dam, Sudip Mukherjee and Anubrata Basu. The protagonist is an architect who returns to Kolkata in search of his roots; he finds highrises mushrooming everywhere and, with his girlfriend, goes in search of his unhinged brother. Jayasundara's first two features dealt with the war in Sri Lanka, but here he focuses on Kolkata's urban angst. 
I saw Ritwik Ghatak's and Satyajit Ray's films when I was little. But in
the last few years, we have seen only Bollywood films. What happened
to the other Indian directors? It got me thinking. So, this film is a tribute
to Ray and Ghatak. I wanted to go back to their city, Kolkata. It's because
of them that I am making films.
"The old colonial buildings in Kolkata are vanishing and it is mushrooming with hi-tech buildings. But must Asia destroy itself in order to become modern? What will happen when Asians become like the Americans or Europeans?" he asks. How does Sri Lanka view his remarkable achievements? "Whenever I achieve something internationally and go home, it's not as important as Bollywood is for them," says Jayasundara. "It feels like what Che Guevara did. He lived in Cuba, but went somewhere else (Bolivia) to launch a revolution. I come from a small island but one can create a mindset that affects the whole region. I saw Ritwik Ghatak's and Satyajit Ray's films when I was little. But in the last few years, we have seen only Bollywood films. What happened to the other Indian directors? It got me thinking. So, this film is a tribute to Ray and Ghatak. I wanted to go back to their city, Kolkata. It's because of them that I am making films."
On directing a film in Bengali, a language he isn't familiar with, he says, "The Bengali language was not a problem for me because I am used to working all the time with people using different languages, especially French technicians. You manage to find ways to communicate. Actually, during my first month in Kolkata, I could hear my neighbour's radio play Bengali programmes as early as 6 am, when I was not really awake, and thought I was still in Sri Lanka. It sounded exactly the same, and it brought the language very close to me.
Unfortunately, the only phrase I can remember is 'Takaben na (Don't look there)'," he laughs. "The tougher challenge was shooting with stars in the street, and extracting performances from actors used to shooting in studios. But Paoli Dam and Sudip Mukherjee were very committed. There were also very old actors from the time of Ghatak's films on the set, so I felt very privileged." Reflecting on how different it was shooting in India and Sri Lanka, he says, the films he made in Sri Lanka have very carefully composed frames. "But in India, each time you film, something unexpected can happen. So we freed our style of shooting, and some elements came into the film that I had not conceived before. It brought another layer to my film."
As Bollywood dominates Sri Lankan cinema, could Jayasundara's attempt to do a film in Bollywood be an if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em strategy? "Not at all!" he says. "I did try to do a Bollywood film. I was very convinced it was a different way of acting, these first degree emotions. But it's still on." Pausing, he adds, "In India, wherever you place the camera, there are a million stories. You don't need to invent stories."
Meenakshi Shedde is India Consultant to the Berlin, Locarno and Amsterdam Film Festivals, and curator of festivals worldwide.
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