It’s been around two months that I wrapped the shoot of The Zebras — Dark Start and it was a hectic schedule, I must tell you. The whole preparation began 10 months from now and it was never easy to get it sanctioned and go on floors. But it happened! I shot the film with Sharib Hashmi, Priyanka Sarkar and Usha Banerjee in the downtown part of Calcutta. The task was even heavier or I would say more tedious as I am editing the film as well. Currently, the edit is done and we are prepping for its release soon.

It was a Friday evening when I was having a word with fellow filmmaker and colleague, Bernhard Kammel (who happens to be an esteemed filmmaker from Vienna) and suddenly, we both mutually agreed it to be a great idea to showcase three of my feature films in Vienna. Now, Bernhard happens to be an admirer of my films as well and White was the first film that was screened there in 2018. Since then, two of my other films premiered there as well.

I was approached for Jharokh, The Tale of a Santa and his Moth and The Zebras; we continued the conversation and much later I realised that it was indeed an honour. Well yes, Vienna is planning to hold a retrospective of my films as a separate event. The event is planned to take place in a heritage auditorium in Vienna known as Reaktor; the place was earlier famous as the Grand Establissement Gschwandner. This is one of the last residual venues of entertainment of the 19th century. The event is known as ‘A Bengal Night at Reaktor: Aneek’s Cinema’. As of now, the event is planned to take place on February 23 under the leadership of my dear friend, Bernhard Kammel.

Now let’s speak of my three films that are part of the prestigious event; Jharokh is an anthology of three women and is a loose adaptation of Mahabharata from Draupadi’s point-of-view. This is a 75-minute silent feature-length film and was premiered in Melbourne followed by screenings in Rome and Dhaka International Film Festival.

Jharokh, meaning Ventilator, features Usha Banerjee, Husne Shabnam, and Ipsita Kundu. Filmed in 2021, it is mostly shot in an abandoned house that seeks an ‘escape’ (literally and metaphorically). It was earlier screened at a private event at Reaktor and it was thoroughly appreciated that time. Filmed by Soumya Barik and myself, this has been very close to my heart as a directorial initiative. Usha Banerjee was awarded for her performance in this film from a number of international film festivals.

The second film is The Tale of a Santa and his Moth which narrates the tale of a bisexual father played by Pawan Chopra and his relationship with his ailing daughter (Usha Banerjee). The film unfolds on Christmas eve when the daughter asks for a Christmas cake; however, the father needs to adopt surprising means to earn money and buy the cake for his daughter. It premiered in Marche du Film, Cannes followed by Official Selection in Melbourne film fest. It was filmed by Sreekanth Sivaswamy and myself. It started off as a short film and later we believed that it should be converted into a feature-length film. Now, this is an 87-minute feature-length film. Usha’s performance was thoroughly appreciated in this film throughout the globe.

The third film is the work-in-progress cut of The Zebras —Dark Start. This is my upcoming Hindi film that features Sharib, Priyanka and Usha and it was done with a heavy level of preparation. First of all, it was tough shooting in Calcutta where I was not very much accommodative to the mindset of most of my team members; the shoot schedule was full of hassles and we needed to go through lots in order to complete the schedule.

Secondly, we are still at post-production phase; even while writing this piece for my readers, I had to take out time from editing but my readers deserve to hear me out. And, I love interacting with them. This is going to be more than two hours of duration as of now. The film revolves around the menaces of Artificial Intelligence in everyday lives and fashion segment; therefore, I would say that this is a very relevant film in today’s time. Filmed by Arijit Bose, myself and Sourideb Chatterjee, The Zebras is mostly about the downtown part of Calcutta also known as Chinatown. The film is produced by Akhil and Ashik Murali.

‘Our creations become our better identities’It’s been a dream with three of my films honoured at such a prestigious place. It’s indeed something people always dream of (if I am not wrong) and getting such an applause at a young age always boosts you to work harder. Moreover, I would also like to take an opportunity and thank my technical team too and without them, this was never possible. I am contented.

I have never been to Austria but people from that part of the world have always been very welcoming to my films. Although, I do feel bad of not being there physically; I guess at times, our creations become our better identities. I prefer it that way! I am connected to the events organised at Reaktor since 2018. The aura of the place itself is so magnificent and majestic that it makes you look like a timid being (in and out). I am easily humbled by the ambience of the place and it helps me in a way. Bernhard has been a warm person along with Joanna Seidl (a theatre director) who has been equally motivating and enthusiastic about my films. Joanna has attended the screenings of all my films at Reaktor and she is the person who is more enthusiastic about sending me snaps (covered my premieres and screenings actively). But this time, I am a bit nervous too when the entire focus will be on my films.

There are a number of reasons that make me feel a bit stressed out; number one is all these films possess different scape of technical, aesthetic, and thematic maturity. While proceeding toward The Zebras — Dark Start I had become more nuanced, matured, as well as practical (not to mention the technical aspects of course). Therefore, there is a variation in the filming process too. This may be a good thing too when audiences can spot the improvements in my films, but even then, I am a bit nervous. Maybe because this is my first time being offered such a lineage of honour; however, this can be a confidence booster too while editing my current film. This is helping a lot. Number two, I should not disappoint Bernhard Kammel in any way. I take it as a strong responsibility.

Each of my three films are very much different from each other. Jharokh is mundane and melancholic and is quite linear in terms of narrative. I can term it to be a tragic drama which is dark. Now if I compare it with the Santa film, the latter too is a tragic drama but it is more layered and performance oriented. This is a verbal film while the former is a silent piece. Both these two are very much different from each other yet it carries the signature of being melancholic and an air of sadness hovers throughout. But The Zebras – Dark Start is completely different; it is more stylish and has a lot of layers to it. In the end, I am happy that all these three pieces are films that I actually wanted to make and I made them the way that I wanted. I have lost different fragments of my personality while filming them though, what left is an experienced residual of agony, calmness, sensitivity and sense. I think that’s what is being honoured in Vienna. I would rate the whole thing to be an artistic subtraction of the loss and the gain.

Of course, I am delighted! At the same time, I am occupied by an ignorant calmness that does not let me entirely enjoy moments. Altogether, this is a grand moment for the whole team and I am happier for my collaborators. A big hug to each one of them!