T he title of Promita Bhattacharya’s March 10 film Archie’r Gallery, starring Bonny, Rajatava Dutta and Ayoshi Talukdar, is inspired by ’90s nostalgia in more ways than one. “The sweet greetings card romance of the ’90s, the comic book and slam-book friendships, the love songs that, like a touchstone, make our hearts sparkle with golden sunshine… it’s all a part of Archie’r Gallery and Archie’r Gallery is a part of all of it. But my film does not belong to the 1990s,” says Promita. Archie, the protagonist, is a young man of the present day but seems to have time travelled from the “simple, innocent 1990s”, bringing forth 1990s romance, and celebrating what’s small yet deep. A chat with Promita....
Promita
How was life for you in the ’90s?
I’m a ‘90s kid. 1990s held my hand and took me through the most impressionable years of my life. I was genuinely in love with Suman and Nachiketa when I was six years old and then Bhalobasha Mane really became Archie’r Gallery for me! I learnt from SRK how to spread my arms and make space for the entire world in my heart. I was a wide-eyed happy kid taking all that romance with absolute awe. The daily romantic overdose of songs coming from the local cassette shops ensured that I believe that kabutars could carry my love letters to both Prem and Raj. I’ve collected mangoes during the April Kal-baisakhi, played football and kit-kit in the para fields and blind lanes, brought video cassettes from the local video libraries, only to return them after some 20 viewings, and saved pocket money to buy song CDs and film DVDs for Rs 40 and 90. I feel lucky to perhaps be the last of the urban generation to get the taste of pure analogue life just before the change. No one can take that away from me. Thus I will always be a true romantic, understanding the importance of the word ‘heartfelt’.
Were you a big fan of the Bengali bands of that time?
Who wasn’t? I’m so proud of our Bengali band scene in the 1990s and 2000s. I got to know about the existence of Mohiner Ghoraguli, unfortunately after the band disbanded. But then my heart belonged to them and so many more... There was Paraspathar, Krosswindz, Fossils, Chandrabindoo, Bhoomi, Dohar and more! Then what happened? Has the hype about Bangla bands died or have I grown up? It’s not the same any more. I wonder why?
Do you associate a sense of nostalgia and innocence with the 1990s? Why?
Yes, I associate an ultimate sense of nostalgia and pure innocence with the 1990s. Those were the best carefree days of my life. I could play all around the locality along with other kids, without the fear of being kidnapped or molested. We owned the para! The ’90s had the fresh smell of new books, and preserving old books by putting dried neem leaves inside them. The taste of the pages that our tongue got from our finger as we used to put a bit of our saliva in our finger to turn pages of books easily. It may sound gross now. But the ’90s were less judgemental. We’d never heard of the word ‘politically incorrect’ back then. Life felt freer. We had audio cassettes that at times got its tape entangled, and needed to be sorted with a pencil. ‘Pepsi’ for us first meant colourful ice sticks sealed in plastic packets. In the ’90s we had one TV at home and the entire family would watch it. So we were exposed to a wide range of content that we would otherwise never watch. My film is not so much about the ’90s as it is about that brand of innocence.
Shah Rukh Khan
Are you a big SRK fan?
I will always be in love with him! I swear by him. I have a song in Archie’r Gallery, that is in a way, our little tribute to SRK. The official name of the song is Preme Pora Jaak. I call it my Shah Rukh-Kajol Song. SRK is not just an actor. He taught a whole generation how to love! More than one generation really! We have countered a lot of hate with that love. While in school, I had once bought a very filmy locket that had a secret chamber that could store a small photo. My SRK’s photo was in it… then unfortunately I grew up. But seriously, SRK is the idea of romance! His wit is unparalleled. If his interviews and talks are compiled and released in theatres, I can buy tickets and watch them, even more times than I watched DDLJ. But no, I have never met him. I have been Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s chief DA for quite a while. Once we were close to shooting an ad campaign with SRK. But my bad luck, the campaign was cancelled last moment. Mr Mehra had even benevolently offered to take me to a party where SRK was expected since I was such a big fan. But I backed out. I felt SRK is like the moon. I don’t want to go up too close and lose the charm even a bit.
What are your thoughts on old-school romance?
It is like slow-cooked dum biriyani. I appreciate it, savour the aroma, flavour and aftertaste, a little more than the two-minute noodles. Many may argue, it is a waste of precious time. But so is taking time out to appreciate art.
Do you feel old-school romance still stands a chance in today’s world?
They say, the world today is too fast for old-school romance to stand a chance now. That’s one perspective. ‘Time is money’ is perhaps today’s motto. But everyone has a different emotional currency. What each may value, is different. Digitisation and gadget-isation have shrunk the world, brought us virtually closer, and yet made us lonelier. The word ‘touch’ is more used for screens than hearts now. Somehow the latest trends of the world are getting us habituated to shorter attention spans. But were gadgets and technology not supposed to save us time, so that we have more time to do what we like? How did we become like those gadgets, habitually rushing through everything, only because we can? We no more like ‘more time’! But I believe that as long as romance itself is not shunned as ‘old school’ passe, wanting to savour it will naturally stand a chance. Let ways, definitions and trends change. And the rest, only time will tell.
Archie believes in remembering a moment, instead of capturing it on his phone. What’s your take on this?
Phones crash more often than human minds. I am an analogue soul in a digital world. I only remember by association. I give a little story in my head to everything that I need to or want to remember. So I have my own mind network that stays. I believe if we let a click of a button store our memories and emotions, we are stuck if the button stops working. But even if, hypothetically, the entire world of servers and computers crashed, our mind palace would remain safe. Since we have our smartphones all the time, we just keep stacking records habitually. Just because it’s so convenient. How many of us really care about all that we save in our phones? What is worth looking back, is often lost in the jungle of data. On the other hand, see the beauty of our mind! We only remember what we want to. So the phone, for me is for convenience. Mind is for emotions and intellect.
How was your shooting experience?
It was a roller-coaster ride and I savoured every moment of it. My DOP Souvik Basu, like my personal Santa Clause, kept saying: “Tell me what you want buddy. And you will have it!” What we have achieved in that time, is really commendable. This is my second project with him. I know my film will look good with him around. My AD team has been my rock support. Soumen is a superstar of a chief AD. The whole industry wants him. Thank God I had him for the film. The energy has been infectious throughout the shoot. Each person in the crew and cast has outstretched him/herself, to make my first feature film special.
Two days during the shooting schedule, we had to shoot constantly for 22 hours, to be able to finish shooting the song sequences. Else we would not be able to afford four songs in the film. No one in the crew complained. Not one dozed off. My choreographer Mack never cribbed about having only six hours to shoot the Preme Pora Jak song, split over two locations! He just concentrated on doing his best! The three songs by Anik Dhar and one by Amit Chatterjee are so good, that playing them on the sound box kept the energy high on the set throughout.
Scorched in the summer sun, drenched in the rain real and manmade, our actors still looked perfect for the shots. Thanks to their spirit and to our stylist Ayan and the ace make-up and hair team. Ayoshi looks delightful throughout. And the special T-shirts with funny Bengali quotes, worn by Archie and Amulya are to look out for, in the film. The production design by Tapas Sarkar blends in so naturally that it feels like Archie has really been living in this house for 27 years of his life.
A moment from the film
What are you trying to say through the film?
That simplicity never loses its charm. Nor does nostalgia. Archie’r Gallery is a compilation of those simple moments, little dreams, special bonds and little nothings that our lives are made up of. We often miss savouring those moments. We may not be able to always make a reel or story out of them. Life goes on, and moments pass. Even the hurts and heartbreaks that seem so shattering at that point, do pass. But what touches us, has an imprint in our hearts. By bits and pieces, they form who we are, whether we are fully aware of them or not. Through Archie’r Gallery we have tried to celebrate those little sweet and sour slices of life with cinematic garnish.
What are your expectations from this film?
That our film makes its place in the audience’s hearts… because a good platter does not only have heavy-duty pulao and mutton rogan josh. It is incomplete without that little kathi kulfi. I hope Archie’r Gallery leaves that sweet aftertaste, ultimately touching more hearts.
Do you feel a woman director looks at a boy-girl romantic film in a new way from a male director? Is the treatment different?
Every director has a unique way to tell each story. I am a woman, so my gaze, my life experiences, and my hormones are different from a man’s. So, of course, my perspective, my film will be different from that of a man! But not just as a woman, but as a storyteller, I strive to tell each of my stories in a new way. Even when I’m telling an old story over again, I would want to make it new each time. Whether it’s a love story or not, there will be utmost love in the making. Coming back to your question, well yes, love means differently to some extent for a man and a woman and that’s what makes it beautiful. The differences complement each other. As long as there is love and we remember that we are in the same team, not on opposite sides of the court, differences keep the sparks alive in love! Speaking about girl-boy romantic films, Mr. And Mrs. Iyer by Aparna Sen and Sir by Rohena Gera felt extremely unique to me. As was Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind made by Michel Gondry.
With your film releasing tomorrow, how are you feeling now?
I am thoroughly enjoying the tension, the romance of visiting the locations where the posters and hoardings have come up. I will purchase tickets for random shows of this film and watch it over again sitting anonymously in the audience. I hope to feel the same, and do the same every time I make a film. Because each time it will be a new film, a new adventure. I don’t thoroughly understand how a film’s economics work. That is beyond my control. But if the excitement is rejuvenated every time, so will the love and care with which I make a film. And I strongly believe that care and love never go unnoticed. It is bound to strike a chord in some way or the other.
