After winning the National Award for his film Avijatrik, filmmaker Subhrajit Mitra is all set to direct his next period piece, Devi Chowdhurani. A candid chat.
How did you get the idea for the film? Why did you want to tell the story?
I was studying and researching the Battle of Plassey, Battle of Buxar, The Great Bengal Famine of 1770 and the Sanyasi and Fakir Rebellion for a Hindi film — which I was offered to direct by a big production house in Mumbai after winning my National Award — that spans across this era. Of course, this includes the advent and invasion of the British East India Company in India in its early years. Coincidentally, Anandamath and Devi Chowdhurani by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay are based on the similar timescale where I find the latter more appealing in terms of a film.
It narrates a journey of a simple village lass who eventually becomes the first Indian woman freedom fighter, historically, against the colonial rule in India in the later part of the 18th century, much before Laxmi Bai of Jhansi. I felt this story through my cinematic interpretation would be my humble homage to my motherland in her 75th year of Independence. It also tells the story of the Hindu ascetic monks who had no other option but to take up arms against the British colonial rulers to save the country and her people. It was the first armed revolution by the Indians, led by Bhavani Charan Pathak, against the British East India Company.
Why did you decide to direct it next?
Devi Chowdhurani gives me the opportunity to get me out of my comfort zone. It is a much bigger canvas... it is actually a part of our lesser-known history. I wanted to tell this story, the urge was intense. I wanted to make a film on this novel and the time period which portrays a plausible historical reconstruction. I am fascinated by films of a similar genre by master directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Ridley Scott. The Seven Samurai, Roshomon, Ran, Throne of Blood, Gladiator, Robinhood to name a few. We do have a dearth of these kinds of films in Indian cinema barring a few such as Junoon by Shyam Benegal or Satranj Ki Khiladi by Satyajit Ray. We Indians tend to go overboard with historical fiction and lack the cinematic approach which can fetch international appreciation. I wish not to delve into that path.
I was already researching on these. I only had to adapt the storyline into an alternative historical interpretation. The basic plotline remains the same but almost 80 per cent of the film is closer to the actual history, rather than the novel. It is built on the premise of “what might have actually happened”.
How did you decide on the cast?
Casting is a very intuitive process for me which begins at the time of inception. By the time I write my script, I am kind of certain about whom to approach for which character. I guess a few factors play a crucial role in the back of my mind for deciding. First, they need to be excellent actors, that’s the priority number one. Then his or her natural beauty and screen presence. And next is their star factor. For period piece films I prefer to cast actors with similar physical attributes which are closer to that era. Gym figures and surgically cosmetic enhancements are a strict no, no in these kinds of movies.
Prosenjit Chatterjee has liked the script immensely and thinks this is a very ambitious project. I am very grateful to Bumbada, that he has kindly consented to play the character of Bhavani Pathak. In fact, he was the first person to whom I narrated the screenplay. We do have some big plans together with this film. The audience will get to see the real historical Bhavani Charan Pathak in this film, and no one else but Bumbada can pull off this character. Srabanti Chatterjee as Devi Chowdhurani aka Profullo was a natural choice for me. We have many brilliant actresses in our industry, but she is the perfect choice for this most sought-after titular character, look wise as well as for her acting prowess, which is criminally underused by the directors so far. We know each other for quite some time now, and we are good friends.
From the close quarters, I have seen the hunger in her to excel in this character. She even started her physical training and required transformation to play the character of Devi Chowdhurani from the inception stage. Indraneil Sengupta was also my natural choice as Rangaraj because of his unmatched X factor, which is the need of the character. All of them have consented and agreed to be on board to play these legendary characters of Indian literature as well as Indian history. Bibriti Chatterjee as Nishi and Darshana Banik as Sagar are finalised and locked.
These two ladies are supremely talented and the audience will find them in a new light in this movie. They are also very excited to be a part of this magnum opus. Extremely good actor and a handsome hunk with sharp, intelligent eyes, Kinjal Nanda will be essaying the character of Brojeswar. The acting workshop will be done by Sohag Sen. I am in talks with a prominent senior actor for the character of Haraballav, which I hope to lock within a few days. The characters of Warren Hastings and Colonel Monroe will be played by British actors. I am in talks with them and their agents. It’ll be finalised soon. There will be a special appearance for the character of Majnu Shah, the leader of the Fakir rebellion. Let that casting remain a surprise for the time being.
What are your thoughts on the scale of the film?
This film requires a huge scale and budget to mount it as a magnum opus. An LA-based production house, ADited Motion Pictures, is backing the project as the primary producer. A few of the internationally recognised production houses based out of Mumbai as well as a few local renowned production houses have shown keen interest and contacted me to be the partial stakeholder or to be the presenter for this extremely prestigious film. Sham Kaushal, India’s finest and numberone action choreographer has kindly consented to be on board, after reading the script. He will bring in his expert team who have worked in films such as Bajirao Mastani, Padmavat, Manikarnika, PS1,PS2. He will personally conduct his workshops for several days with the actors in Calcutta before the actual filming of the action sequences.
Music director of this film will be the ever-dependable Pandit Bickram Ghosh. He thinks he will have an immense opportunity to use the musical instruments of that era to bring out authentic musical representation in background scoring.
I am leaving no stone unturned to achieve what I have visualised. With the help of the cast and crew and their unmatched brilliance, we do aspire to make a film that will be worth remembering in the decades to come and will be a future reference point for all cine lovers across the world. We will dub the film in six languages and release it simultaneously all across India and abroad. Somebody from the Bengal film industry had to take the initiative to take the big jump, and I hope the rest will follow us. Collectively we can take Tollywood to the next level if we try earnestly and help each other with honest intentions.
How different will be your film from the 1974 one?
Like chalk and cheese. It will be totally different. The 1974 film was faithful to the original text and was far from the historical accuracy as well as the authentic look of the characters. Though it was a cult classic and commercially successful largely because of Suchitra Sen. Satyajit Ray wanted to make a film on this novel but industry politics did not let him do it. I guess he would have taken the same path as he did on his Satranj Ki Khiladi in terms of treatment. He even incorporated a scene from the novel in his film Nayak. My Devi Chowdhurani, that is, Bandit Queen of Bengal will be my personal homage to the master as well.
