Having made his first feature film Ebhabei Golpo Hok in 2020 at the age of 20, Rohan Sen has directed other films like Aparajitaa and Subho Bijoya, with a few short films in his kitty as well. His latest directorial venture, a five-episode Bengali web series named Sohochori, is streaming on the Aaro Ananda app since August 5. A t2 chat with the new-generation film-maker.
Congratulations on the launch of your web series Sohochori on the Aaro Ananda platform. Tell us how it all happened.
The series is a five-part story that I had written with the specific intention that I would turn it into a web series. The content is purely web series content and I have constructed the story in a way that makes it suitable for episodic viewing only rather than for a film. In fact, the series ends in such a way that we can easily develop a Season 2 from it, if necessary. Though there is a finite ending to this story at the end of the last episode, there remains the possibility of starting afresh with the same story, with another chapter and on another note. So when the script was ready for being made into a series, I approached Aaro Ananda and as soon as they accepted my proposal, we set to work on it.
Do you want your viewers to consider it as just another modern urban love story?
It is definitely a romantic story and takes us through the relationship trajectory of a pair of young lovers in the city. And certainly, their love affair has a very contemporary, urban flavour as they enter into a live-in relationship. Having said that, their love affair is only the starting point for focusing attention on a whole range of other issues. On the one hand, it depicts the changes it brings about in the lives of the lovers Soumyo and Diya played by Rwitobroto (Mukherjee) and Surangana (Bandyopadhyay) who hail from different cities and backgrounds. It offers perspectives on how they handle their jobs and personal lives and how their journey, which perhaps becomes tougher when a couple starts living together, makes them grow into more mature individuals. The series also highlights problems arising from a conservative culture and from parents’ anxiety to make their children conform to preset social standards. It also deals with the pressures and evils of the corporate world.
What is it about Sohochori that you feel will make it appeal to audiences?
The story starts off as a breezy, romantic tale with a fresh and happy feel about it. The love affair between the couple has been portrayed sweetly and sensitively and yet offers a contemporary take on romantic relationships. It takes us through the ups and downs in the lives of the two lovers but strictly avoids the monotony associated with the familiar aspects of such relationships. The series stands out for its moments, which are embedded seamlessly in the narrative. They are also like milestones marking the plot's progress as the lovers continue on their individual and shared journeys.
Another very distinctive feature of Sohochori is that it is a very smart, clean modern romantic drama; it steers clear of the murky side of love stories like illicit affairs, or any show of eroticism or vulgarity. Instead, it thrives on its solid plot and its emphasis on love as the binding force that drives the narrative. The story will appeal to audiences for its simplicity and its heart-warming quality that will make you feel good and calm your nerves when you sit down to watch it at the end of a hard day.
Rohan Sen
Share with us your experiences with the cast of Sohochori.
Basically, both of them are my friends more than anything else. I have known Rwitobroto for years and we have been meaning to work together for a long time, but, unfortunately, that could not happen for various reasons. So we were both overjoyed when we finally got this chance. Surangana was a fellow student at my university and that’s when I first got to know her. My experiences with both of them were fantastic, to say the least. Though they have worked opposite each other once before, their on-screen chemistry in this series is just terrific and they both look very good as a couple. Since we are all of the same age, we also had great fun together throughout the making of this series. At this point, I must also mention my co-writers for the screenplay Ayan Banerjee and Suvarthi Mohanti. The entire unit of Sohochori is quite young and so it was like a party for us every day… and on the day we had to do an outdoor shoot, it felt as though we were on a picnic! We went all the way to Princep Ghat, shot on the riverside, in the Maidan and then at a gorgeous rooftop café. We enjoyed ourselves the most that day and will carry pleasant memories of it for the rest of our lives.
Why did you want to tell this story? Is there any specific idea you wish to communicate to your audience?
As was evident from the trailer itself, my target audience is mainly young adults and those starting to lead independent lives away from their families. Older audiences may also like it but for completely different reasons. I have had people already calling up to tell me that it is exuding happy vibes and it gave me great satisfaction to hear it. This series deals with the turbulences in romance and professional life that nearly everybody experiences at some point in their lives, but it has no intention to be didactic, to endorse any philosophy or to impart any serious knowledge about life.
At the same time, there is a simple message that this series wishes to convey which will become clear once you have watched all five episodes. In fact, there is a monologue by Soumyo at the end of Sohochori where he almost spells it out for the audience. Fundamentally, the series shows us that in spite of life’s upheavals, we should love deeply and keep life as stress-free as possible.
