Kolkata, Oct 24 (PTI) In a dig at the human psyche to look the other way when a grievous crime takes place, even to the extent of the rape-murder of a woman in a public place, socially conscientious director Atanu Ghosh now desperately seeks for the one streak of sunshine after ‘Rupkatha Noy’.
In ‘Ekphali Rodh’, the national awardee for ‘Anshumaner Chhobi’ now extends from the reference of the brutal rape-murder of a 28-year-old in New York in broad public view with none coming to the rescue till her screams went numb and her body became lifeless and the criminal ran away from the scene.
“I came across the news reports and it shocked me no end. But then I remembered about similar incidents, may be of lesser degree and how in our own backyard we look the other way when such incidents happened,” Atanu said.
This was long before Nirbhaya when the film was shot.
“But there was always a topicaity and a universality to it,” the thinking-cerebral film maker, also having made ‘Aby Sen’ on the contrasting lifestyles and values of two different time zones, said.
Atanu is loath to call it a dark film but nevertheless it probes human psyche and if there is a typical urban inertia behind the whole thing.
“In the film a social scientist creates a mock scene of crime, a situation which compels reaction. But will there be any (reaction)? And if so among how many? It is a mirror to our selves,” the Radhika Apte director said.
‘Shabdo’ and ‘Bakita Byaktigato’ actor Ritwik Chakroborty essays the role of chronicler while thespian Dhritiman Chatterjee is the social scientist, a far cry from the role of an elderly sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi in ‘Sajarur Kanta.’ PTI SUS AMD