In Tollywood, directors are scared to take too many risks: Joya Ahsan
She walked into our office on the day before Pahela Baishakh in Bengal. But it also happened to be the first day of the new year in Bangladesh. So on that day, April 14, Joya Ahsanstood on the cusp of two worlds both equally Bengali, but different. That set the ball rolling for the conversation, from Satyajit Ray to Nurul Alam Atique, Humayun Ahmed to Sunil Ganguly. But as Joya explained to us, the love and adulation she receives are the same on both sides. There is no colour or religion to it. Excerpts:
This is the first time after many years that youre away from Dhaka during Pahela Baishakh. Arent you missing home?
Dont ask me about it. Ma has made all sorts of bhartas at home and shes sending me photos. I dont mind missing the religious occasions, which are big in Bangladesh. But the Mongol Shobhayatra that happens in Dhaka on Pahela Baishakh is something else altogether. People go crazy at the carnival. They are drunk on the energy and joy of the celebrations. Even someone who earns 5,000 Taka will set aside something to celebrate this day. They will draw Bangladesh flags on their cheeks and go out. People buy colourful clothes saris, lungi, gamchha especially for kids.
Kolkata has no such celebrations for Pahela Baishakh. What are your plans?
Friends have called me over for lunch, some of them want to bring over home-cooked food to my place. But I will also have to go for hall visits, because Bishorjon has just released. So its more of a working Pahela Baishakh for me (smiles)! Talking about our shared cultural heritage West Bengal and Bangladesh do you think there is a greater sense of pride and joy in being
Bengali and speaking Bangla on that side of the border than here?
In Bangladesh, people are more emotional. People in Kolkata also love their language, but yes, there are some things that irritate me. Lets say I go to a hospital to see a doctor. They can see from my passport and my clothes that Im Bengali. The person at the counter is also Bengali, I can see that on his name tag. But they immediately start speaking in English. I find this attitude very difficult to understand. Why would one Bengali person speak to another in English? In Bangladesh too we have this tribe who love to speak in, what we call, Banglish. They roll their Rs and have a different attitude. It is sad, really.
Being someone from the entertainment industry, do you find people in Bengal as aware about the cinema, music and literature of Bangladesh as people there are about the art and culture in West Bengal?
Oh no, I think people on this side of the border are much deprived. You have Sunil, Sirshendu and others here, but our literature is of great calibre, whether it is Shahduzzaman, Ilias, or senior writers like Humayun Ahmed and Hasan Azizul Huq. For example, Huqs stories have subtexts and layers that reveal themselves only when you read between the lines of the written text. Ive done Rajkahini on Partition, but let me tell you about Khancha, a film on Partition that Ive done in Bangladesh. Its about the stories of families trapped on both sides of the border, thinking that all their problems will get solved once they are able to cross over. It is a remarkable film and these stories need to be told. People here are missing them.
What about the films that youve done in Tollywood? Have they been creatively fulfilling?
See, there are problems on both sides, and we artistes are caught in the middle. We are always searching for good characters and storytelling. But in Tollywood, there is a lot of fear among directors. Sahosh ta kom. But the industry provides such great infrastructure and organisation. All departments have separate roles and everyone knows their job. Even after getting so much in terms of facilities, if one does not make something dynamic, then it is a matter of great sadness. In Bangladesh, there is not much infrastructure, but a lot of passion. At times, even the entire production budget has not been organised, but the director is like cholo, lets start shooting. Since Im greedy for good roles, I too get swayed by the passion, and youll probably find me in some remote part of the country, where there isnt even proper drinking water, shooting for the film. There is a sense of madness and joy. Filmmakers may not understand the managerial aspect of it, but there is a sense of honesty you can glimpse in the films there. I dont find that honesty here. In Tollywood, things are done mathematically, based mostly on audience perception. The thinking is narrow. Which is why, since Satyajit Ray, hardly any films have travelled to the big festivals. But in Bangladesh, a host of independent directors is doing cutting-edge work. Take the example of Abdullah Mohd Saad. Hes a young director, whos made Live From Dhaka, which has made a big splash at international festivals. Its about a physically challenged man who wants to leave behind the life of Dhaka.
What about roles you get here and in Bangladesh? What are the differences?
They trust me there with interesting female roles. Maybe its because I do mostly independent films and that too not very frequently. In Bengal, directors love to play safe. Women in Tollywood films are mostly very feminine; thats the way theyre designed. The thinking is on a small scale. In Bangladesh, Ive just done a film on life in a circus. From walking a tightrope to doing stunts, Ive not taken a body double. Where are roles like that for women here? I also did Peyarar Subash with Nurul Alam Atique. He lives the life of a filmmaker. One doesnt become a filmmaker only my making films. You have to live that life. Like Indranil Roychowdhury here, I want to work with him again and again. The problem in Tollywood is that they will only shoot as much as theyve planned and never go beyond that. Even if interesting things come up, they wont go by impulse. At times, Im itching to suggest something, but I know it is of no use and hold myself back. In Bangladesh, the madness is much more. There is still a hangover of Ritwik Ghatak there, much more than Satyajit Ray. Even Im a bigger fan of Ghatak. He felt the pain of Partition and carried it in his heart to India. That pain is there in his works.
Rajkahini, Bishorjon youre constantly working on films where the border is a motif. As a Bangladeshi working in India, how do you react to that?
Im the biggest sufferer in that respect. I have to come with a passport to this country to meet my friends and work with them. People have welcomed me here, but there are troubles at the bureaucratic level. In Bangladesh, people are very possessive about me, and their emotions run to extremes. When they love me, it is with all their hearts. When they want to throw me away, that, too, they do with full force. But at the end of the day, Im an artiste and Ill work wherever I get the chance. The other thing that irritates me is that when Shakib Al Hasan plays here, there is a great sense of pride in Bangladesh. But when Joya Ahsan works in India, many people cant take it. I honestly think there is a gender issue at work here.
This is a busy year for you. You have a lot of releases lined up on that side of the border.
Yes, thats true. But my biggest challenge this year is that I have also pitched myself as a producer. Ive got a government subsidy to make a film based on Humayun Ahmeds story, Debi. Ive got the government funds, but I have to gather the rest of the money and finish the film within time. The shooting is going on. This is a story from the Misir Ali series. Chanchal Choudhury, who had a role in Moner Manush, play Misir Ali.
When you get roles here, do you see a tendency to offer you characters that speak a Bangladeshi dialect? Does that act as a limitation?
(Pauses) I dont feel any limitation from my side. If I get cast as a person with a Purba Bangla background, thats because those roles have been written in that manner. Srijit told me there was a character from that background in Rajkahini. Kaushikda had written the story of Bishorjon a long time back, but after meeting me, the idea became more concrete. As for me, Ive always liked stories about marginalised people. Thats not to say I cant play urban characters, but thats not my first choice. I wouldnt want mind roles about adivasi people, or people from far-flung areas in India. Im confident of taking up that challenge. What is the point of doing characters that are just like me in real life? l
--The Times of India
