Pratim D Gupta has an intimate bond with food, which is reflected well in his films. As his latest project Ranna Baati has hit the theatres last Friday, we speak with the filmmaker about the culinary drama and his relationship with food. Excerpts:
Why did you choose to make Ranna Baati?
While the demand for thrillers is always there, I personally like making softer films like Maacher Jhol and Ahare Mon, because I like exploring human relationships. The idea didn’t arise from creating just another film revolving around food. I see many of my male friends working in the IT sector missing out on the growing-up years of their children because of work pressure. The mothers are filling in the g aps, but I wondered, what if the mother passes away? That became the crux of the story.
In the film, the father (Ritwick Chakraborty) and his teen daughter lived like strangers in their house; and there was no way they could connect, except for food. Food is such a healer, bringing nostalgia and memories on a plate. I thought of bringing in food as a bridge between the father and daughter and that’s how the rest of the story came in.
You have made both thrillers and soft relationship dramas. Which one do you think is more difficult to handle?
Thrillers have a plot-based structure. The story has to keep going ahead rapidly, while a film like Maacher Jhol or Ranna Baati is about the moments, and the characters are intrinsic to the plot. In films like these, with every scene, something changes within the characters, and you need brilliant actors to convey those emotions, with just a glance or a smile. The challenge also lies in writing and directing these.
What does food mean to you?
Different things at different times! I’m overweight, and for many years, having food has involved guilt. Back in school, I could have a plate of biryani without a second thought, but now, I have to think about how much rice I can have, whether I should have the mutton, when did I have mutton the last time and things like that. With so much information around food on social media, it has kind of gotten inside me. I am a huge foodie, but eating without inhibition is now gone.
But I love food, I love to cook, which acts as a stressbuster. And nothing can match my mother’s cooking.
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