Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar on his film, I Want To Talk, and working with Abhishek Bachchan for the first time
Moving a story through stillness and silences has become a signature style of filmmaker Shoojit Sircar. The creative genius who has given us films like October, Piku, Gulabo Sitabo, and Sardar Udham among others, has again managed to stir the audiences with another gem called I Want To Talk, which released in the theatres last week. Based on the life of US-based marketing professional Arjun Sen, a cancer survivor who went through more than 20 major surgeries in his life, I Want To Talk -- headlined by Abhishek Bachchan, who plays Sen -- also takes one through the poignant relationship of a father-daughter duo too and underscores the importance of communication in life.
Post the film's release, Shoojit talks with us about what stoked him to make this film, his own journey as a father, and his experience of working with Abhishek Bachchan for the first time.
Excerpts from the chat.
The stillness you create in story progression immerses the audience further into the narrative. Tell us how you conceived it for this particular film?
I was told that a lot of audiences who went and watched it in the theatres sat through those moments and it was engaging, they didn't go to their mobile phones or anything like that. So even if there were still and static moments, they drew the audiences into the film. What happens is if you feel the character and the world it is going through, it straightaway hooks you and you want to go through his life, and then, I think silences or static shots add to it and the pace depends from film to film. Of course, I love the beautiful silences, for me a shot like somebody sitting in the balcony and watching a tree outside the house through a window is great and I kept those shots in the film too.
I think silence at times convey deeper meaning of what you are going through and communicate in a better way and in those silences you might transcend into your own journeys... they always speak volumes and communicate much more sometimes. So, in a lot of my films silences play a huge part.
Tell us how you came upon Arjun Sen and his story?
Arjun is a friend of mine, whom I came to know through common friends. He lives in the US and around 2020 we started talking about this journey of his life through a podcast and then I started probing him. We were also going through the pandemic at that time, so, a lot of fear played in people's minds and I heard his personal journey of resilience and tenacity of fighting with health issues like cancer. Also, the bizarreness of his behaviour, the fact that he was a marketing guy and with a will to fight back, his relationship with his daughter, who constantly played a referee in his life, etc got me interested.
But I actually decided to make the film when I started talking to his daughter Raka. Of course, Arjun has his own perspective to life, marriage and relationship with his daughter, but when I spoke to Raka that's when I got the idea what she was going through, possibly living two lives between this house and that house post her parents' divorce. It affects children, no matter how little, when they don't get their parents when they actually need them. Those kids won't be vocal about it at that age, they know parents have to go out for work... they keep it to themselves and want to talk about it.
So when I was talking to Raka she is 31 years old and she is recollecting all these impressions of childhood that are also changing. But when you are 5 or 6, they might have hurt at those moments. Also, in this case, the father was never openly conversing and not giving all information to his daughter, whom he was treating as a child.
Has this film also made you delve into your own relationship with your daughters?
A lot of people have sent messages that you have made this film for your daughters and you actually want to talk to them and I won't deny the fact. I have two daughters (18 and 22) and the elder one, Koena, has composed the background music of this film. You have to have an open conversation all the time. You can't keep it to yourself, they also have opinions and you can't lecture them. But they also need you at certain moments. All these I learnt while filming.
Are you also possessive like Arjun when it comes to your daughters' love lives? It's a recurring theme in your films including Piku?
I think all fathers are possessive (laughs). My daughters pull my legs all the time and tell me that I don't have to poke my nose in their personal lives. But I guess all fathers are like that more or less.
Tell us about your work with Abhishek for the first time. How different is his acting approach than his father (Amitabh Bachchan)?
His approach is quite different but I have seen him personally also and I feel he is very intelligent and his sense of knowledge in terms of worldview is quite good. It's just that we wanted to see him in the right kinds of films always but were missing him in that space. I was looking for the right script to work with him. He is very sharp and he studied cinema and theatre and is very good at learning and picking up things.
He was into it and was ready to relate to every moment we were trying to create in this film. As he himself is a father, there were many things he could understand as a father and he has seen the American life, too, which is a lonely life, and all about chasing money all the time and only weekends left to yourselves. Even if you get sick, there's hardly any extended family to take care of you.
While filming Abhishek met Arjun but I wanted him to construct the character the way he wanted to. I liberated him from those constraints and he just bloomed in the film.
Whom do you enjoy working more with? Abhishek or Amitabh?
I'm in love with Abhishek already and with Amitabh, I have worked with him in 5 films already. I want to work with both of them and enjoy working with them equally.
Despite being such a good film, the box office results are not flattering. Do you feel movies like this are geared more for the OTT audience?
I think a change has definitely happened. But I had a similar fate when I released October in 2018.. I think most movies are fast-paced and have a restlessness about them. But there are some films which are calm and I don't want to blame the audience and I am thankful to those who are going and watching it. What can I do if there is a change?
What inspires you as a filmmaker and how you have evolved?
Cinema has somewhat over the years elevated me and my conscience and it keeps doing it. Some morality or wisdom comes with it and elevates you as a human being, it is a cleansing process. Film impacts you and changes you, sometimes the way you do things and corrects your course. All these films have done that to me.
Among all your films so far, which are close to your heart?
I think Sardar Udham -- I enjoyed making it, and also October.
What's your next project?
I am working on a couple of projects, it can be either a romance or a mythology.
Ever felt like working on any series?
Yes, I had a few ideas and one idea has already been done by others. I will soon do something in that zone and it will be a period drama.
Any actor you wish to work with?
Meryl Streep.