From two-minute shorts with colony friends at the age of eight to a multi-award-winning feature film at sixteen, and then directing one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema at eighteen. Meet the now nineteen-year-old filmmaker from Kolkata – Arnab Chatterjee.
Some facts about Arnab:
Born: 13th November 1999, Kolkata
Age: 19
School: La Martiniere Calcutta
College: Amity University Kolkata
Occupation: Filmmaker, Founder & Managing Partner, ACjee Productions
Claim to fame: Unsaid, a film with thirty-one international awards
Next release: Jonmodin, starring veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee
We visited the young filmmaker for a chit-chat at his ACjee Productions office, near the Minto Park crossing of South-Central Kolkata, and were welcomed by a display of his awards from various parts of the globe, along with selected photographs of Akira Kurosawa, Charlie Chaplin, Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Roman Polanski on a wall he termed as the “Wall of Inspiration”, and a picture frame of Shah Rukh Khan behind his desk, terming it the “Corner of Worship”.
Q1: Firstly, we would like to congratulate you on everything you have achieved over the last couple of years. What a ride it has been!
A: Thank you so much! Yes, it has been great so far. But nothing is more exciting than waiting for what is next. I hope I sustain this momentum.
Q2: Those photographs on the wall – Do you intend on making films similar to what these legends made (referring to the photographs)?
A: It’s not a matter of intent, it’s more of capability. I don’t think I’m capable of creating content even close to theirs, but no harm in getting inspired by them. Very often people think that I’m a wannabe (Satyajit) Ray for example. But hell no! I’m not that delusional. It’s just love and respect for the work.
Q3: What about the frame behind the desk (referring to Shah Rukh Khan)?
A: That is totally different. Mr. Shah Rukh Khan has been a childhood inspiration for me in ways different from those men up there. You need to give me a separate segment to talk about Mr. Khan. This bit isn’t enough (laughs).
Q4: Has the success of Unsaid sunk in?
A: The success of Unsaid is very intangible and subjective. We did not have a commercial release, so there are no figures which can show success. Neither could we attract press the way we thought we could, because of the lack of known faces or stars in the film, as I was told by the media. Personally, yes, the awards and the love from abroad were beyond comparison, and I’m happy to have received all of that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t get to boast this wall in my office. Box office nahi, press nahi, ek fancy wall tohmila. (Laughs)
Q5. How are you managing studies with films? Your college must be proud of your work?
(laughs) I don’t have that answer. I hope they are proud. There had been issues and miss-communication with my attendance, but I hope that it gets sorted out as soon as possible. My work does keep me extremely tied up, more so because I don’t have a team for the distribution of load. But yes, the college has overall been smooth till now.
Q6: Your next venture, Jonmodin is of course with a totally different setup – with someone as legendary as Soumitra Chatterjee. Tell us about it, and also a bit about the miss-management of the overall budget of the film, as we’ve heard.
The next one is a short film, as you can see that I’ve exhausted all the finances with Unsaid (Laughs). However, yes, most unfortunately, the film was set on a particular budget during pre-production, but shot up to nearly double by the time shoot got over, because of the sudden and forced involvement of the federation of the regional film industry. I’m thoroughly thankful to Soumitra sir, and some of the other actors for considering the budget cringe and waiving off their remuneration completely, or partially.
Q7: The teaser of Jonmodin is so heart-touching. When do you plan to release the film?
I had initially planned to sell it off to a portal, but later changed my mind for two reasons – first, I wouldn’t get to recover even half the production cost, and second, I personally thought I would want a Soumitra Chatterjee film under my own banner, because it has been a very different experience for me. So, as of now, it is releasing on YouTube, sometime in March, if everything works as per plans. I am all open to selling it to other YouTube channels, if I get lucky, because YouTube gives far greater viewership, and that is most important. I wouldn’t commit any date right now, because that becomes an added burden.
Q8: Are you planning to settle in the regional industry, or do you plan to hit Bollywood?
A: You tell me, do plans always work out? It is great to plan big, but we need to have a bit of reality cushioning too. I do aspire to join Bollywood and make movies there. Jonmodinthe first in Bengali, in the nine or ten years of making films. Ever since I was a kid roaming around with small cameras, I used to write and shoot content in Hindi and English, thinking of myself in Bollywood. A part of me is extremely ‘Bollywoody’. I worship SRK. Isn’t that enough proof of my love for Bollywood? (laughs). However, coming back to reality, we are all aware of terms like nepotism, which greatly exist, and no denying it. I have no roots or connections in Bollywood. So, the journey, if at all it happens, will be different. I’m ready to walk it. As far as the regional industry goes, it has mostly been supportive till now, barring a few incidents. And that is how it is got to be. Nothing is a cake walk.
Q9: What next, after Jonmodin?
A: There are a few scripts and ideas in mind. I might change the genre. But, I’m more or less done with producing films. It is extremely exhausting if you are to direct and produce, with no producer and production management team backing you. I hope I this issue gets resolved post Jonmodin.
We wish Arnab all the very best with Jonmodin. The teaser of the film has sparked great interest among cine-lovers in Bengal, and we hope the film does exceedingly well. The director did not commit any release date, but our readers and film fans can expect it online, this Summer!
