Our film ‘Delhi Dark’ does not only talk about black color...

 -Dibakar Das Roy

These days, on the one hand, big-budget films are failing at the box office, while on the other hand, low-budget films based on good content are attracting the attention of the audience. One of these films is “Delhi Dark”. This created a lot of buzz in the recently concluded “MAMI International Film Festival” in Mumbai and is now going to be shown at the Italian Festival very soon. This film is the first film of Dibakar Das Roy as writer, director, and co-producer.

Here are excerpts from the conversation with Dibakar Das Roy...

How did you get into films?

I come from a Bengali family in Calcutta. You also know that there is an atmosphere of art, culture, music, dance, etc. in every Bengali family. So, I also had this environment since childhood. My parents are fond of watching films. Movies were watched by bringing video cassettes home. I was not allowed to watch movies. But I used to watch movies silently, hiding or pretending to sleep. Even if the story or scenes of the film are beyond my understanding. Then when I grew up, I used to go to video parlors almost every day and get video cassettes. Because in those days it was the era of video cassettes. Whenever my uncle or any other relative used to come to my house, I would take them to the video parlor so that they could get me a video cassette.

I am a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan ji. Once we were watching Amitabh Bachchan's film 'Deewar' at home. We were watching this movie on the VCR and could also rewind it with the remote. Amitabh Bachchan's character dies in the film. My parents get up and go out. Then I rewind the film and show Amitabh Bachchan's character alive and tell my parents that he is not dead, he is alive. So, I have been interested in playing with things since childhood. I also started doing theater in my school days.

When did the thought of making a film come to your mind?

-While studying in boarding school, I acted in many satirical plays. There has been a lot of interest in doing satirical plays. Acted in many plays like 'Taj Mahal Ka Tender', and ‘Charandas Chor'. The idea of making films has come to my mind since my school days. I did a lot of plays even during my college days.

What is the movie “Delhi Dark”?

-Our film ‘Delhi Dark’ revolves around the issue of racial discrimination and ‘outsiders’. The story of the film revolves around an African youth in Delhi and living in Delhi. There is also talk about black color i.e. apartheid. But our intention behind this is not just to talk about Africans in Delhi. The intention is to talk about someone who feels like an outsider in society today, who could be in India, America, or any other place. We are talking about acceptance of every human being. This feeling should come from every human being.

What is the story of the film?

-In short, there is an African boy Michael Okeke (Samuel Abiola Robinson), who is studying MBA in Delhi. He is looking for a job. He wants to settle in Delhi. But he is not getting a job. Apart from this, he does some illegal work.

Is it to be believed that you started writing the story because of the way you were being treated in the boarding school?

-Sir, I had a senior in boarding school, who used to stalk me in front of everyone. He had given me many names including ‘Kala’. I remember very well that one day I came to my room and wrote an essay regarding this incident. In that letter, I even wrote that he harassed me by calling me 'black', and I wrote that I feel like beating him. Well, in my childhood I felt that I was able to deal with the frustration I had. So it is possible that all this remained in some corner of my mind, on which I have made this film.

But why is Delhi the center of your story? Why not Mumbai or Calcutta?

-The first thing is that Delhi is a city which I know very well. Delhi is a city that is full of history. It is a culturally rich city. After living in Delhi for 14 years, I learned to speak Hindi well and I can consider Delhi as my city. There is also a layer of philosophy in Delhi. Delhi is also spiritually rich. Delhi is the capital of the country. It is a cosmopolitan city. There are endless stories of apartheid in Delhi. There is a central sense of being Indian in our film and I think the city of Delhi represents that.

How was Robinson selected for the lead role in the film?

-Robinson is originally Nigerian. But he has acted in Malayalam films like “Sudanese from Nigeria” and “Oru Caribbean Udayippu”. These films have been successful. I have seen 'Sudama from Nigeria' and after seeing Robinson's performance in this film, I felt that he was suitable for the role in my film.

How was the experience of working with Samuel Abiola Robinson?

-It was great working with him because he is a talented actor. Our film is about cultural differences, so I don't think that was a problem. Because when we were making the film, we had many detailed discussions on such issues. Racial discrimination is omnipresent in our country.

How long did it take you to make the film Delhi Dark?

-It took a year to write the script and about a year and a half to shoot and edit.

What advice would you like to give to budding filmmakers?

-I would advise him to spend as much time as possible on the script because that is where one can add value to a film. I believe that a good script will always give you at least an average film, whereas a poorly executed script will never give you a good film. Plus, when you're starting and resources are limited, you can control the production at the script level and make sure you have a handle on it from the beginning. If you start with a script that you feel is not yet finished, it can cause serious problems at the production stage.

Your film “Delhi Dark” was premiered at the MAMI Film Festival. What was your experience?

-Had a very good experience. The visitors to MAMI are genuine cinema lovers. And he gives you all the love and support that a budding independent filmmaker like me can hope for. Plus, they enjoyed my movie, laughing at all the right parts. After watching the film people asked interesting questions. From this, I understood that the audience understood my film.

Any interesting incident during the shooting of ‘Delhi Dark’ that you would like to share?

-Yes yes! There is a scene in our film, where Michael Okeke is roaming around Delhi asking people where to get a job. We shot this scene anonymously with real people, whom we later told we were shooting with. In this way, a lot of real things are going to be seen in our film.

What are your further plans?

-Have to make other films also. But only comedy films have to be made. I will make films with dark comedy and social satire.

• Shantiswarup Tripathi

Tags : delhi-dark | amitabh-bachchan

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