Creating a mild buzz among indie film lovers and critics is debut director, Charudutt Acharaya’s Sonali Cable. The film was selected for the Mahindra Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2012 and stars Rhea Chakraborty and Ali Fazal. Acharaya is an award winning television writer and has worked on soap operas like Jassi Jaise Koi Nahin and most recently Crime Patrol. As for movies, the Mumbaikar has co-written Dum Maro Dum and Nautanki Saala. With Sonali Cable, Acharya has mixed feelings. “One day I am extremely confident and the next day I have butterflies in my stomach,” he confesses.
Sonali Cable is about fighting against monopoly and sees a small time business taking on a big enterprise. So who is Sonali? “She is a girl from Mumbai who is outspoken and surrounded by boys working for her, who often use cuss words. I had once finished my script for a television show but could not send the script on time because of bad network; broadband was introduced recemtly. I called Sonali who had a small cable shop who sent someone immediately to rectify the problem. That’s where I got my inspiration from,” shares the director, who consciously had a woman as his lead. “Only the character of Sonali is from real life, the other ideas were built later,” he states.
A fan of quirky thrillers and human drama, the 44-year-old director says, “I am fine with larger-than-life American movies like Nebraska but prefer movies that are based on relationships.”
Sonali Cable is scheduled to release on October 10.