BENGALURU: Being an actor has helped in directing her first feature film A Death in the Gunj, says Konkona Sen Sharma.She says, “I have seen my mother direct films from a young age. As I wrote the story, I was more comfortable I guess (to direct). Directing the film was nice, but at that time, it was really scary and tense,” she says.
Her directorial debut is based in 1979 McCluskieganj. She has been obsessing over this story from a long time. “My parents had a house in McCluskieganj in the 70s and 80s. My grandparents lived there. The place is remote and isolated. There are some stories which are creepy and eerie (about the place),” she says.
The film is an amalgamation of those stories which Konkona has fictionalised and dramatised. She also added some of her own experiences in the movie. a There is barely any information available on the place even today, she says adding, “You can find some information about Mumbai or Kolkata in 70s, but McCluskieganj is even more remote, backward and isolated.”
She talked to people, collected pieces from their memories for the story. “But memories are imperfect things. It’s very fluid and different people remember things differently. So it was quite a challenge to piece things together and give it some kind of form and shape,” she adds.
Late veteran actor Om Puri is also in the film. “I wanted him to watch the film. He was an amazing person. He used to always joke. He used to make fun of me, make everyone laugh and feed everyone on the sets.” Kokona says that she misses him now.
Her much awaited film Lipstick under my Burkha has been cleared for a release. “Thank God.. I am so happy and excited for the release. I think Alankrita has done such a stupendous job. After this whole struggle, finally people in India will get to watch it.”
Konkana along with her cast of the film A Death in the Gunj was at Inox, Garuda Mall recently. The film released on June 2.