HYDERABAD: “When I was around 18, I went to Delhi to study. There was this road from the bus stop to my hostel and I used to be so scared to walk, keeping ‘100’ on speed-dial in my left hand and carrying a small pen knife in my right hand,” recalls city-based filmmaker Triparna Banerjee.
Now, her Hindi short film Nails is the only Indian film to be selected in the Red Sea International Film Festival, to be held from December 5 to 14 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Triparna has drawn on her own experiences in life to create the 15-minute psychological horror film. Set in a fictitious town called Bellpur in the 1990s, the short film revolves around the lives of two reclusive sisters.
“My experience as a student is not unique — we women are so vigilant and that is an aspect that Dolly (Anjali Patil), the elder sister in Nails, brings out. We also explore concepts of how extreme vigilance affects her mental health,” the filmmaker explains.
The film stars Anjali Patil, Aishwarya Sonar and Riza Reji, who is a model, dancer and actress with Down Syndrome.
Speaking about Riza’s character Mony, who is the younger sister with Down Syndrome in the film, Triparna says, “My aunt has Down Syndrome and she would play with the children in the house. We never treated her differently but I wonder what she might have seen and known but will never be able to express. Mony, too, holds many secrets like that in the film.”
The director adds that mainstream films have to include more Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) as part of the main narrative and deal with pressing issues.
“Indian filmmakers are slowly going back to towns and villages to tell the stories of the common woman or man. But societies across the world still brush a lot under the carpet — this only benefits perpetrators more. So, I want to bring stories from the fringes to the forefront and tell the untold tales,” Triparna expresses, adding that she always looks at creating social impact and making people think.
These ideals trace their way back to her childhood, about which the filmmaker recalls, “Growing up in a Bengali family, I was exposed to culture and literature, reading a lot of Satyajit Ray books. I knew very early on that I wanted to be a filmmaker.”
And when Triparna was in Delhi for studies, she was selected to write for the popular children’s show on Pogo, Galli Galli Sim Sim.
“Over the last 18 years, I have worked as associate producer, writer, producer, assistant director, and a lot of other things. Oh, it takes a lot of time, grit, passion, and commitment to work,” says the filmmaker.
Triparna says there is one guiding principle while making all her films, including Nails. “Which films have touched you the most? Not the ones with glamour, the VFX or stylised action sequences. The story that emotionally connects with you stays on forever,” she expresses.
Indeed, Triparna’s two cents are timely in an era where technology has overtaken the tale. She is elated but humbly expresses her apprehensions about Nails, saying, “I am using psychological horror as a lens to tell a story about abuse and trauma. There was a concern about how people would receive that narrative. But I suppose that is the USP of the film too. Now that we are selected, the pressure has increased because the Red Sea International Film Festival is an international platform. I hope people will like the film.”