The old adage has it that a film is created three times; when it’s written, when it’s shot and when it’s edited. Namrata Rao comes to the picture in the third and final leg of creation. With four Bollywood blockbusters – ‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!’, ‘Ishqiya’, ‘Love, Sex Aur Dhokha’, ‘Band Baaja Barat’ - and a number of documentaries to her credit, Namrata is a name to reckon with in the film industry.
Comic addiction
Namrata grew up on comics. From Amar Chitra Katha to Tintin, she used to read them all. “I used to read comics all the time and was not much interested in dolls and other toys. My parents used to encourage me to read more. In fact, at times I used to smuggle these books to school. I think that’s how I got hooked on to story telling,” recollects Namrata who has fond memories of spending her holidays in Kochi where her grandparents and extended family are based.
Tryst with films
During her schooldays Namrata’s family hardly used to go out to watch movies. It was after joining college that she started watching movies with her friends.
Almost a techie
Namrata never thought of entering the entertainment industry since she came from an academic background. “My father was with BHEL and I had thought I would end up in Infosys or TCS.” After taking her degree in IT from Delhi University, she worked as a multimedia programmer but discontinued the job when she realised programming was not her cup of tea.
In pursuit of creativity
Namrata didn’t want to tie herself down to a 9 to 5 job and longed to do something creative. She joined a graphic design studio in Delhi. “It was a small beginning. Initially, I enjoyed my job. I used to write copies for ads and design the layouts. But soon I got bored.”
A stint with NDTV
Later she worked as a production assistant for the programme ‘Double Take’ with NDTV. By this time, Namrata says, she felt a bit lost. “All this while I was trying to find where I can fit into. At NDTV I got exposed to a lot of things like editing, sound design etc. But I did not get an in-depth knowledge in any of the fields. Finally, I quit as I felt it was not my calling.”
Finding her niche
It was on a friend’s suggestion that she joined film school - the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata, where she did a Post Graduate Diploma in Cinema and specialized in film editing. “In those three years my life changed.” Soon she started working on a lot of documentaries and short films. “I worked for Sanghamithra Karmakar’s ‘Baba Black Beard’ and Shyamal Karmakar’s ‘I’m the very Beautiful’. These two short films got selected to international film festivals.
The Bollywood break
Dibakar Banerjee who gave her the first Bollywood break, for the movie ‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!’ That was followed by ‘Ishqiya’, ‘Love, Sex Aur Dhokha’ and ‘Band Baaja Barat’.
In touch with reality
There is a major difference between working for a Bollywood movie and a documentary, she says. “In Bollywood you live in a bubble. But a documentary grounds you, in it you create reality. That is a lot of work and you are on your toes all the time. I love that kind of work where I’m in touch with real life. But the advantage of working in a Bollywood movie is that more people will know you.
Ignorance is bliss
Namrata feels that most people do not know about film editing and recalls an incident to justify the same. During one of her journeys from Mumbai to Pune she got into conversation with a woman sitting next to her. “She asked me what I did and I told her that I’m a film editor. The next question was, ‘for which magazine?’ In a way that is good, for people would continue to believe all that they watch on the screen without realizing that somebody has worked hard to put all the sequences together.”
Hooked on to film editing
“Film editing is story telling. A film editor has to tell a story shot by the director and written by a writer; in short, put more energy into it. An editor has to decide when the music should start and stop. Editing is like music, it’s the rhythm of the film.”
Working 24x7
“I used to work 24x7. But after my marriage (her husband Kanu Behl is a writer) we are trying to discipline our lives. We are limiting our working hours now.”
New projects
She will start working on a Yash Raj project in May and Dibakar Banerjee’s ‘Shanghai’ in a couple of months. Her husband is working on his own script and is also writing for Yash and Dibakar. So their hands are full this year. “Yes, luckily,” says Namrata as a parting note. So we will hear more about the couple in the future.