Independent filmmaker Amartya Bhattacharya, who won a National Film Award in 2016 for his fantasy documentary ‘Benaras- the unexplored attachments’ has pulled off an unheralded masterstroke with his new Odia film ‘Adieu Godard’. A socio-cultural comic tribute to the legendary French filmmaker Jean Luc Godard, the satire is about an Indian villager’s encounter with Godard’s film. The film has grabbed recognition from across the globe with multiple awards in the kitty. It had its world premiere at the 43rd Moscow International Film Festival. Early to its release in Kolkata on September 9, the filmmaker talked about the film and shared insight into the making, in a candid conversation with Payal Roy of The Statesman.
Excerpt:
What made you experiment with such a theme in ‘Adieu Godard’?
The idea organically came to my mind. When we talk about pirated stuff we
know they are not always reliable; you buy something seeing a cover and find
out the inside material is something else. The film is about a porn addict
villager who accidentally rents Godard’s film ‘Breathless’ and that develops
an obsession in him. He decides to host a film festival in the village and from
there things start. So, when such an idea comes, you just have to allow the idea
to bloom.
As the film is a tribute to Godard, in what ways have you got influenced by
his works?
This film, if you see, is not a quintessential tribute film. People will expect it to
be so and that’s obvious, I know. But the form of Adieu Godard is in complete
contrast to Godard’s formalism. He is an inspiration and I admire him. With his
radical way of treating a concept, bringing in the form and creating a structure
in one film and breaking the structure in the next, I admire his courage and
absolute authoritative attitude of him. Godard inspires me but I don’t believe
in following the style of any filmmaker.
Working on this project must have been challenging, what was your
approach in dealing with that?
Yes, it has been challenging and especially when you work in a place like rural
Odisha where people aren’t much exposed to the ways things work in cinema.
The main challenge came when we wanted to shoot the villagers, convincing
them wasn’t a cakewalk. But then things turned out well and we shot a
sequence with real villagers watching Godard’s films. That was fun though.
What’s the significance of the title ‘Adieu Godard’?
This can be typically understood after watching the film. See, the premise
demands it and because we are talking about a French filmmaker, we wanted
to make it in a French way and so we used the word ‘Adieu’. It may sound alien
but the film is completely rooted in an Indian village milieu.
Why do you choose to make films in Odia?
I try to make films in the most authentic way possible. The premise of my film
is such that I need to create a contrast between the social milieu and the
cultural space from where Godard’s films originate. To do so I chose a social
structure that is unexposed to his films and Odisha being a place of
indigenous cultures give that space. And I’m well acquitted with the language
so thought it’ll work well here. Ultimately the authenticity of the film chose the
language. But above all cinema is a language in itself.
Tell me a bit about the casting especially the reason for casting Chowdhury
Bikas Das.
I have worked with him before also and he’s an outstanding actor. I have
always thought he deserves more exposure beyond just Odisha. When I was
writing the script his face popped up in my mind and he was a part of my
characterisation itself. Needless to say, he has given his finest performance.
The film got recognitions worldwide and is releasing on theatres now and will have a digital release across US. What’s your say on this?
See, awards accolades festivals are good but beyond that we want to showcase our films to people. Unless we do that, we don’t really build a culture.
Recognitions are always encouraging but it alone doesn’t help unless we get a
chance to exhibit it culturally. We were very eager to release the film, it’s very
entertaining and hope to attract a wider audience. I’m thankful to Tarun Adarsh and Anurag Kashyap who have lent support to us hosting the film in
social platforms. It’s a huge boost for us to see an apparently Odia film getting
a national release.
Do you have any new work in the pipeline?
Yes, there are a couple of works lined up. One is based on a devastated coastal
village affected by cyclone Fani, and there’s another very interesting musical
film in Bengali… will reveal the details in the due course.