Editing in films should be invisible: Deepa Bhatia

Deepa Bhatia, editor of films like Taare Zameen Par and My Name Is Khan, talks of three films that had outstanding editing.

Kaminey
I saw the first cut of Kaminey before editor Sreekar Prasad started work on it. It looked like a different film at that point of time. Then Sreekar took over and turned it around completely. The way he paced and restructured the film was amazing. It looked radically different from what it was envisioned, yet Sreekar kept the world Vishal (Bhardwaj, director) wanted intact; the soul of the film remained unchanged. A film, it is said, is scripted at three stages: the first is when it’s written; the second when it’s shot; and third when it’s edited. Each stage is important. A very well-written film sometimes gets even better at the edit table, and Sreekar did just that with the film. Kaminey is a textbook in editing a film right.

Il Postino
Il Postino has one of the best edited climaxes ever. The film has a very simple story, only 2-3 characters, and unfolds at a leisurely pace. But it all comes together in the climax, with seven-eight different elements converging. You get to see different characters and what happens to each of them — it’s an almost 20 minute-long climax, and the way it’s cut (by Roberto Perpignani) is an editor’s dream. I believe that editing in films should be invisible. A film which is cut too flamboyantly, or where the editor’s contribution comes across sharply, is not necessarily well-edited. An editor’s job is to communicate the film’s story seamlessly without distract ing audiences with a display of his/her talent. Il Postino is a perfect example of seamless editing.

Three Colors: Blue
I was a film student when I saw Krzysztof Kieslowski’s masterpiece, and I keep going back to it every seven-eight months to learn something new. The film has so little cutting, but the editing (by Jacques Witta) has outstanding hold, and great timing. Editors tend to use fade-outs between scenes a bit too callously. I constantly keep reminding my assistants that a fade-out is supposed to mean something. In Three Colors: Blue, the scene fades-out only when it needs to — such as in flashbacks. A film’s visuals need to blend with its sounds seamlessly, and that is missing in many of our films. Three Colors: Blue was the perfect mix of both.

— Deepa Bhatia spoke to Aniruddha Guha