Sujoy Ghosh: The search is on…

Director Sujoy Ghosh is all set to cleanse any bad taste that he might have left with his last film Aladin in 2009, by giving Bollywood fans Kahaani — the Vidya Balan-starrer, where a pregnant woman lands in Kolkata in search of her husband.

In fact, the film has already garnered much interest with Vidya Balan promoting the film in a ‘pregnant’ look and the trailer sure does raise some curiosity with its whole element of suspense.

“The film has been packaged like a thriller and sure has something mysterious about it, but that’s not the only thing it is; Kahaani is a story that’s been inspired by my mother and everyone else’s mother,” says the director.

Set in Kolkata and during Durga Pujas, Sujoy says that the particular festival represents the whole culture of the city and is significant to the film’s plot. “Durga Puja is one time when people are out on the streets; there is a general sense of merriment all around and people are having a good time. On the other hand, here is this woman who is distraught because she can’t find her husband; she is going against the tide and is like a contrast to the entire environment,” adds Sujoy.

In fact, using Kolkata as the backdrop was not only an emotional move for the filmmaker who grew up in the city. “When I was working on the script, I realised that I had two heroines in my film; one was Vidya and the other was Calcutta. The city somehow lends itself to the film; plus, this is where I have grown up, it was time I gave something back to it,” he says.

The film has quite an interesting cast as well; with Parambrata Chatterjee, who’s established himself rather well in Bengali cinema, cast along with Vidya, playing the role of a cop who helps her to find the missing husband. Was Sujoy not afraid that Param wouldn’t stand a chance against the leading lady? “Yes I was. But Param doesn’t suffer from false insecurities. In fact, he’s done such a fabulous job that I am thrilled. Incidentally, the actor who was supposed to play the part originally backed out and Param literally save my a**. I am absolutely glad for having him in the film,” says Sujoy.

Working with Vidya too was a pleasure as Sujoy reveals that she was part of the process right from the beginning. “Vidya has been involved in the script from its inception. She knew the character inside out. I have a policy; I try not to tell actors what to do. We had culled out the character in a point by point form and she took it from there. In fact, she brought her own characteristics to the film, which worked just right for the entire narration,” says the director.