Like most romantic filmmakers, Bijaya Jena believes in love stories albeit of a different kind. Jena’s next, an English film called Goan Sonata is set in pre-liberation Goa
Filmmaker Bijaya Jena plans to cast Andy Garcia in her next filmt_suparna@dnaindia.netLike most romantic filmmakers, Bijaya Jena believes in love stories albeit of a different kind. Jena’s next, an English film called Goan Sonata is set in pre-liberation Goa, it’s a story of Adrian Grey, a British travel writer who falls in love with Maria, a woman of Indian Portuguese origin.
Her film is far removed from what Indian audiences feed on and Jena says that she can never make a typical Bollywood romance. It is a story about the interesting chemistry between the characters from different cultures.
“I like to make intriguing films like that of Roman Polanski or Alfred Hitchcock that hook the audience and does good business all over the world,” she says.
“But these are films which do not have the Bollywood trappings or formula. I don’t like songs as much as I like instrumental music as a background score. That can elevate an emotion to another plane combined with good visuals and performance. That’s poetry on celluloid.”
Jena plans to get Andy Garcia and F Murray Abraham to play the central characters in Goan Sonata. “They have both liked the script. I’m currently negotiating the financial details with them,” she says.
She adds, “I grew up in Orissa where I did not really see Bollywood stuff and FTII exposed me to World Cinema. Then I went on to see loads of films at international film festivals.” Jena’s earlier films prove the influences she talks about. Her last directorial venture, Tara got her a National award and the second one Abhas went on to become major international festivals like Montreal, La Rochelle and Cairo.
“Bollywood is all about love and euphoria and larger than life, over the top emotions. That’s not my take. It’s exactly the same reason I can’t do an opera,” she says, adding that the toughest part has been getting investors to put money into a non-Bollywood film.
Though she will start shooting for the film next year, Jena says that writing Goan Sonata was a fulfilling experience in itself. “There are no films as such set in pre-liberation Goa. I had to a lot of research at the Goan library. I also spoke to people who have knowledge of the fifties as kids or from their parents.”
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