Aparna Sen I have no use for stars

'I have no use for stars'

9 Feb 2008, 0000 hrs IST,RUMA SINGH ,TNN

Aparna Sen is enchanted, engaged and totally obsessed. And the object of her affections is her latest cinematic venture, a film based on Kunal Basu's delicate love story, The Japanese Wife, starring Rahul Bose and Raima Sen.

The director, who has garnered accolades for her sensitive films, including 36 Chowringhee Lane, Paroma and Mr and Mrs Iyer, is convinced The Japanese Wife will be her best.

What made her pick this tiny haiku of a story? "It called out to me," she says, "I could see that it possessed a tremendous potential for visual impact. The story has a stark quality, like a Japanese sketch."

Earlier, her lead actor Rahul Bose had commented on how he was blown away by the subtlety with which she had handled the subject, calling it her best film to date. "Yes, it's delicate," she smiles, "I've become very attached to the characters. I was weeping so hard behind the camera while filming a scene in which Rahul's character falls sick, that my cameraman reached over and held my shoulder."

The director seems to have a connection with Rahul Bose, repeating him for the most challenging roles. "I trust him completely," she says, "He's not a star. He comes to me as an actor. I've no use for those who come as stars."

Aparna is one of India's few directors who has the gall to make her actors, from Shabana Azmi to Rahul Bose, participate in pre-film acting workshops. She nods, "Everyone has to do the workshop. I don't want my actors to encounter their characters for the first time on the sets. They must have a knowledge of each other, and be familiar with their characters' backgrounds and mannerisms." So Raima Sen learnt to dry and pleat her cotton sarees just like a village woman does, cook and even sweep the floors. Rahul Bose learnt to cycle with an umbrella held over his head, as his character did in the story.

Ask her about her daughter, Konkona Sen Sharma, and she smiles. "I have to work very little with her. Her preparation for a role is very intuitive. I also make her go through the workshop, but while some actors get involved to the extent of breaking down as they get into their characters, Konkona absorbs nuances at every level. Konkona is doing a great job in mainstream films and parallel cinema. She acts through observation and goes straight to the truth," she says.

Does she think any male director would be able to replicate the delicacy of feeling that she is known for in her films? She smiles, "Even in the relationship between Rahul and his Japanese wife, their growing closeness is depicted through small nuances — the tugging of a sleeve, the way he fixes her ghungat. It needs a woman director to think of all this."

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