Calcutta has its way of bringing its people back to the city over and over again, no matter where they disperse for whatever reason. It was only last month that Calcutta’s very own Sharmila Tagore was back in the city to shoot for a Bengali film after 14 years. The film? Suman Ghosh’s Puratawn. The production? Rituparna Sengupta’s Bhavna Aaj O Kal.

A glimpse of the lunchtime on the sets

Rituparna, besides producing the film, is also playing a lead role in the film along with Indraneil Sengupta. A few days after the team started their Bengal schedule after wrapping up their Meghalaya schedule, following the GMap address sent to us by Rituparna’s team, we reached their first Bengal location — an old jute mill in Titagarh, Loomtex Jute Mill. An over 150-year-old dilapidated building stands facing a garden and the river Ganga. Made aware by a few crew members about the shoot in progress, without making any sound of our footsteps, we reached the first floor. Rituparna, sitting on the balcony, with a laptop in front, was in the middle of a take. Suman was directing the scene from a room behind. The floor was silent. I took a quick glance of the floor from the corner where I was standing. Even without spotting Suman on the set, I could say it is a Suman Ghosh set! The set aesthetic gave it away. Meticulous to the M! Art director Tanmoy Chakraborty, who designed the set, agreed with me. “His script is already very detailed. The rest, I add, but the script always helps. The film has a flashback period, a present and a time in between. We shot in two houses in Calcutta to show the different times, so we had to shift some furniture, too. We searched a lot before we got this house. No one has entered this place in a long time. I had to make it habitable. Suman’s brief to me was to treat it as my work. A storeroom is very vital in this film…here we found such a storeroom. I found a lot of old furniture there, which I used in the film. We don’t get such furniture easily. I had to create the garden and the ghat as well. For the rooms, the details that we added… I could recall some details of my house from the early ’70s… I was very young then… how my mother used to keep her knitting balls…,” said Tanmoy.

Rituparna, right after completing the take, spotted me and waved from where she was. She never forgets to greet, and even while doing an emotionally intense take, she noticed our presence on the floor. The camera and monitor position were changed. The team was getting ready for a different shot. It is a scene between the mother and daughter in the film — Sharmila Tagore and Rituparna Sengupta. Sharmila Tagore arrived way before her take. Took a seat beside Suman and watched Rituparna perform her solo take. She suggested something about the curtains to Suman. He instantly noticed and conveyed it to DoP Ravi Kiran Ayyagari. The suggestion made everyone happy.

Standing behind Suman, with eyes on the monitor, for me it was a surreal moment to see for the very first time the legendary Sharmila Tagore act live. She was in a no-make-up look and a simple white cotton sari, with her slight damp hair wrapped in a gamchha. Her signature grace was intact, despite the non-glamourous look. After the director okay-ed the take, she walked out of the room and headed straight for the monitor. Sat beside the director and assistant director Angelica Monica Bhowmick, along with Rituparna, and checked her performance. All four felt happy and satisfied and laughed a hearty laugh listening to the dialogues of the shot. And that’s how each shot and each scene was being completed on this set.

Sharmila didn’t miss capturing some BTS moments on the sets in her phone before starting her shots

“On the set everyone is very close. Everyone is exchanging ideas. Everybody understands everybody. Rituparna is a very good producer. Very thorough. She is a multitasker. She, of course, behaves very nicely with everyone, and is very aware of who to inform what. She is also managing the family, acting, producing, managing everything and making time for everything. Keeping contact with friends, too. This energy can come only when one is organised or has clear thoughts. Anyone who is thinking badly of other people can’t do this. She is a good human being who is trying to balance everything. That energy comes through,” said Sharmila, the moment t2 caught up with her in between shots. As she mentioned to us about Rituparna’s infectious energy, we quickly pointed out to her about her own that was inspiring everyone on the sets, from climbing the stairs of the old building countless times in a day to working for long hours. “When you start working you forget the difficulties. There’s not a false note in anybody’s mind here. The team is working very hard. We are cooperating with each other,” she said.

For lunch, everybody gathered on the grounds. A table under the tree was set for the actors and the director. The menu highlight of their table? Home-cooked lau chingri from Rituparna’s home. “I have lots of good cooks at home. I asked Sharmilaji what she wanted to have. She said she loves fish. So, I am trying to get different kinds of fish for her. Today, I got lau chingri and she loved it. We had jhinge posto yesterday. One of these days, we had mutton and kochu bata. Doi and sandesh are also there on the set. We are so much in awe of her, we can’t understand what to do. We grew up watching her (on screen). To me she is like a dream… her films Mausam, Griha Pravesh.... Today is my father’s birthday (December 19).

Rituparna in a shot on the verandah

I got sweets for everyone on the sets. Amar Prem, Mausum and Nayak were my baba’s favourites. He used to not watch many films, but he loved Sharmilaji. I lost my father almost 13 years back. Baba would have been very happy and proud to know that I am working with her,” said a very nostalgic Rituparna, when t2 caught up with her in her vanity.

Rituparna further told us how getting the bungalow inside the jute mill was a difficult task for her as a producer. “The whole film is related to this house. Suman wouldn’t do the film without such a house,” she said. Her co-actors agreed and everyone cracked a joke about how no one other than the house was actually important for the director to start the shoot of the film.

“A big inspiration for the film was how Sharmilaji looks now. That’s how the idea came to me. But then she was not working. The entire process was started by Ritu (Rituparna). I had gone to interview her for my documentary on Aparna Sen. Ritu had probably already asked her if she would do a film. She said she would but it would have to be inspiring for her to do at this stage. Then I told Ritu that I have an idea with her but if she doesn’t do it, then I will not go ahead with it. There was an event in San Francisco on 100 years of Satyajit Ray. I was supposed to conduct that session. I told her the story. She liked the story but I didn’t have the script then. She said unless she is convinced with the script, she wouldn’t do it. Then the script was prepared in three months and sent to her. That’s how it finally happened. Apart from my cast, I had told the entire team that I wanted an old house, with a garden in front. We searched for the house for five months, all over India. The script was written imagining a house like this. We used the river a lot and the garden was created,” explained Suman.

A room in the 150-year-old building meticulously arranged for a shot

Indraneil, who was waiting on the grounds post lunch for his shot, pointed out to us something we totally agreed on. The set was busy yet quiet. Work was getting done, yet no one was screaming. “This film is being completely produced by Bhavna Aaj O Kal. I have been completely impressed by how Ritu (Rituparna) is handling everything. The facilities she is providing the actors. It is a rare thing in Calcutta. Without having to say anything it is all being given. We don’t have to ask for anything. It is a 15-day shoot in total. If we shoot 20 hours a day, we can probably complete it in six to seven days but nobody feels happy to work like that. It is not a serial, where daily 20-minute episodes need to be made. No unnecessary screaming on the sets. Ritu is seeing to it that it goes smoothly. This is very Bombay. Food is also great. She is getting food from her home every day and feeding us,” said Indraneil Sengupta, before starting his shot with Rituparna and Sharmila.

Spending just a day on the sets of a film like this wasn’t enough for t2. Just like the team that was trying to make the most of the experience on the sets, we tried to make the most of the opportunity the producer gave us to tag along with them to their next location in the city, too. To be continued...