Soumik Sen is the friend who gave me a Woody Allen omnibus as a marriage gift. Whether the gesture had some kind of symbolism I can’t say. It’s just that I continue reading it, till this day, when I am out of wits.
The way I remember my friend and colleague Soumik is very different from what he is now. A young man freshly out of the Delhi School of Economics, he joined Business Standard TV in Delhi, perhaps to appease the gnawing creative bug that was always integral to his constitution.
His breathless energy, voracious reading habits, ear (and fingers) for classical music and a head-full of unkempt curly hair that showed no signs of discipline ever – that’s the Soumik Sen with whom I worked for a couple of years, when the millennium was taking a turn.
The good thing about Soumik is – he never felt like a no-body. Ever.
He had ideas, and he stuck to them; he drew his lifeblood from books and films, and was always ready to talk about and around them, dissect them, and analyze them, even if that meant overnight hair-splitting debates.
I lost touch with him after life took me elsewhere, and he stayed back in Business Standard. I don’t know by what happy providence he landed in Mumbai, and started working in feature films. Never asked him. But yes, the Soumik I knew was always the one who wanted to do everything first-hand. That has stayed on. Being perfectly capable and aptly skilled to step into many shoes with equal aplomb, he has eventually became a screenwriter/ composer/ lyricist/ actor/ director – sometimes all at once.
After his directorial debut in Mumbai, his tryst with Kolkata and foray into Bengali films is also not surprising. His love for Bengali Cinema, particularly Satyajit Ray, was probably the reason why he got into the field in the first place. And then, once in Kolkata, he was on home turf, ready to think out-of-the-box.
And what ideas!! I remember him talking about a film that would feature the ghost of Devdas mentoring another spurned lover from present day; yet another plan was to make a movie in which the children of ‘Goopi Gyne Bagha Byne’ will inherit the ‘magic’ from their fathers …and so on.
Like Soumik says in his interview below “…never a dearth of material.”
The recent Bengali film that he scripted and directed, ‘Mahalaya’, is quite close to my heart. Majorly because it talks about a phenomenon that makes me cringe – it could perhaps be called cultural annexation.
I can understand ‘assimilation’, where slowly two or more cultures intermix and create a melting-pot which has features of all of them. That kind of mix is more out of necessity of the people who are living that culture, out of an urge to understand each other. But when a higher power, vain and under the influence, seeks to impose language restrictions or hit at the core beliefs of a community, just because they think they can – I have issues with it. I believe Soumik has too.
And it’s relevant; it’s happening now, and it will happen again.
For me, that’s what the film “Mahalaya” is all about – the right of communities to abide by their own cultural roots, and stand strong against any attempt to vilify it.
Anyways, I think I should take a pause here. My political misgivings are not going to make you a better writer; Soumik’s interview will. Here it is.
- You are more of an ‘ideas’ man – since the time I knew you, you always came up with fascinating ideas. Can you share with my readers how you generate them? Is it from extensive reading? Inspirations from other forms of creative expressions? Or pure ‘adda’?
I guess it’s a combination of all of the above. But reading mostly. And that is a never ending ocean. Also life as we live it is changing all the time and newer dynamics are defining our way of life, human experiences and challenges; so never a dearth of material.
- Tell me about your initial screenwriting days in Mumbai – how did “Anthony Kaun Hai” happen? Was it a struggle getting your first break in Mumbai?
That was quite by accident. I had written something else and then a 2 hero project came upon. Raj Kaushal who is now a good friend asked me to pitch him something. It worked for him and I went about banging out the first draft on MS Word.
The struggle is constant. Yes achievements and a padded CV always help you find work but it’s tougher trying to keep your mind independent and do YOUR kind of work. Thankfully now that’s a problem of plenty, with the way the industry has evolved monetarily as well as by the sheer range of writers who are pushing each other with new and fresh ideas.
- It was a real roller coaster ride – that one; but it sure does bring to mind more of a Hollywood style of storytelling than ‘desi’. Which brings me to a question – which screenplay writers, internationally, have had the greatest influence on your writing?
Tarrantino and Hitchcock. And of course, the one man institution – Ray. And of course now the likes of Armando Ianucci , Charlie Brooker, the Coen Brothers are giants.
- You were the front runner of another interesting trend – films based on real events and characters; I am talking of ‘Gulaab Gang’ here and then ‘Cheat India’. What made you choose such a ‘realistic’ subject as your debut directorial venture?
I actually wanted to do a western. A simple good vs bad story with largely only women in the fray. And the Indian political landscape coupled with a commune of vigilantes taking off. Inglorious and Mirch Masala were cerebral ingredients.
- What are the essentials of writing a screenplay like Gulaab Gang, which is highly different from thrillers like Anthony Kaun Hai or Rom-coms like ‘Meerabai Not Out’ – how different is the approach?
When you are doing a straight out biopic the closer example would be something like Kishore Kumar. When one is picking up a milieu like Bundelkhand or cheating in exams like in Cheat India one has to be well versed with the language, tenor, nuance of the region’s history, politics etc. A rom-com is essentially about making the audience smile; a thriller is aimed at tugging at the mind once it is immersed in the narrative. It’s like a magic show for adults
6. ‘Mahalaya’ is once again based around a historical event – and a rather controversial one. How did this idea come across? Where did your screenwriter get all that personal history?
It remains the most iconic Bengali event; and the unceremonious replacement of the longest running radio show in the history of India was a story waiting to get made. I just thought of it first. And yes I did the screenplay myself and the research was done accordingly. I take time to make my films. So it needs a certain sense of research and understanding.
- Since this is a blog meant for young writers – can I ask you – how does Soumik Sen write his screenplays – is it story first, and then audio visuals … what is the system?
Always story first; unless one is adapting an existing material. And then, when you get down to it, it’s a vision that guides.
- So what is your writing schedule?
Well most of the time if an idea is formatting itself in my head I have to think of the 3 acts. And then subconsciously scenes and links keep forming. I sit down to it when I think I am ready. Then putting it on paper is a process. Also ideas get far greater clarity when you type IMO. That’s just the first draft. Then comes the slow cooking bit of it.
- Now this might sound silly – but I have to ask it anyways; does the fact that you are an excellent Sarod player and a composer help you write better?
Music subconsciously perhaps allows you to hear a soundscape. But more often than not it is easier to stick to the story.
- Last question – again about ‘screenplays’. So for my young aspiring writer friends, who read my blog – what would be your advice – how should one prepare to become a screenplay writer?
Watch films, shows. Read. And after you like something immensely break it down; read scripts online and see how the page to screen transformation has happened. And then go about breaking down a film you have already seen and loved. And see if it gives you the same joy when you break it down.
A few years back, Soumik wrote the script for Anurag Basu’s proposed biopic on Kishore Kumar. I know how close this project still remains to his heart; I know he likes being called ‘bangdu’ by his friends (that’s how Kishore Kumar addressed his protégé Sunil Dutt in Padosan); I have even read many of his interviews where he has shared his devoted passion about Kishore…
I couldn’t help but share an excerpt from a 2014 Times of India interview.
Well Soumik, I can’t help but agree to that.
I know you say Anurag Basu will do a better job directing the Kishore biopic. But why can’t two people direct two different films on the same person? Or three? Or more?
Why can’t there be a Bengali language biopic on Kishore Kumar?
Anyways!! Shouldn’t crib about things I can’t help. It’s just that I want to, so badly, see that film you wrote …
Very interesting. I loved the film ‘Mahalaya’