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Anvitaa Dutt, the writer and director of the Netflix films Bulbbul and Qala, spoke about the overarching themes in her films, and how she has shown violence against women in them. In an interview with Film Companion, she was asked where she draws the line on how much information she should provide to the audience before giving away too much.
She said that more than ‘whodunnits’, she writes ‘howdunnits’. She added, “I believe that people are intelligent. I’m not trying to hide information from them. I just try to show them enough that they feel rewarded by their solving of the problem or who the character is. I want to give them the sense that something is not right, and then show them how and why it’s not right…”. Spoilers ahead.
In Bulbbul, it was hinted throughout the film that the central character was in fact the vengeful witch haunting the nearby forest. And in Qala, the film foreshadows the death of Babil Khan’s character by having Swastika Mukherjee announce to the audience that mercury is dangerous for a singer’s throat. During the course of the film, we are shown glimpses of his slow poising by mercury, but the final admission happens only later.
Responding to a question about the poisoning in particular, Anvitaa said, “As I’m telling you the story, I’m also showing you certain things. I’m revealing my cards one by one. I don’t like to spoonfeed but I’m also not lying to you. I’m more interested in telling you the mental and emotional journey of this character who is either finding her agency, losing or being thwarted for trying to find it. I’m spinning a yarn. I’m not trying to fool you or con you. I’m just trying to find the best possible way to tell you what is bothering me and I hope like hell that it bothers you too.”
She also addressed the scenes of violence against women in both her films. She said that in Bulbbul, she consciously chose to focus on the titular character’s reaction to abuse, while in Qala, she drew parallels between Amit Sial’s abuser and a nearby stone gargoyle. “If you think about it,” she said, “both are scenes of rape.” She continued, “In Bulbbul, I didn’t want to show the man’s face because Mahendra was blinded by lust. I had to show the girl on which this brutality was being inflicted and the terror in her eyes. In this case, I wanted to show the monster in plain sight. His pleasure, his unexpected turn when he’s supposed to be actually helping her and which is why I used the image of gargoyle. It’s the monster in plain sight.” These are just different ways of ‘driving home’ the same brutality, she said.
Bulbbul and Qala both star Triptii Dimri in the lead roles, and both films have received largely positive reviews. While Bulbbul was released in 2020, Qala landed on Netflix earlier this month.
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