Picturing the Real

Producer Shiladitya Bora on his debut as director and capturing the contemporary spirit of India

Shiladitya Bora

He has donned many hats — film festival curator, producer, distributor — and now he turns director. “That’s always been the plan,” says Shiladitya Bora, 33. Credited with having conceptualised PVR Director’s Rare vertical, Bora earned a name for himself for spotting quirky, untold stories and bringing them to the screen. He was the CEO of Drishyam Films — the independent production house that has films like Newton, Masaan and Ankhon Dekhi to its credit. Two years ago, Bora started his own production and distribution company Platoon One. His debut directorial venture, Aap Ke Aa Jaane Se, touches upon the themes of unfinished desires, social media trends and fake news. The 15-minute film set in Ghaziabad revolves around Rammo Babu, who works in a sari shop and accidentally tastes social media fame. The film will be screened at the New York Indian Film Festival next week.

Have you been planning to direct since long?

I have always wanted to be a filmmaker but to make your own film, you need many things to fall into place at the right time. I learnt the business of films in the process, and that always comes in handy.

Aap Ke Aa Jaane Se is loosely based on the ‘dancing uncle’ whose video went viral with his slick moves on the eponymous Govinda song.

A still from Aap Ke Aa Jaane Se

We, at my production house, were once discussing to produce an anthology around one theme. Fame was one topic that came up. At that time I thought that this would be too expensive — to showcase the meteoric rise of anything. My writers commented that ‘aaj kal fame is over social media and is not expensive — look at that dancing uncle”. That idea stayed with me and I decided to make a film on it.

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Your film invokes the hold that social media seems to have on our society.

It’s the contemporary spirit of India, where everyone wants their 15-minutes of fame. In the film, the help in the sari shop dreams of minting millions through his ‘tik-tok’ videos. Social media is a great equaliser of sorts. We can’t ignore the phenomena of WhatsApp forwards and the news that’s circulated on them.

Your other production, Yours Truly, streams on Zee5 today. It has a cameo by Mahesh Bhatt.

I am a huge fan of Sanjoy Nag’s previous work, Memories of March. When I came to know he’s making Yours Truly, based on Annie Zaidi’s book, I wanted to be a part of it. It is about a 57-year-old woman who’s about to retire and is searching for the voice that she’s heard over the speakers at the train station for years. As for Mahesh Bhatt, every film needs a champion, and Bhatt sir was the champion for Yours Truly.

How do you think independent cinema has evolved, given the boom of digital platforms?

We are in what I think is the golden period for good stories to be told. Yours Truly is available in 190 countries, whereas here it might have struggled to get screenings in the theatre. The digital space has taken off the pressure of a Friday release. Mainstream Bollywood can’t give employment to the sheer volume of talent that we have, but alternate mediums can. But not everything will work and if you can’t absorb the attention, the viewers will switch to the next available film/series in minutes.

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