It took a dream to wake Kaushik Roy to reality eight years ago. To reform him from being a pushy father of an autistic boy to one who allows his son to find his piece of sky, and reach for it. This transformation is the basis of Roy’s debut film, Apna Asmaan, starring powerhouse performers Irrfan Khan and Shobana, which premieres across India tomorrow. One night, Roy, nephew of legendary filmmaker Bimal Roy, dreamt that his son Orko had become successful but refused to recognise him. That was in 1999. “It made me realise that I was looking for something which was not part of my son’s character,” says the producer-director. Casting aside his own dream of seeing Orko excel in studies, Roy also reigned in his wife’s expectations. Instead, Roy, a skilled painter and photographer, took up the brush again after nearly two decades. And so did Orko, who was then 10 years old. “By now, our house has piles and piles of his sketches, which are mostly of animals and landscapes. Orko even held an exhibition of his paintings last year,” says the proud father. Like Orko, Apna Asmaan’s protagonist, 15-year-old Buddhi, too loves to paint. He too is subjected to the high expectations of his parents, who want him to be a “normal, good student”. While Irrfan and Shobana play Buddhi’s parents, the cast includes Anupam Kher and Rajat Kapoor. The film is releasing in nearly 60 theatres in cities. Roy calls it “a modern-day fable of love and redemption”. Apna Asmaan has already received critical acclaim, winning the German Star of India at the Stuttgart Festival and being picked for Argentina’s San Luis Cine Festival too. “Though Orko’s story flows into Buddhi’s, the film is not autobiographical. It has been fictionalised a lot,” says Roy, head of brand strategy and marketing communication, Reliance Industries. However, he adds that Buddhi’s story can be the story of any child — whether normal or with special needs — who is saddled by parental expectations. “After I became aware of my mistakes while dealing with Orko, I realised that I should have allowed my eldest son, Rajiv, to make all his decisions,” says Roy. “Even normal children need to discover their talent and find their confidence, which is affected by parental nagging,” he adds. The adman-turned-filmmaker is a lenient father now. Orko is distracted by television, books and other things which catch a teenager’s fancy. “From making 50-odd sketches in a day, he has come down to doing one in two days,” says Roy. But this time, there is no pressure.
