Debutante director Snigdha P Roy's Aakuti is a tender, moving exploration of childhood. The film tells the story of an eight-year-old girl (Kavisha Mahanta) navigating the challenges of growing up without a mother and being raised by a single father (Dr Nilim Chetia). The father and daughter bond over food and music as the little girl tries to overcome her fears and insecurities. However, the entry of another woman (Anisha Hazarika) in her father's life complicates their relationship.
Aakuti is set to have its worldwide premiere at the New York Indian Film Festival. Ahead of the premiere, Snigdha P Roy spoke to CE about her film, its unconventional ending, her background as an editor, her filmmaking influences, and more.
Excerpts:
Where did you get the idea for Aakuti?
I had this thought about a girl sitting alone somewhere and drawing something. It started from there. I have a niece who lost her mother when she was very young. And I lost my father when I was 10. So I know how it feels.
How did you ensure the emotional turmoil of her character did not affect the child artist?
I would often approach her and check on her after a shot, especially the nightmare sequences. I also asked her to let me know if she has any issues so that I can stop the shoot. However, she is an extroverted girl and did not complain about anything during the shoot. The only issue was that she was scared of sitting on the back of the bicycle, so we had her sit in front.
The film has an unconventional climax. How did you arrive at it?
I wanted the audience to go with the idea that she will be in good hands and her life will be good. I did not want to define it anymore by showing what happened later on. With the open ending, people will come out of the theatre with joy in their hearts.
What about the couple? Are they afraid of social stigma?
The father's main concern is the daughter. Ultimately, he wants her to be happy, although he also realises that his daughter needs a mother figure. And regarding the woman, she is not concerned about how society will view her relationship. She has an outburst not because of social stigma, but because her father (Arun Hazarika) calls her a whore for her relationship with a man.
How did your editing experience help with your directorial debut?
It helped in a major way while writing also. As writers, we tend to generate too much content and write rather elaborate scenes, only to realise later that we do not need that much visually. Being an editor, I have an idea about what scenes to skip, so there was no question of over-shooting. So I do not have to rewrite scenes on the edit table.
The characters and the places they inhabit… They all have a lived-in feeling… Did you achieve this with an extensive pre-production schedule?
I did not have a long pre-production. The key is in the use of the camera and extracting natural performances. Most of the time, the camera is merely observing the characters in a bid to achieve a storybook kind of aesthetic. Further, we only had a script reading session for the main characters and did not have any rehearsals, to ensure that the performances would appear natural and not practiced. For example, when the girl stops dancing at one point, it happens unbeknownst to her co-dancers except for her close friend. The lack of rehearsals preserved the surprise element in the other dancers. Furthermore, they are all very natural actors. I did not have to do much to make them act.
At one point, the girl tells her father that a married man should not be in a relationship again. She says she heard it from her grandparents. Does a girl of her age understand such nuances?
Of course, she does. It’s interesting you mention this line because I was conscious of ensuring that every line for the girl is authentic for an eight-year-old while writing the script and not something written by an adult. Furthermore, I like to understand children and try to be in their shoes and see how they would react. And I love kids as well.
The interaction between the girl and the mother figure reminds you that a father cannot replace a mother, however hard he tries. There are certain things best suited for women…
True. In one scene, she asks the father if she can chop the vegetables. And the father tells her no, saying “you will hurt yourself.” However, when the girl asks the same thing to the mother figure, she just makes her clean the tomatoes. This way, the woman ensures the girl is engaged without putting her in harm's way. So every woman has this nurturing quality by default. It comes naturally to them, and I feel it does make a difference to children.
The common notion is that boys love their mothers more and girls are closer to their fathers. Aakuti goes against this notion…
In urban cities, parents and children display affection differently from those in a village. For example, growing up in Assam, I hardly ever saw a father hug his daughter. In such places, they do not show it as physically and their relationship with a girl child is built more on respect. However, I did not consider the location while writing the screenplay. For example, consider the scenario of the father believing that his daughter will come home after she goes missing. Such emotions are universally applicable.
What has the response to the film been like in the festival circuit? Has anyone said something about it that really resonated with you?
It had a good response at the Waves Film Bazaar last year. There, a producer told me that the film reminded him of his late mother. We will have it premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival. Unfortunately, I was denied a visa, so my brother will represent the film there.
Who are your influences?
I like Satyajit Ray's films, Majid Majid's film Color of Paradise, and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's work.