(In Focus)

“Calcutta to Cardiff was definitely not a CAKEWALK!” - Ram Kamal Mukherjee

Passionate about good cinema, director and author Ram Kamal Mukherjee tells Sumita Chakraborty why he continues to make films he believes in despite the many challenges and more…

He’s fanatically passionate about his films. His belief is supreme… for he believes in only good content. And despite the challenges or the many ups and downs in his life, he has always come out with good cinema. No wonder, he’s bagged prestigious awards from all across the world for his films Cakewalk, Seasons Greetings and now Rickshawalla has been honoured at so many international film festivals including the Global Film and Music Festival at Virginia, USA and has even won the top most honour for best film (social message) at Cardiff Film Festival. Meet the multi-faceted and extremely talented Ram Kamal Mukherjee who despite the odds has stuck to his beliefs to come out with good cinema. Here Ram talks about challenges of being an independent director, his passion for making good cinema and more.

Ram you’ve made several award-winning short films, how has the journey been?

Actually, Cakewalk and Broken Frame are two short films, the rest are pretty much feature film length as per International festivals standards. My film Season’s Greetings was 47 mins, Rickshawala is almost 50 mins, then Shubho Bijoya is 50 minutes. The journey has been tough as I took a much difficult route. It would have been easier if I would have signed a studio or a star, but I chose to work with my own conviction. When you have a star backing you then your work becomes easy. I meet producers who doesn’t care about content, they are concerned about “Kaunsa star aap la sakte ho?” Now the sad part is that stars will only work with their friends. Some are decent enough to meet and politely turn you down, some are too professional and asks their managers to do the needful. So you have a choice - either you wait till a star falls from the milky way on your lap or you make your own film with honesty and let the world smell the coffee. But for the second option, you need to be either filthy rich or have a good investor. Yes, I did get good investors and even a few bad ones. I had to put in my savings, sell my wife’s jewelry to pay interest on the loans, and even borrow from friends. It might sound a bit absurd, but I knew that I will be able to sail through this phase. But then, what I didn’t foresee was Covid19. That shook me completely. Suddenly there was a phase when all shoots stopped, studios went dry, people started losing jobs, the investors started hounding as they wanted their money back, I had nothing to fall back on. As I have mentioned earlier also, I try to figure out the silver lining in a dark hole. This time, the darkness was a bit long.

“So when my film gets standing ovation, when people like Nandita Puri and Uma DaCuhna talks about Rickshawala, I only thank my team.”

With Producer Aritra Das

What are the challenges you’ve faced?

…That I have reserved for my memoirs. Jokes apart, everything was a challenge. To survive in a city like Mumbai with basic living standard you need to have enough earning. Now someone who is sitting home since March 2020 to November 2020, it’s difficult to survive. Some friends came forward and stood by our trying times, some had their own reasons and survival issues. I didn’t make money from Cakewalk and Season’s Greetings, I made good cinema. I made products that laid a strong foundation of our production house Assorted Motion Pictures. So as we moved ahead, the challenges became tougher. I would approach OTT platform for acquisition deals and they would take their own time to revert. The CEOs and COOs were also losing their jobs, so it would be like snakes and ladder for me. Every time a new boss would join in - that person would have his or her own set of rules and ideas. But we survived, and that’s the silver lining that I am talking about. Frankly speaking, there were days when I didnt know how I would survive the next day. I had to motivate myself to pull myself out of bed, and reinstall faith in what I believe. That’s how I have survived this Pandemic.

“Due to the Pandemic, my investors backed out at the last minute. We were all set to roll, but they had cold feet.”

After Cakewalk and Season’s Greetings, Rickshawala is travelling from Melbourne to Madridfilmfestivals,tellusaboutthis?

Rickshawala is yet again a very special film for us. I wanted to make this film at a very reasonable cost. All I needed was good actors who would believe in me. I had my entire team standing in the middle of the sun, rain, and hailstorm in Kolkata just to make this happen. We couldn’t provide even vanity vans to our lead actors. I am thankful to my producer Aritra Das and Gaurav Daga who had sacrificed a lot. Then my directorial team Saikat Das, Shonnet, and Anirban - they worked relentlessly. My cinematographer Modhura Palit, what a wonderful lady to work with. She works with passion and soul. There were days when the entire unit survived on coke and sandwich as we didn’t have time or the luxury of a lunch break. And the most important part of Rickshawala was Avinash Dwivedi, my hero, who is a gem of a person. There were incidents where he had to hold his pee for hours as there was no public washroom. Once my production controller requested a family to let him pee in their toilet. I also remember that Avinash was following a particular diet to look lean, and he wanted a simple Subway sandwich, for which my producers drove 40 mins inside the city, and by the time they came back, it started raining. I remember Avinash standing under the shade of a garage, half drenched having his sandwich and black coffee. That too with a smile on his face. I can’t orget what Avinash and my team did for Rickshawala. Now that the film is getting accolades from international film festivals and critics, and Avinash is getting his due, I am happy that it was worth it. But the struggle continues. We approached studios and OTTs to acquire the film, none of them did. We asked actors to support and tweet, none replied. We asked magazines and print media to support, none came forward. Today, I am glad that Stardust is asking me these questions. It’s very easy to run #nepotism campaigns, but when it comes to actually supporting a new actor or maker, they all go silent. So when my film gets a standing ovation, when people like Nandita Puri and Uma DaCuhna talks about Rickshawala, I only thank my team. It’s their blood and sweat, that our film is getting blessed. And I also know that someone in this world will value our work.

With Celina Jaitly

Areshortfilmseconomicallysavvy?

Yes and no. It depends. Unlike USA, India is still figuring a way out to monetize short films. I think very soon niche companies will come up with platforms that will only cater to short films. For investors, it is a quick rollout and for makers, its a quick delivery of a product. International Film Festivals give a lot of importance to Short Length feature films. I would request Stardust to also include Short Film categories in their award ceremony.

Are there any plans of doing a full-fledged Bollywood film?

Yes of course, in fact I had announced my first full length Bengali feature film Nati Binodini early this year, but due to the Pandemic, my investors backed out at the last minute. We were all set to roll, but they had cold feet. But now with theatres opening up

“I have so many stories to tell, hope I will be able to tell all my stories before the final curtain call! “

for public, we will have to search for new investors. As far as Hindi feature film is concerned, for that I have been working on two subjects, and hopefully, both will materialize.

As a director, what is now on your bucket list?

I am eagerly waiting to release my films Rickshawala, Broken Frame and Shubho Bijoya. I am also working on Nati Binodini at the same time, utilizing the time on brushing the script. I want to make cinema that talks about human emotions, that’s what excites me the most.

Whenyoulookback,howhasthejourneybeen?Are you living your dream?

I don’t look back. Every time, I look back, I feel that nothing was easy. And that’s how life is. Yes, I am sure that whatever I have achieved in the last two decades in Mumbai, might be an aspirational story for others. But for me, I am yet to start my journey. There is so much to do, and we are running short of time. I have so many stories to tell, hope I will be able to tell all my stories before the final curtain call!