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Shivajee Chandrabhushan
Shivajee Chandrabhushan is the director of the acclaimed new film "Frozen". It won the special jury prize this year at the Osian’s-Cinefan Film Festival, which takes place annually in New Delhi. This led to the film being selected for the Toronto and London Film Festivals.
"Frozen" is set high up in the Himalayan Mountains and explores the theme of displacement and the brutality of the military. Ricky Ghosh Dastidar met with the charismatic first-time director when he was in London to promote his film, which many critics claim has broken new ground in contemporary Indian cinema.
Frozen is your debut feature. What inspired you to write it in the first place?
The film is actually semi-autobiographical. The ideas have been with me since the age of four so I thought it would be a great place from which to start writing a script. Although "Frozen" is a Shivajee Chandrabhushan Film, I hate it when it is put like that because it really was more of a collective effort. Everybody involved felt like they were making their first movie so I encouraged them to add to it in whatever way the
y could!
You have a diverse background in fields such as photography, mountaineering, sociology
and law. Was film-making always your ultimate goal?
I actually landed into film-making by accident! It’s all part of a journey and as I am a firm believer in destiny. I prefer to live in the moment and not think too much about what is going to happen next. I also don’t think too much about the past.
The film was shot high-up in the Himalayan Mountains at sub-zero temperatures. How difficult was it to shoot in such extreme conditions?
When you say extreme, the average height we shot the film at was 15,000 feet and when you say sub-zero temperatures, the average temperature was minus 30 degrees celsius!
I had actually trekked in that area of Ladakh before so I knew it well. We took a crew of about 55 people from Delhi and the rest were made up of locals. We took a lot of precautions so that they would be looked after physically. Inevitably, they would complain a lot about the cold so we decided to completely ban the
m from talking about the weather. By the seventh day, they were feeling better and we were able to start playing cricket on the snow! Incidentally, I was supposed to come to England twenty years ago to play under 15’s cricket but I twisted my ankle so was unable to make it. Now because of destiny, I am back in London, talking to you about my new film!
How did you secure financing for the film?
It’s all my money!
I sold everything to make this film. This gold chain that I’m wearing now is practically the only thing I have left! Two days ago, I got a message from Bombay saying “Sir, we are selling your car because you don’t have any money to pay rent”! I took out a mortgage, borrowed from my family and friends and even borrowed from the families of my friends! I was always good at persuading them and people say that maybe because of my complexion, I’m able to perform some sort of black magic on them! I just followed my gut feelings and instincts and managed to get the film made.
The film was shot in colour but was later changed to black and white. What were the re
asons behind this decision?
The decision to do a black and white film came about from the very beginning. This was primarily to emphasise the harshness of the landscape. My background in photography really helped to me to understand how the colours would look when dyed into black and white. For example, the sky was so blue, it gave you a sense of warmth but we didn’t want this as it was a complete contrast to the theme of the film. When we transferred the film into black and white stock, we ended up with different shades of grey and this was ultimately much better.
What were your expectations for this film and are you surprised by its success?
One thing I wanted to show Western audiences was that India doesn’t only produce “Bollywood” films. The other thing I wanted was for people, regardless of where they are from, to be able to connect with my films. The world premiere was in New Delhi and I got the special jury award there, and in Toronto, I was one of only five Indian film-makers! The others included Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Buddhadeb Dasgupta so it was a real shock for me!
Who were the film-makers that inspired you the most?
Well, I gre
w up watching films by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and they really make such wonderful films in Malayalam. Also, Satyajit Ray is like my guru. Going back to destiny, I am actually up for the Satyajit Ray Award here at the festival so let’s make something happen!
Could you tell us a little bit about your next film, which is entitled "Palak"?
"Palak" is in its advanced stages of post-production so it almost complete. It is about 70 minutes long so we are looking more for a television audience.
The film, like "Frozen", deals with the human psyche. I’m very interested in the conflict between an individual and the society in which he lives, and because of my background in sociology, I’m able to write about that well.
Actually, the ice-hockey scene in "Frozen" made quite an impact on the audiences in Toronto and they started talking about possible Indo-Canadian joint ventures… So maybe in the future, I won’t have to put my own money into my films after all!
Interview by Ricky Ghosh Dastidar
