Aparna Sen: The Architect of Thoughtful Indian Cinema
Fearless, perceptive, and profoundly human in her storytelling approach, Aparna Sen has dedicated decades to transforming how Indian cinema portrays women, identity, and societal structures. Beginning her career as an actress in iconic films like Teen Kanya and delivering powerful performances in Unishe April, Sen transitioned into one of India's most distinctive and influential filmmakers.
A Trailblazing Directorial Career
Her directorial debut, 36 Chowringhee Lane, earned the prestigious National Film Award for Best Director, establishing her as a formidable creative force. Sen continued to craft bold, thought-provoking films including Parama, Mr and Mrs Iyer, and The Japanese Wife. These works confront complex themes such as gender dynamics, loneliness, prejudice, and moral conflicts with remarkable honesty and sensitivity, cementing her status as a genuine changemaker in the industry.
The Philosophy of Cinematic Pace
In an exclusive interview commemorating CT's 25th anniversary, Sen reflects on her evolving relationship with cinema and the city of Kolkata. "I'm not drawn to cinema that relies on speed to keep audiences engaged," she explains. "The subject should determine the film's pace because a viewer can be deeply engaged when the mood is right."
When asked about her handcrafted, patient, and intimate filmmaking style in today's fast-paced world, Sen elaborates: "Nuanced characterisation combined with good acting is often sufficient to hold the attention of the viewer. My films are usually probing and introspective. My narratives often deal with loneliness or complex emotional situations, which demand a probing and observant style."
She acknowledges that different genres require different approaches: "If I were to make a crime thriller, I would probably make sure that the narrative was pacy. Not necessarily, though! A crime thriller like Ripley made in black and white, moves quite slowly but engages one's attention throughout. Having said that, my latest film The Rapist, which still hasn't seen the light of day, is pretty pacy."
Kolkata: The Living, Breathing Muse
The city of Kolkata has consistently served as more than just a backdrop in Sen's work—it emerges as a character that breathes, remembers, and sometimes argues back. "For me, Kolkata has always been a living, breathing presence - a city that I have loved and hated in equal measure," she confesses.
Sen vividly recalls the sensory experiences that defined her early relationship with the city: "I have known and loved its smells in different seasons...its sounds...the calls of its hawkers who ferried their ware down its roads and alleyways, the fruits they sold in winter, those in summer, and those during the monsoon; the sound of the trams that went majestically by and the sweet sound of rickshaw bells."
She describes cherished memories of "somnambulant afternoons, silent as midnight, broken only by the cawing of a crow, or a Kabuliwallah's deep baritone calling out, 'Heeng chaai, heeng...'" and her awareness of "the quality of light in my city at different times of day."
Yet her relationship with Kolkata has been complex: "Equally, I hated its piles of garbage lying at every street corner with stray dogs scattering them all over; its traffic snarls and the endless waiting for traffic to start moving again...the waterlogged streets filled with unimaginable floating filth."
The Transformation of a City and Its Artist
As both Sen and Kolkata have matured, significant changes have occurred. "All that disappeared as I grew up...the sleepy afternoons, the waterlogged streets... The hawkers disappeared along with the little neighbourhood grocery stores as malls and multiplexes began to take their place...stand-alone houses gave way to multistoried complexes...power cuts became a thing of the past...the parks, those small oases of green where children played after school, vanished along with street cricket."
She notes improvements: "Garbage has been taken care of to a large extent as has the traffic. In fact, Kolkata can now boast of the best regulated traffic in any Indian metropolis. The Gulmohar trees still bloom against the summer sky, but the time to watch them and marvel seems to have disappeared from our lives. I, too, have matured along with my city and grown busier and more materialistic."
When asked if specific moments in the city shaped her artistic sensibility unconsciously, Sen responds: "Yes, indeed. All that had become a part of my persona. It shaped me and my sensibilities and made me the artist I am, informing my films as I made them, without my being aware of the process. When you create, your life experiences become your resource material and that's what you naturally draw from."
The Aesthetic of Restraint and Imagination
Sen's cinema frequently finds beauty in restraint and the unsaid. Regarding whether this aesthetic stems from deliberate choice or a deeper worldview, she reflects: "It's difficult to say... it's a bit of both. I tend to like things left unsaid and endings left open. It leaves so much more to the audience's imagination, which I do not like to underestimate."
She shares a revealing anecdote from filming 36 Chowringhee Lane: "My chief assistant kept insisting that I take a close up of Jennifer Kendal (as Miss Stoneham) when she watches the young couple at their Christmas party, which she has been deliberately left out of, from outside the glass window. 'You can always throw it away during editing if you find you don't need it,' he persisted as I started setting up for the next shot. 'I know I won't need it,' I told him finally, 'You know why? Because not even an actor of Jennifer's calibre, nor the amazing cinematography of Ashok Mehta, nor my passionate effort at directing my first film, can match up to the audience's collective imagination of what Miss Stoneham must be feeling at that point of time.'"
This philosophy extends to other works: "When Mr And Mrs Iyer was screened at Berkley, someone stood up during the Q&A session and said, 'Couldn't you have allowed them even one kiss?' I had more or less the same answer, 'Then it would not have left you yearning to see it!' I replied."
Regarding the ambiguous ending of 15 Park Avenue, Sen explains: "Many viewers have asked whether Meethi (Konkona Sensharma) really found her house. The truth is, I don't know. She had been living within the reality of others for such a long time. Perhaps, in another reality, she did find it. After all, the film had also been about the nature of reality aside from being Meethi and her sister's story. And, as long as the film generates such questions in the viewers' minds, it continues to live on."
Generational Shifts in Filmmaking
Comparing her generation with younger filmmakers, Sen observes: "Well, not instinctively perhaps, but most of them know, just by way of common knowledge, that we began by working on analog instead of digital. They know that we worked with film and that we had to be very careful with our shooting ratio because raw stock was so costly. The aware ones among today's filmmakers also know that the generation before us faced even tougher challenges and did pioneering work."
She highlights technological advancements: "With the advent of the digital medium everything became that much easier. Now we can see how a lap dissolve will look right there on the editing table. Earlier we had to leave it to our imagination and to the assurance of experienced editors."
Recalling a specific technical challenge from 36 Chowringhee Lane, she says: "I had taken a shot pulling up and away from Jennifer Kendal's close up as Miss Violet Stoneham falls asleep. Then she has a dream. The first shot of the dream sequence was a tilt down from the arched boughs of a tree to the young Violet standing under the boughs. I did a long lap dissolve of these two shots only on a hunch. I had no way of knowing how it would look until it was done. It was probably due to beginner's luck that the dissolve created the effect of Violet Stoneham plunging into her dream. Today it would be a piece of cake! You would be able to see the entire effect in the editing room and take a call."
Kolkata's Enduring Inspiration
Despite being affectionately called "the OG Miss Calcutta," Sen expresses mixed feelings about the city's current state: "I'm not sure the city still inspires me – or even if it's truly my city anymore. It often feels driven by mall culture and mediocrity. And yet, there are moments when I feel so deeply connected to it."
She identifies moments that rekindle her connection: "When people across Kolkata poured into the streets in protest after the RG Kar incident, I felt a surge of pride – this was still my city of outrage, of questioning authority, of refusing to stay silent. I feel it again when crowds flock to Boimela with the same passion they bring to Durga Puja, or when pandals compete with extraordinary creativity each year. In those moments, the city feels young and alive, brimming with ideas and excitement. The rest, perhaps, is nostalgia."
Sen concludes with poignant reflection: "I miss Kolkata's eccentric spirit when all manner of people gave it its cosmopolitan character, while still retaining its essential Bengaliness."
