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Ashutosh Sujan talks ‘DESHANTOR’
SHARMIN JOYA
During the partition of Bengal in 1947, Hindu families were forced to move to India in groups. At that time, a woman named Annapurna from Mymensingh could not accept this cruel truth.
She was willing to leave her husband and family, but her heart did not want to leave her homeland.
Director Ashutosh Sujan has portrayed this picture in his debut directorial movie Deshantor . The government-funded film is based on noted poet Nirmalendu Goon’s novel Deshantor .
The recently released film stars Moushumi, Ahmed Rubel, Yash Rohan and Rodela Tapur, among others. We caught up with Ashutosh Sujan to know more about the film.
What made you choose the novel ‘Deshantor’ as your first movie?
When I read the novel Deshantor in 2011, I had made my mind that I would bring this story into the screen. In between the time we worked in other projects, we decided to apply for government grant in the 2020-21 fiscal year. We were lucky enough to receive the grant.
Nirmalendu Goon, in his novel ‘Deshantor’ has brilliantly highlighted the political, social and economic conditions of India in 1947. Could you do justice to it?
The novel itself was very cinematic, there are a lot of dimensions in the storytelling. All I can say is that when the author (Nirmalendu Goon) watched the film, he was extremely happy and shared that he felt Deshantor was amazingly filmed.
Pairing Ahmed Rubel and Moushumi was an unusual choice indeed. How did this thought come to your mind?
There is a story behind this. Moushumi previously signed a film of mine titled Babar Juta , which was being funded by Bengal Foundation (BDT 60 Lakhs). We shot the film just one day, and after that when we wanted to shoot in full swing, the organisation stepped back, probably because they did not have enough confidence in us.
When I thought of the role of Annapurna, I couldn’t think of anyone else to be honest. Moushumi was my first choice. Also, the character Monindo is the voice of Bengal, he is very rigid and bold as a person. I could not think of anyone else other than Ahmed Rubel.
Yash Rohan and Rodela Tapur’s pair has become one of the attractions of the film. The new duo’s chemistry in the film’s trailer and two songs has gotten appreciation. What is the story behind casting Tapur?
Getting Tapur for the film still seems to be a miracle for the entire team. We had looked for a near-perfect face for this role, but we were not satisfied. We were looking for a girl who is young and looks sweet, innocent and has simplicity on her appearance, we did a lot of screen tests but we were not getting the right person.
When learned about actress Chhanda’s twin daughters, we immediately reached out and auditioned both of them. What we were looking for we found in Tapur, and finally she became the role.
What kind of obstacles did you face while shooting the film?
The location where we wanted to shoot the film, was tough to select. We had confirmed a place after speaking to the owners. When we went there to shoot, we found out that the owners, who were two brothers, had internal conflict between them and had built a barrier in the middle of their premises. We were shocked and it was not possible to postpone the shoot either, as we would not find the artiste’s schedule further. However, the matter was resolved afterwards.