Prior to the screening of Amartya Bhattacharyya’s film Runanubandha, an interactive session was held for the press. This was attended by the director, actress Priyanka Ghosh Roy and producer Swastik Choudhury.

The name Runanubandha means the body’s memory. This is a term mostly used in spirituality. The body’s memory consists of genetic memory and also memory of intimate physical contact. This memory binds husband to wife, parents to children and so on.

The story is about a daughter’s search for her father in Kolkata. The daughter, Shatarupa finds her father’s voice in a young man who comes in her life as a director. The paternal traits draw her towards him. She finds herself trapper between complexities of emotions and simplicity.

“The film draws a parallel with the mythological story of Lord Brahma who was attracted to his own daughter Shatarupa” said the director.

The story, screenplay, cinematography and editing is by Amartya Bhattacharyya. The music is by Kisaloy Roy. Priyanka Ghosh Roy plays Shatarupa while Swastik Choudhury plays Bhola in the film.

Amartya was very vocal about the kind of Bengali commercial films that the Bengali film industry has been making. He wanted to make different kind of films- the kind that no one has made and on subjects that has not been explored yet. “Why would someone pay so much to see my film if there is nothing new in it? I want to make films that are different. Some people will like them while some may not like them. But I will keep on pursuing my creative instincts” said the young director.

Amartya has also written two books namely Ekush (21) and Shatarupa which are compilations of his poems on topics like love, death and dark sides of human nature.

The director mentioned that as a Bengali, he wanted to make films in Bengali too. But the films will be different and not the typical ones that people watch now. Some of the Bengali films he liked include Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Asha Jaoar Majhe and Srijit Mukherji’s Nirbaak.

The director who is also an IT professional do not get much time to watch films or read books. Hence when he came at KIFF 2018, he has been watching movies back to back to make up for lost opportunities.

The director also shared that his next film will be Oriya titled “For the love of Godard”. He is a big fan of Godard and that is why he wants to make this film. Since not much people in Orissa know about him, he has taken this as a challenge and wants to make the people aware about Godard.

Wishing Amartya all the best for his endeavours!!

Priyanka Dutta