Debarati Bhowmick worked in IT as a software engineer. After working for more than 11 years, she started her journey in the world of literature in 2020. Instead of staying concentrated only in the world of books, she also tried her hands in the visual media. She began writing screenplays and then finally moved on to direct films. The Kolkata Mail correspondent Priyanka Dutta caught up with Debarati Bhowmick in an exclusive chat about her works. Excerpts..

So tell us something about your work as a director.

Debarati Bhowmick- I have directed a Hindi feature film Lamhe with Preetam Mukherjee. It is a dark psychological thriller based on Necrophilia. It is a not much talked about topic. The shooting of the film is in progress in different parts of Kolkata and surrounding areas. The cast of the film consists of Anubhav Kanjilal, Vikas Kumar, Naina Ganguly, Parometa Mukherjee.

I have written a song for the film titled Tere sang na jie woh din.

The second film is a short film Bhook (Hunger). It is a silent film. There is a voiceover that is in Hindi. The recording for the voiceover is in progress. The film has been made like a film that can be sent to different festivals. The cast of this film consists of Adrita De, Bikramjit Sinha, Amitava Chatterjee, and others. The shoot has been done outside Kolkata.

Why did you choose Hindi as the language for your debut film?

Debarati Bhowmick- I love Bengali literature. The topic that I selected Necrophilia is not a region-centric topic. This can be understood by people from different parts of the country. Hindi is one of the most spoken languages in the country. Hence making the film in Hindi will provide more people the chance to watch the movie and give feedback.

What are the challenges you faced when you began your journey in this field?

Debarati Bhowmick-I has always loved writing. And I am a voracious reader. I realized that I needed to tell the stories within me. Like many other people, I started writing on Facebook. I understood that I could visualize something when someone told me a story. Hence I gradually thought that it was high time that I should start focusing on the visual medium to tell my stories.

I worked outside Kolkata for most of my career in the IT industry. As a result, there was hardly any need to write in Bengali. So when I started writing in Bengali after such a long time, I had to track whether the spellings were correct.

I worked as an associate director in Rish, as a screenplay and dialogue writer for Chupkotha, and have also worked in the web series Dr. Ganguly er Diary. Now I have grasped the language yet again and can write fully.

Your knack is in selecting such topics that are less talked about. Will you continue with this trend in making your next films?

Debarati Bhowmick-Yes, I have always been interested in talking about topics that no one else talks about. And I plan to continue doing this in my next films as well.