Bollywood's critically acclaimed actress Nandita Das has turned director with her debut 'Firaaq... In Such Times'. Nandita who is known for art cinema says that her directorial debut depicts how violence affects people's lives. Though she is contented with her movie, she feels totally consumed and therefore unable to direct another film in the near future. When asked how come she felt so much exhausted in directing one movie, she quips that it was a sort of 'Arjun ki Aankh' for her, meaning she just focused on the movie and nothing else. Known for her powerful performances in 'Fire', 'Bawander', '1947 Earth' and 'Maati Maay', she distanced herself completely from acting in her first directorial venture, contrary to the wishes of its producers -- Percept Pictures.
Though she has named it 'Firaaq... In Such Times' for now, there is a hunt on for a Hindi title. She claims that the language used in her movie is conversational, meaning free use of Hindi, English and Urdu. Besides, there is a varied star cast comprising seasoned theater artists in five different stories. On the one hand, there is Shahana Goswami, and on the other top stars like Naseeruddin Shah, Raghuvir Yadav, Paresh Rawal, Deepti Naval and Tisca Arora.
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She is happy that her old colleague Ravi Chandran has done the cinematography. He has shot her several films in the past and also the short film that she has directed. Her editor is a new comer, Shekhar Prasad though the music composer is Rajat Dholakia.' She says that she has almost finished her what she calls a small non-formula film. Nandita is very keen on sending it to festivals since her film is about how violence affects our lives. She adds that her movie can be compared with 'No Country For Old Men' and 'There Will Be Blood'.' Since she wrote the script of her first film in collaboration with Suchi Kothari who lives in Auckland (New Zealand), the director had to go over twice there. Nandita is also writing a book on her experience as a director.
