A date with Arindam Sil

“With any part you play, there is a certain amount of yourself in it. There has to be, otherwise itʼs just not acting. Itʼs lying.” – Johnny Depp

Arindam Sil pursued an MBA in marketing from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management at the University of Calcutta. He gave up an opportunity for higher studies in the USA, choosing instead to pursue his interest in acting. Sil is perhaps the only professional Line / Executive Producer in the city. He and his Company have managed numerous important films. Arindamʼs passion for cinema keeps him busy other than his social activities. Over lunch at Mani Squareʼs posh eatery 4o5, he reveals the exciting story of his journey so far.

My roots go back to 200 years in Kolkata. I am very much a Kolkata boy! In fact, I started my life at Loreto House because at that point of time it accepted boys in Junior School. I have been tremendously influenced by Satyajit Ray and despite the exposure to European and other world cinema, I am not ashamed to say as a proud Bengali that Ray is in our bloodstream and towers over us! This has considerably helped my way of working.  Ray always said that cinema is made on the table. I too feel the same way. I work on my scripts for a minimum of a year before I go to the floors.

As far as Kolkata is concerned, I remember Ray addressing an audience at a film festival opening and saying in his arresting baritone, “If you want to understand Kolkata, you have to reach out to its art.” That message has acted like a beacon.  I think the process of wanting to make a film was continuously happening. I switched over to production because there came a point in time when I as an actor who worked in over a dozen commercial films began to feel claustrophobic and helpless. One day I just burst my banks of patience, cried out loud and said that this is not want I want to do for the rest of my life!There are certain directors who have become fossils now but were going great guns when I had just begun my career. We used to be told that Bengali films were surviving because of them. But I think they have done more harm to the Bengali film industry than anybody else! I knew that I did not want to work in such cinema and it was Anjan Dutt who told me that it was not enough to criticise but to go ahead and do something on oneʼs own and help to make achange. That is when we did the film, Bong Connection, for which I was the executive producer and it went on to be a big hit. Then Anjan and I did EkMuthoChhobi, a film about Manʼs six basic instincts, and six directors were handling each of these aspects. I am so happy that we had some of our current renowned directors working on this project. There was Anjan Dutt, there was Kaushik Ganguly and there was IndranilRoychowdhury who I knew would go a long, longway. I was constantly backing him though he did Phoring after such a long time.

My disappointment with commercial cinema drove me to look at production. I think I had the ability to look at fund management and take care of HR and time management. I felt that, equipped with my education, I would be able to organise a sector like film production in Bengal that was traditionally completely haphazard. Nobody had heard of an Executive Producer; they had no idea what line production was all about! These are concepts that

I have introduced and done my bit to streamline Bengali cinema. I think there is still a major vacuum in this area and my Company, ʻNothing Beyond Cinemaʼ, is the only professional production house in the city. That may be the reason why I am doing all the major work that comes to Kolkata.  We have done films that have been nominated for the Oscars; we did Kahaani; we did Gunday and this year we are talking to two major Hollywood filmmakers. Many independent film makers working here need professional help along with smaller producers who cannot afford to run their own setup. Where will they go? They need to be guided. This industry is full of sharks that can make a mess of your budget.

My production interest led to other things. I have always had a huge attraction for world cinema and my hunger always needed to be satiated! I watcha film every day. I am crazy about good films. And now I think my life has just started! Directing films has finally made me feel completely satisfied.

Aborto, the first film under my direction, is a tribute to Satyajit Rayʼs Simabaddha. It has been critically and commercially acclaimed.  My Company will still handle production for others. I have an excellent team of professionals who are young and enthusiastic. Working with young people is hugely exciting. It keeps you open to fresh ideas. Interesting things are happening to Bengali cinema which is very encouraging. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have to do much, much more. First and foremost, we have to break away from coteries and stop letting the media make filmmakers out of mediocre people. We need to feel confident and support and acknowledge real talent.