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Aparna Sen calls ‘Ghawre Baire Aaj’ her most ‘political and outspoken’ work till date

Aparna Sen as a filmmaker is well aware of the time we are living in, and her latest directorial ‘Ghawre Baire Aaj‘, an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore‘s novel ‘Ghare Baire’ gives a fitting testimony to it. The story, earlier adapted by Satyajit Ray into a 1984 Bengali classic, follows three protagonists; one of them is loosely related to the slain journalist Gauri Lankesh.

The film sees Anirban Bhattacharya, Jisshu Sengupta and Tuhina Das playing the leads.

Calling ‘Ghawre Baire Aaj’ her most ‘political and outspoken’ work till date, Aparna Sen also says she has tried to explore the dark side of the society.

“The characters are not based on real life people, except Nikhilesh, who is loosely based on Gauri Lankesh. Everyone who has tried to be moderate has been silenced by somebody or the other. It is not necessarily the Hindutva voices; it is also the Islamic fundamentalists who try to dominate the moderate voices. Any fundamentalism has always silenced the voices of reason and moderation. It’s a big concern and should trouble anyone who has a regard for healthy democracy,” explains the ‘Mr. and Mrs. Iyer’ director.

She further said a healthy democracy always needs a strong opposition to the government: “It’s by far the most political, most honest and outspoken film I have made. I believe there should be a strong opposition. If the political opposition can’t be found, then a civilian opposition needed because that’s the only way a healthy democracy can exist.”

“Just like ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’, this film is about how the outside world affects our home. That’s the Tagore story too. How the outside world often impinges on the domestic scenario. But yes, I would call it a political film,” Aparna Sen said assuring that her film doesn’t ‘belittle’ anyone or is preachy in tone.