Capturing what doesn’t exist

As a death photographer in Barah By Barah, Gyanendra on roaming the streets of Varanasi, watching cremations

Gyanendra Tripathi had umpteen questions when he first read the script of Barah By Barah, his upcoming film which narrates the story of a death photographer based in Varanasi. “He clicks pictures of dead bodies that are brought for cremation. I wondered what his outlook on life would be, and if there was a spiritual element linked to this job. These questions excited me,” says the actor, days ahead of the film’s theatrical release following a two-year-long festival run.

To step into his character for the project, which marks director Gaurav Madan’s feature debut, Tripathi roamed the streets of Varanasi, interacting with locals and observing cremations. “I reached Varanasi a week before the shoot began. Most of the filming happened at real locations. The pyres that you would see in the film are real. So, it was important that my body language was appropriate. I would sit on a ghat, and see multiple dead bodies being brought in, one after the other. People would harbour different emotions—some would also come with band baaja, and celebrate it. I also worked on the dialect, and kept an eye on how locals greet each other,” he says.

Up next in his kitty is Reema Kagti’s Superman of Malegaon, also starring Adarsh Gourav and Vineet Kumar. “Reema’s set was driven by  women. The atmosphere was completely different. Nobody was seen screaming, shouting, or using cuss words. Everything was well planned.” Kagti’s directorial venture has been penned by Varun Grover.

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