Says Dipti Gogna, a student of FTII, who won the jury award in the Best Short Film category at the 7th Annual Indian Film Festival in Los Angeles for her 18-minute diploma film
Says Dipti Gogna, a student of FTII, who won the jury award in the Best Short Film category at the 7th Annual Indian Film Festival in Los Angeles for her 18-minute diploma film
Dipti Gogna's Narmeen has won her several accolades including the Best Director award in Whistling Woods International Students Film Competition Live Action and the jury award at the HBO Short Film competition.
MiD DAY caught up with the budding director for a chat about her film and its place in the evolving offbeat cinema scene.
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Bright Spark: A still from the movie Narmeen that's written and directed byu00a0FTII student Dipti Gogna
Short films have a large audience in foreign countries but not in India. Comment.
I don't agree. People do love watching short films here. With several film clubs coming up, the short films are gaining recognition. Short films are screened at the Goa Film Festival, Pune International Film Festival and so on in the non-feature category.
Narmeen is based on partition. How relevant do you think is the theme in today's time?
The Indo-Pak Partition has witnessed the biggest exodus in the history of this country. Besides, the theme is very much relevant in today's times, where there is always some kind of displacement or the other. Be it a socio-economic or emotional.
How different is Narmeen from other films based on Indo-Pak partition?
Of course, the backdrop is similar. But even in a similar background you can always find so many different stories. Narmeen is not a realistic film that has blood and gore but is a story of a mother's perception of partition in which she looses her daughter.
u00a0
It is the story about the loss of identity, humanity, and association, memories and attachment in the trying times of the divide.
u00a0
Do you prefer commercial or offbeat cinema?
It entirely depends on the content. I would ideally maintain a fine balance between commercial and hard-hitting films. Also, I don't believe in categories like commercial or offbeat cinema. But it's good that people experimenting with new subjects.
People are appreciating offbeat movies like Dev D and Gulaal, do you think this trend will work in the long run?
Of course. It's a welcome change and will be good for everyone. Also, it's interesting to see that the audience isu00a0 now open to all sorts of movies, which is in fact a very progressive thing to happen.
About Narmeen
It's a story of a woman called Noor who's traumatised by the death of her daughter during the pre-independence era.
As the partition draws closer, a Sikh man shifts to their neighbourhood along with his son. Gradually, Noor develops fondness for the boy but her attempts at befriending him are deliberately thwarted by the boy's father.
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