Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 15, 2017)

After directing four short films — Hiroshima, 35mm, Azaad and Elementa — Chandan Roy Sanyal is set to make his feature film debut with RSVP that has Anshuman Jha and Tannishtha Chatterjee in the lead. “The film is about a son who exacts revenge from his father. It’s an absurd comedy of lust, love, revenge, treachery and power,” informs Chandan, adding that it will be shot entirely in Sri Lanka in March and April next year.

For his debut, Chandan has adopted a narrative style called devised script formula. “The actors are assigned characters and pushed to borrow from real stories and emotions, which are then fabricated into a narrative with all the ingredients of classic cinema. British filmmaker Mike Leigh uses this technique. The process starts way before principal shooting which we have already begun. I’ve been working with the actors and the key departments for the past three months,” he explains, adding that he also has a cameo in the film. “It’s a small but effective part, you might not even recognise me.”

He is all praise for his cast. “Anshuman and Tannishtha are intelligent actors. I’ve literally seen Anshuman grow on stage as he started out as a teen.”

Chandan, who was last seen in the Saif Ali Khan-starrer Chef and Jab Harry Met Sejal with Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, is quick to clarify that acting will always be his first love. “I have made four shorts in the last two years. To get a better grasp of the medium I kept pushing my boundaries. Now here I am, with my first feature film,” he says with a flourish.

The final script will be ready by January. “Actors will be given the dialogue credit as well because they are coming up with lines as much as the screenplay writer Juhi Shekhar and me,” he signs off.