Saptaparna Biswas (BOMBAY TIMES; February 24, 2019)

With an enviable record of three acclaimed films to her name, National Award winner Rima Das is the toast of the international filmmaking community. Her film Village Rockstars brought the Assam girl critical recognition and fame, but few know that direction was not always on her radar. Rima went from Chhaygaon to Mumbai with dreams of becoming an actress. However, rejection and a chance encounter with works of Satyajit Ray, Majid Majidi and Abbas Kiarostami gave her a new direction in life, quite literally. After making waves with Village Rockstars, which was India’s official entry to the Oscars 2018, and Bulbul Can Sing, which is currently earning praises at multiple film festivals, Rima has overcome gender disparity and language barriers to emerge as an influential name in the field of filmmaking. In a chat with us, she speaks about breaking the glass ceiling, why women should believe in themselves and what can be done to make Indian films Oscar-worthy. Excerpts:

‘MANY PEOPLE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN MY METHOD AND QUESTIONED MY APPROACH’
At the Berlin International Film Festival aka Berlinale, festival director Dieter Kosslick pledged for gender equality in film submissions by 2020, in addition to ensuring better gender representation. Speaking about the same, Rima says, “I can happily state that India was well represented by Zoya Akhtar, Udita Bhargava and my films. These were screened with other big names of international cinema. I think this pledge shows that there is a conscious movement to decrease the gender gap in the field of cinema. It will certainly encourage women to tell the stories they want to.”

For Rima, the journey to her first directorial was not a bed of roses. She hit a low point in her life before taking things in her hands. She shares, “Women must put more faith in themselves than others. In my school and college, I was always the best actress. But in Mumbai, the story was different. I was not accepted because of things like my accent, no film school background etc. I slipped into depression and resorted to watching world movies alone. However, that proved to be a turning point as it opened a whole new world to me. The films mesmerised me and direction took over. I realised that I wanted to create my own world, rather than being restricted to that of others. That is when I decided to tell stories from my native village through my characters.”

With her cousin Mallika Das’ support and a new DSLR camera, Rima ventured into filmmaking. “When I started my first film, Man With The Binoculars, there were many who did not believe in my methods and questioned my approach towards topics. By the second film, I decided to overlook all these hiccups and stuck to my stories that spoke of a dreamy-eyed village girl Dhunu (Village Rockstars) or the free-spirited Bulbul (Bulbul Can Sing), despite the lack of faith from people in my craft.” Agreeing that it takes a lot more for a female filmmaker to prove their worth, especially if the film is speaking about women from their perspective, Rima says, “See, I’m a woman who has grown up observing things around her. So, when I tell stories, the issues that women face in India naturally get highlighted. Having said that, I don’t believe in shoving feminist issues in anyone’s face. I’d rather present them subtly, through organic visuals, for better understanding. Things have to be believable to be taken seriously.”

‘THE WORLD NOTICED THAT A WOMAN CAN SINGLE-HANDEDLY MAKE GOOD FILMS’
Rima doesn’t regret the struggle and, in fact, calls it her ‘film school education’. “Since I do not have any professional training, I have had to pretty much learn everything through the process of filmmaking. I was handling multiple departments at the same time. It was tough yet liberating. With Village Rockstars and Bulbul Can Sing getting international recognition, I finally found my footing, and the world noticed that a woman can also single-handedly make good films. Going ahead, I will collaborate with big production houses, mainstream filmmakers and more. In a way, the real struggle will begin when I do that,” says Rima.

‘VISIBILITY IN THE US IS KEY FOR AN OSCAR NOMINATION’
Though Village Rockstars couldn’t make it to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars, Rima refuses to get bogged down by the setback. Instead, she focuses on what more could’ve been done. “I think we need more time to market and promote our films. Visibility in the US is necessary. Members of the guild need to watch the movie. There are around 5000 members who vote for the top nominations after that. A total of 87 films from all over the world were in the category, including films like Roma and Shoplifters, which had ample visibility. We got only two months to campaign and promote Village Rockstars and that’s not enough,” says Rima, adding that support from the government and private firms is essential for any Indian film to make it to the Oscar nomination list.

‘SATYAJIT RAY SHOWED ME THE WAY’
When people drew parallels between Village Rockstars and Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali at a film festival, Rima was overwhelmed. “They said that I have a realistic and organic approach, just like Ray. I would say that Ray is the master who showed me the way. And there’s still a long way for me to go,” she concludes, hoping for better collaborations and stories to come forth in the near future, and this time, not just from Assam.