Filmmaker Srimanta Sengupta is in happy space these days as his short film named ‘#Firstsunday’ produced by Dreams Vault Media, has been nominated in prestigious Filmfare Awards 2018 under best short film category, In an exclusive interview, Sengupta said that he want to make slice life stories which will have a feel good content.
When asked Sengupta, what kind of films or short films he want to make in future, he said, “Till now, I have made two short film named ‘#Firstsunday’ and ‘Something Like Love’. but I want to create content which will entertain the audience but at the same it should offer certain message with it. I want to make slice of life stories, feel good content because personally I like that genre and I feel audience also give positive feedback to that kind of content”
Srimanta Sengupta directed short film named ‘#Firstsunday’ has been nominated Filmfare Awards 2018 under best short film category, talking about ‘#Firstsunday’, Sengupta said, “#Firstsunday’ stars veteran actress Kamini Kaushal and Gaurav Paswala. Gaurav Paswala is big name in the Gujarati film industry. He is very good actor and everyone knows acting abilities of Kamini Kaushal. Kamini Kaushal’s work lastly nominated in Filmfare Awards in 1956 so if you see, after almost 62 years , she has been competing in Filmfare Awards with our film at the age of 90, which is phenomenal. More than me, I am happy for her because I feel she deserve this more than me.”
Talking about his experience working with Kamini Kaushal, Sengupta said, “Working with her in this short film was great experience because she is obviously veteran actress. You always get to learn a lot of things and her dedication and passion towards her craft is something else only.”
Talking about his voting counting procedure in Filmfare Awards in best short film section, Sengupta said, “I am very excited about my film being nominated at Filmfare awards. I have so much hope with my film but there are also some good films in that category so I feel competing with them in that category itself is huge thing for me. I am hoping that people will watch and vote for my film”.
Talking about current scenario of digital platforms and short films in India, Sengupta said, “I think it’s really nice phase of our industry. I feel short film is an independent medium in itself, it’s not that we are not able to make films so people are making short films. There are certain stories which you can present in only short film format rather than feature film format so it has achieved its own place in entertainment industry because audiences are now more open to accept new ideas and content and there are many platforms and technology available to present your content”
Director Srimanta Sengupta is a former Creative Director of UTV, Endemol Shine India with 14 years of work experience. With being the creative director on shows like Emotional Atyachar, Channel V Heroes, Pyar Ka The End, MTV Love School and many other home grown concepts.
Sengupta’s ‘#Firstsunday’ is about the transcendental quality of friendship. Friendship is, in many ways, involuntary. It does not require the common grounds of age, perspective or even cultural background in order to formulate. Today the roles of the old and young have been reversed. Where children learn the fundamentals of language from their grandparents, today the old learn the fundamentals of technology from the wise youth. Such is this story. The story of a young man, a complete party animal and his strict, old fashioned landlady. It is also the story of an old woman, forgotten and forgetful, and her attempts to reconnect with a world obsessed with technology. It is the story of their bonding. The story of an unlikely but honest human connection in a world where even the most loved ones are viewed on a screen.
It is written and directed by Srimanta Sengupta and it stars Kamini Kaushal and Gaurav Paswala in lead roles.
The film ‘#Firstsunday’ is produced by Pratish Khakhkhar & Arvind Rao of Dreams Vault Media and Srimanta Sengupta.
