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Your new movie Privacy -
in a few words, what is it about?
Privacy follows
the story of Roopali, who works at the Mumbai surveillance command and
control center as an operator. It's a social thriller set in and out of
Mumbai slums. Things start to get complicated when Roopali ignores
protocol and begins to investigate a robbery/murder that takes place on
her watch. Privacy examines the use of video
surveillance in urban centers while highlighting the socio-economic differences in Mumbai.
With Privacy
being about Mumbai's CCTV program, how much research did go into that
topic and the political debate about it? And your personal opinion about
the program?
In 2015 the Maharashtra
government funded a massive surveillance project to install thousands of
cameras across Mumbai. Our initial research started back in 2016. I came
across a lot of local news articles on this topic. As we got closer to
production we had a chance to visit three major CCTV control rooms. We
started with the Pune control room, followed by New Mumbai. Eventually
we were allowed to visit the main command center in Mumbai. The key team
members such as DoP and production designer had a chance to witness the
inner workings of the control room. Our lead actor had conversations
with the staffmembers. We saw archived footage of some of the major
events that were captured on CCTV. Things such as accidents, festivals
and strikes.
It was amazing to see
how numb the operators had become to incidents as they get to witness
such extreme things on a daily basis.
(Other) sources of inspiration when writing Privacy? I have always been
fascinated with the concept of surveillance. From the peeping tom
concept of Rear Window to the eavesdropping world of The Conversation
or the modern micro-surveillance depicted in Snowden, it just shows how
interested we are in the lives of other people. The concept of this
being someone's job amazes me. All the news coverage around the Mumbai
surveillance project only talked about the benefits of the technology.
And how good these cameras were at zooming in a kilometer without losing
much resolution. I was surprised that there was not one article that
talked about privacy concerns, especially in such a densely populated
city.
Do talk about Privacy's
approach to the thriller genre! I think the very concept
of being watched has that undertone. No matter how it's treated, just
the fact that someone is being watched, it would immediately set the
tone of the piece as a thriller. While writing I not only treated the
plot as a mystery, but even the character is quite mysterious. We get
glimpses into Roopali's life, but we don't fully understand her. Then
there are elements such as cat and mouse between some of the main
characters. There are times when the audience is ahead of the character.
And then there are moments when the character is ahead of the audience. A few words about your
directorial approach to your story at hand? Rather than making a
techno noir, I wanted to keep the look and feel of Privacy
realistic.
Mental health is one of the themes in the movie. So I wanted to focus on
the character rather than the technology. From the control room design,
makeup, to costumes, we decided to keep everything very grounded. We
shot at real locations as much as possible. The actors spent time with
real people who shared similar lifestyles and professions as their
characters. What can you
tell us about Privacy's
key cast, and why exactly these people? The protagonist,
Roopali, is played by Rajshri Deshpande. She's been the face of edgy
independent films in India for some years now. From festival favorites
such as Angry Indian Goddesses and Sexy Durga to
the hit Neflix series Trial by Fire, Rajshri picks projects
that have a social element to them. The film overall has very little
dialog. I needed an actor who could carry a scene on their own and
without any lines. At the same time keeping it nuanced so it doesn't
feel forced.
It's also important to pick the right producer/production house for your
project. The film is produced by Fundamental Pictures' Shlok Sharma
and Navin Shetty, the duo behind festival favorites such as Cargo and
Two Sisters and a Husband. They gave me full
creative freedom. Which is extremely important when you are just
starting out. Do talk about
the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere!
The film was entirely shot in Maharashtra, India. Principal
photography was done in 26 days. Other than two sets, almost everything
else was shot on real locations. We had a terrific film crew. Several
scenes were shot in the slums. Most people we met were extremely
supportive.
We had our share of panic moments as well. A local gang stopped us from
shooting at one of the key locations. They got into a physical
altercation with some of the crewmembers. The police had to
intervene and diffuse the situation. By the time the situation went back
to normal, we had lost the light, hence the entire day of shooting. The
$64-question of course, where can Privacy
be seen? Privacy is
all set to have the world premiere on June 30, 2023 at Bucheon
International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan). We are so excited to
start the film's journey at Asia's largest genre movie event. Privacy's US
premiere will take place in August at Oscar accredited Cinequest in San
Jose. We are now seeking distribution, so we can share the film with
everyone.
Anything you can tell us about audience and
critical reception of Privacy? So far the response has
been great. People find the premise very intriguing as this is the first
Indian film that focuses on a CCTV operator. We are extremely proud that
Privacy is one of the two Indian features to be a part of BiFan,
the other one being Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy. Any
future projects you'd like to share? I'm at the initial
stages of writing a miniseries that spans over three different eras.
It's also set in India. We should be ready soon to pitch it to OTT
platforms. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject? I was pursuing computer
science when a friend introduced me to filmmaking. I took my first film
class and shot some footage with a 16mm bolex. When the dailies came
back from the lab, I was completely blown away. I fell in love with
film. The way it looked and felt, to me it was a better version of
reality. That day I knew I had to pursue film. I ended up getting an MFA
in writing and directing fiction. What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Privacy? Privacy
is my first feature. I have done several short films. One of my shorts, Silent
Wave, played at 23 film festivals across the United States. It won
numerous awards and nominations. My last short, Dhund, premiered at the
prestigious Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI 2018) as a winner of the Perfect
10 category. How
would you describe yourself as a director?
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I truly believe that you
are only as good as your team. Filmmaking is without a doubt a
collaborative art form. A big part of the job is to identify the right
artists who believe and understand your vision. I try to stay very calm
on set, no matter what the situation is. I'm a huge proponent of
realistic performances. There are times when you have to let go of
storyboards as the actor may feel they need to do the scene differently
for it to be believable. In a situation like that you have to be ready
to improvise and work with your director of photography to come up with
a new shot list on the fly. At the same time, sometimes you have to push
and get a certain shot the way only you know would work in the edit.
It's a fine line. Filmmakers
who inspire you? And your favourite movies? I'm a huge fan of the
movies from the 70s. Even though I was born in the 80s, it's my favorite
decade. Classics such as Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris and Stalker,
Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation and Apocalypse
Now (and of course the first two Godfather films),
Martin Scorcese's Taxi
Driver, Michael Cimino's Deer
Hunter, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, Sidney
Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon and Roman Polanski's Chinatown
are among some of the best films ever made. And I'd still re-watch
them over anything new. While I was in college I followed Darren
Arronofsy's work very closely. Amongst modern directors I
make sure I watch every film by Denis Villeneuve, Christopher Nolan and
Anurag Kashyap.
... and of course, films you really deplore?
Any film that's made to promote propaganda. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
Film website: https://www.fundamentalpictures.in/film-pages/privacy
Instagram handle: @fundamentalpictures
News: https://variety.com/2023/film/asia/trial-by-fire-rajshri-deshpande-bifan-privacy-1235635546/
Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Teaser
link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8orheBs2jk Thanks
for the interview!
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