Nandita Das completes directorial debut film

Nandita Das, known for her powerful performances in "Fire" and "Bawandar", has completed her first directorial venture "Firaaq". She described her directing experience as "the most overwhelming and yet a stressful time of my life".

Produced by Percept Picture Company (PPC), "Firaaq" is a take-off on the infamous Godhra episode that rocked Gujarat in 2002. It is slated for release in October this year.

"Yes, I was exhausted while making the film. But if I come by a good subject, I will definitely direct another film and that can be any day, provided somebody come forward to produce it," she told IANS.

"The members of my unit were not only experts in their own fields, but they were all very nice human beings and that made my journey of making 'Firaaq' less burdensome," she added.

Nandita said she made the film the way she wanted to do it and that Shailendra Singh, the joint managing director of PPC, was not allowed to interfere.

"I made the film the way I had visualised it and did not let Shailendra to interfere in my job," said Nandita, who is not featuring in her directorial debut.

The film stars Paresh Rawal, Naseeruddin Shah, Tisca Chopra, Dipti Naval, Raghuvir Yadav and Sanjay Suri. Shehmat Khan, a fourth-standard boy from Hyderabad, also plays an important role in the movie.

She doesn't want to be branded as a serious filmmaker.

"The films are either good or bad. You can't call one a serious film and the other a non-serious one. But as a director, I would certainly want to convey a message through my films. I can't possibly involve myself in an inane film," she said.

The message Nandita wants to convey through the movie is that violence is no solution to a social problem. It only leaves a trail of destruction, socially and psychologically.

Indo-Asian News Service