Digital platform is the future: Sujoy Ghosh

Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, who has been in the industry for over a decade, thinks digital platform is the future and that technology is a great help to budding directors.

Hailing Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films, an online platform that gives budding and aspiring filmmakers an opportunity to showcase their short films with large ideas, the "Kahaani" director said that it's a "perfect platform for new filmmakers".

"It is great to see that big brands like Royal Stag are encouraging young filmmakers. I think the digital platform is the future," Ghosh told IANS.

"If you make something, you have a place to display your work now which we didn't have. We could do it only on cinema screens or the small screen. Now, people can do something on their own and upload it online," added the director, also known for sharing his views on various films and subjects on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Has anyone ever used the digital platform to connect with him for work?

"Not that they do. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. We are also bound by certain guidelines," he said.

As of now, he is excited about his latest short film "Ahalya", which released on Monday.

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films collaborated with Ghosh, actress Radhika Apte and veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee to re-interpret a legendary episode from the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.

Set in a contemporary time in Kolkata, the 14-minute "Ahalya" is an epic thriller where the fate of an apsara, a mahirishi and god of rain Indra is sealed by a curse.

Desire, seduction, infidelity form a web of intrigue to enthral the audience.

"The challenges in making it was the time constraint and the demands of a short film. In feature films, you have the luxury of three hours. You have time to tell the story unlike short films. Plus, they have to be palatable. They need to have a story which raises question in the head. Without questions, the short film is dead," he said.

The "ambitious project" might have been challenging for him to make, but he has no complaints as he grabbed the opportunity to work with Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner Soumitra Chatterjee.

"The whole idea of working with him (Soumitra Chatterjee) was interesting. He is an icon. Certain people... their films inspire so many people," said Ghosh, who had earlier tweeted: "working with soumitra chatterjee for the short film AHALYA. my best part of 2014".

Think about thriller films, the director's name often pops up. But he doesn't want to be slotted.

"I don't want to be slotted in that category. I am okay with any genre as long as the story is good," said the filmmaker, who is working on another thriller titled "Durga Rani Singh".

Ghosh was also in the news for working with Ekta Kapoor on a film based on a Japanese novel "The Devotion of Suspect X".

But there were reports about it being on hold due to budget issues.

Asked about it, he shared: "The film is just delayed. There is no reason as such."

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)