'Village Rockstars' set me free as a filmmaker: Rima

With her second feature, "Village Rockstars", Rima Das channelled her inner one-woman- army and she says working on the movie liberated her as a filmmaker.
The self-taught director says she worked on the critically-acclaimed movie all on her own in her village Chhaygaon and had her cousin play assistant to her in different departments.
In an interview with PTI, Das says, "'Village Rockstars' changed my life. When I was doing my first film last year ('Antardrishti' or 'Man will the Binoculars'), I was dependent on so many people for everything.
"But this film gave me the confidence and freedom to be a filmmaker in my own right. But I know I still have a lot left to learn."

Now a critically-acclaimed director, she had initially come to Mumbai to pursue acting as a career but things did not go according to plan.
"I was not doing well as an actor in Mumbai. But that was not the reason that I picked up direction. I thought as a filmmaker I'll get a chance to tell the stories the way I want to than act in films. You can't do that with acting. With direction, you have a control over the narrative."

Das says although it is scary to see independent filmmakers struggle to get funds for their films, she is "relaxed" about not being burdened with the expectations of a producer.

"Ever since I made the film, it brought me a kind of relief that even after 'Village Rockstars', I don't get people to finance my films, I'll be able to make something good out of a shoestring budget. I won't stop making movies because I don't have a producer."
Besides being the director and producer, Das has also written and edited the film.
The filmmaker says the contrasting name for the film came up spontaneously.
"Children in villages are not exactly aware about what being a rockstar means. In the film, the word rockstar represents the spirit of these kids.

"It also has subplots where we see people grappling with floods, which is an annual event in Assam. How they know that floods will destroy their crops yet they continue to face the challenges like poverty in their village," she says.
Das says people tend to glorify poverty in films and in real life, it is the government that has the power to improve the infrastructure to benefit the people.
"As a director, I'm just narrating a story, which is my responsibility. I don't consider myself an activist. I try to address the issue in a different way and that doesn't mean I'm trying to avoid the issue."

Das says she is in talks with producers to help in the theatrical release of "Village Rockstars", which is expected to be in March-April.
Her next project will be a teenage love story, the production for which is underway in Chhaygaon.
"Village Rockstars" will close the sixth edition of Dharamshala International Film Festival on November 5.