Rima Das, whose film Village Rockstars 2 won Kim Jiseok Award for Best Film at Busan Film Festival, says success is not always what is visible

Nonika Singh

A sequel can barely keep up with the spirit and beauty of the first outing, let alone be worthy of laurels. But celebrated filmmaker Rima Das’ Village Rockstars 2 has not only captured the previous film’s true essence but also won Kim Jiseok Award for Best Film at Busan Film Festival.

Sequel to her National Award winning Village Rockstars, India’s official entry for the 2019 Academy Awards, was always on her mind. The last scene in the prequel when Dhunu gets a guitar from her mother and begins to play it stayed with her.

And even while she was making Bulbul Can Sing, the story was developing deep down within her. But if you think the sequel has Dhunu, her lead, turning into a big pop star you couldn’t be more wrong. Das says, “This is a story of talent from the marginalised, under-privileged society that go unnoticed; a girl who can dream, who loves nature. Success is not always what is visible.”

If her film is about Dhunu facing challenges of adulthood, she recalls her own while growing up in Assam.  She says, “I was a rebel, a force of nature, much like Dhunu, who loved to climb trees. For my tomboyish ways I was often reprimanded by my mother.”

Today, the once stern mom is her biggest cheerleader and ace marketing agent. She laughs, “If she has any news about my work you don’t know where it will land. So, I have to be very discreet about what I tell her. ”

Her family anyway is an integral part of her cinema. If Torah’s Husband featured her brother Abhijit Das, Bhanita Das playing Dhunu happens to be her cousin. A family that works together stays together… Well, she says, “It’s more like ghar ki murgi dal barbar.”

Jokes apart, she lauds them for their steadfast commitment as she takes her own sweet time to make her films. Indeed, it’s a mutual ‘taking each other for granted’ family dynamics. For her mother, however, winning is everything. “Awards,’ she admits, “are important for they are validation of your work, grant the film visibility.” On the flip side, it is indeed a bit sad that in India, indie films gain traction only when they make noise at big film festivals. Nevertheless, as her films create suitable buzz at international film festivals, including Toronto International Film Festival, she finds the audiences at Busan International film Festival very keen and eager, who invariably stay back for the Q and A round.

Dharamshala International Film Festival where Village Rockstars 2 shall be screened comes in for fulsome praise too. Beyond film festivals, she finds hope among the youth, who thanks to the OTT boom and access to social media keep track of films other than Bollywood masala.

Nevertheless, the challenges of making a film are endless. She adds, “Once the film is made, there is publicity to be taken care of.” As it is under her production house, she is one woman army — director, editor, cinematographer and of course writer.  Oh, hold it, she actually doesn’t write, ‘everything is written on the mind’. But for anthology My Melbourne, which also features shorts by Imtiaz Ali and Kabir Khan, she had to come up with a bound script. Directing for outside production houses doesn’t change her approach except she has to finish her film within the prescribed deadline.  Under her banner, Flying River Films, the village girl in her remains in the languorous mood, reshooting, reediting.

Born on May 13, which she says is a karmic number, she compares herself to the industrious ant, forever in the ‘work mode’ constantly on the go, never stopping. Hence, she has never been able to sit back and enjoy her incredible journey en route which she has taken Assamese cinema places. Coming from a state which is still remote for the rest of India, her biggest concern is, “to project my land and my people in the right way, how sensitively I can do it, not gloss over the bad but balance the light and dark.”

Her persona, despite stellar achievements, has the lightness of touch. And that easy laugh has an infectious ring making you smile, just as her films do, without offering easy solutions.

Quote: My Dhunu in Village Rockstars 2 is a girl who can dream, loves nature, falls in love with the moon. She is not going to win a competition or become a star. In India, there is so much talent who don’t achieve fame and success. Their stories are untold and such characters inspire me.