In Conversation With Jahnu Barua

What made you shift base from Assam to Mumbai and from Assamese cinema to Hindi cinema?

I have always had a lot of offers from Mumbai to make movies in Hindi. But I took time to decide. The obvious reason is that there are much better opportunities there and I do not have to face many constraints as with Assamese cinema. As an artist, you always want to reach out to a wider audience.

Do you miss home?

Not really. Mainly because home is where I am. My family is with me always. Plus I can go back anytime I want. There is nothing tying me down, so there is no forced feeling. In fact, I am keen on working on Assamese cinema from Mumbai.

What about the feeling of being an outsider in Mumbai?

All this goes on inside you. If you choose to think of yourself as an outsider, you become one. I am at home in Mumbai. I don’t know about what others think of me though. May be, they do look at me as an outsider!

You worked with mainstream Hindi film actors like Urmila Matondkar, Preity Zinta and Dharmendra in your recent films. How different or difficult has this experience been compared to earlier days of working with Assamese artists?

Frankly speaking, I hardly found any difference. It is mainly because the moment I don the director’s hat, I am who I am supposed to be whether to Urmila or an Assamese artist. I never let artists take advantage of their star status on my sets. If they come late, I sternly tell them not to repeat it. But surprisingly, both the girls – Urmila and Preity – were very professional in their approach during Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara and Har Pall.

You have won multiple awards for your work. How important are they for an artist? How instrumental have they been in your career?

They are important, but not to the extent that you make films just for winning awards. At the end of the day, you make films for an audience, not a jury. Awards are just tokens of appreciation, a bonus. They have helped me no doubt, and instil a level of responsibility to do better work.

You have been on the jury for National Awards and have won quite a few too. What is your take on the recent controversy of 2008 awards being rigged?

The process, as it is, is very democratic. But it depends on the jury that is appointed every year. We are all subjective at one level or the other.

Who are the Indian filmmakers who have influenced you the most?

None. It is one of the first lessons taught at FTII, not to be influenced by anybody. I have favourites, of course, and that includes Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Bimal Roy.