American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, best known for his films such as "Requiem for a Dream", "The Wrestler" and "Black Swan", loves to travel when he is not obsessing about cinema and India is a country that he has often crisscrossed through.
The celebrated director, who held a masterclass at the ongoing Mami Mumbai Film Festival last evening, enjoys the anonymity that the country offers to him as a backpacker.
"I come with one backpack... wander around the city, enjoying the anonymity in the crowded streets... Every corner, you go around, is surprising. I try to get back here whenever I can as it is fun to be here and explore things," Aronofsky said at the session.
When not going about his normal life, that includes raising his son with former partner Rachel Weisz, the director spends his time making films on the ideas that surprise him.
"In today's world, it's very hard to keep people's attention. It's about creating ideas, images, and emotions that are really exciting and different... These ideas came out of the stories I was trying to tell.
"You're thinking, 'what are they (audiences) thinking and what can I show them that's going to surprise, wow, and maybe scare them?' But (I) never go so far that I'm going to lose them. It's always about how far to push it."
"I do get obsessive about working, but I chose this job where I have to work once every two years. Most of the time is spent on doing research and thinking about what's next and living a very normal life, where I get to travel and raise my son. (But) When I get on the set, it becomes a tremendous obsession."
When asked what he likes most about filmmaking, he said, "Writing... The discovery that merges... On set, you prepare for a shot and everyone works to create that one shot. In edit room, one shot makes you laugh. There is lot of pain, struggle if things will work out or not. Thr are light moments.."
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