Director Qaushiq Mukherjee, who loves to be known only as Q, is hoping to spark a debate through his interpretation of Rabindranath Tagore's popular dance drama "Tasher Desh".
It took almost a decade for the filmmaker to bring "Tasher Desh" on-screen, which he says is a mash-up of Tagore's vision and his own fantasy about the idea of liberation.
"This is one Tagore story that has fascinated me since I was a child. 'Tasher Desh' is completely different from his oeuvre. He experimented a lot with this play. In fact, critics find it flawed, so it became a children's play but it is not a children's play. It is very political. I think, we did not get it right contextually," Q told PTI in an interview.
Q is famous for his alternative take on filmmaking with controversial but festival favourite projects like "Love In India" and "Gandu".
His documentary "Love In India" did win a national award but the director, whose films are high on erotic content, continues to fight with censorship in the country.
He is entering the realm of mainstream cinema through "Tasher Desh" for the first time and Q admits that it is an experiment for him.
The filmmaker is also aware that his interpretation of Tagore, who is a revered figure in India and especially in Bengal, will have many raised eyebrows but Q says he loves stirring up a debate.
"I am a Bengali and I know that we are very possessive about Tagore. We don't celebrate him, we worship him. But I feel every great artist's work should be deconstructed. Our culture does not allow this for various reasons, so I am prepared for the reaction and debate. The idea is to unsettle people and that's why we are putting it out in the mainstream," Q said.
"Tasher Desh" has been produced by National Film Development Corporation Ltd, Overdose Joint, Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt Ltd, Dream Digital Inc and Belgium's Entre Chien et Loup. The NFDC presentation got a select release today in Mumbai and Kolkata.
