Anuparna Roy: The quiet rebel who is against mediocrity

Anuparna Roy is arguably one of the best things to happen to India, and more specifically, West Bengal. For people scarred by a plethora of scams and gradually drowning in cynicism, this slender woman takes to the podium of the oldest film festival in the world and wins the award, becoming only the second woman in the country to be crowned on such a platform. In a trembling voice, she expresses her indebtedness to the villages and soil of her beleaguered state. Roy has been a quiet rebel standing against mediocrity. She rose from a very humble background with no touch of elitism in her family, education, job or patronage. Raised in one of the chronically underdeveloped districts of West Bengal, Roy attended an obscure college, far from dwindling institutions of excellence in the state. Like thousands of others who leave Bengal in search of a career, she too moved to Mumbai to pursue her dreams. A person who excels on a global platform solely through their own merit, without the relying on family connections, earns respect in every society. This is specially true in West Bengal, which has not produced too many such faces in recent times. Anuparna Roy is, in short, a symbol of a theme that Bengalis have romanticised over the decades: struggle for existence. Anuparna is just past 30 years old. In her success, she follows giants. The first Indian to win an award at Venice was Satyajit Ray (Golden Lion for Aparajito in 1957). Her other four inspirations are Buddhadeb Dasgupta (special director award for Uttara in 2000), Mira Nair (Golden Lion for Monsoon Wedding in 2001) and Chaitanya Tamhane (Orizzonti Best Film for Court in 2014). Next film on two women's liberty in British Bengal: Anuparna Roy However, the road ahead does not seem to be smooth for her. The weight of expectations in formidable. It is not uncommon for artists and sportspersons to fade into oblivion after a spectacular start. She needs to be mindful of this. Roy is also frank, perhaps too frank at times. Her comments on the sufferings in Palestine did not go down well with a big and influential section of Indians. However, even in retrospect, she doesnt care, displaying a spirit of being true to her inner voice, somewhat like Ritwik Ghatak, who is one of her primary motivators for speaking her mind, both on and off the screen. Roy stands out in an industry where making a mark on the global stage requires some push apart from sheer merit grit is essential. In an industry where films are usually shot between 15 days and two months, she took nearly two years and a half to complete her project. Notably, Anurag Kashyap came out to support the movie after being inspired by the quality of her work. She sought advice from Kashyap, who volunteered to collaborate with her. Supremely dedicated to her art, Roy used to work for the information technology sector, which she gave up without a second thought. Giving up the security of a month-end pay cheque is not easy for a girl who has ventured away from the security of her home in search of a career. Roy is aware that her kind of films does not have a readily available audience willing to pay for theatre visits. She has expressed her desires for her film to go on a festival circuit, now and perhaps a world premiere sometime. She is not even keen for a theatre release for the Indian audience. Unfortunately, she may be correct in her assessment. Payal Kapadias All We Imagine As Light, which won the Grand Prix (second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme dOr) at Cannes last year, fared poorly at the box office in India. However, the appetite for real-life narratives might sustain filmmakers like Roy in the long run.