Disciple And His Master

Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple is the first Indian movie since 1996 to play in the main state of New York Film Festival. The 33-year-old film maker speaks to Lachmi Deb Roy about his craft and the highly-acclaimed film, which has won awards at the Venice and Toronto film festivals. Excerpts…

On critical acclaim for The Disciple

It especially feels overwhelming because of the year that we are in, when people have given up hope and it is such a strange atmosphere…There was a lot of unc­ertainty about what will happen because just after we finished making the film, the pandemic struck the world. I feel blessed that the film is out and has got a great reception.

On Mexican Oscar-winning Alfonso Cuaron as executive producer

Getting to know him and seeing him at work was an experience of a lifetime. I was lucky enough to be chosen by Alfonso to be his prodigy. I had the opportunity to observe him at work on the sets of Roma. That was awe-inspiring and mind-boggling, just to see him at the level at which he works and the way he engages with the medium. I feel lucky enough to call him a friend because it was a relationship that I developed over the last four years. On top of that, he has been super supportive about The Disciple.  He knew about the film even when it was at its initial stage when it was just a story. He had given feedback and advice all through making of the film.  When he saw the finished film he said, ‘I am going to do whatever I can in my capacity to help this film reach a wider audience’. One of the world’s greatest film makers extending that kind of support to an independent Indian film is a great feeling.

On working in TV

I worked in television for only a year, my frustration was not necessarily with the industry. I kind of dabbled in it and then quit to do my own project from the age of nineteen. When I was in college, I wanted to be an actor and I discovered world cinema. Then I decided to become a film maker. It was definitely not an easy process, trying to navigate through the film industry when you are that young.

Ramu Ramanathan, playwright and journalist, is a big mentor in my life. When I met producer Vivek Gomber at the age of 21 while doing a play called Grey Elephants in Denmark, we became friends and our collaboration took off. Then he left for Singapore and that was the time I was at a crossroad when I had no options but to take up a job to raise funds for the kind of work I wanted to do. That was a real difficult time because I was 24 and didn’t feel like working in mainstream Bollywood.

I re-connected with Vivek and told him about my situation. He heard the idea for Court, my first feature film, and he funded the film.  From that time things started looking up, but the struggles still continue.

On The Disciple’s theme based on Indian classical music

I almost work like an investigative journalist; I love researching and being a fly on the wall, observing different worlds and different sub-cultures and going deep down the rabbit hole till I find a certain kind of truth that I can relate to. So, my films are always about a setting and the world that fascinates me. Even in this case, it was this world of Indian classical music that fascinated me.

My characters emerged from the research. It took two years for me to write the script. Then the plot and the characters emerged. All the actors are professional Indian classical musicians who are acting for the first time. This lends a certain authenticity to the world we were trying to create. I had to capture Mumbai in three different time periods. Since we were not making a documentary, we had to do it in a cinematic way. It took me four years to make the film.

What next

I work very slowly and meticulously and I love doing one thing at a time. I have set very high standards for myself and I am waiting to be obsessed with something new. I need to be possessed by a new idea. Generally, directors say ideas call them, so I am waiting for some idea to call me rather than chasing them.