The time is ripe for non-mainstream films: Onir

Films like Talvar and Masaan have done well, despite not being mainstream Onir, director

With nonmainstream films and complex subjects gaining popularity with audiences, filmmaker Onir (right) hopes that his debut production, which is about class oppression in rural India, will get the same response.

“There is a great amount of acceptance in the audiences now. Films like Talvar, Killa and Masaan have done well, despite not being mainstream. They have received a great response. I think it is a very good time to release a film like this, as the audience is opening up to stories like these,” he says.

The film has been produced by actor Sanjay Suri and Onir, and stars Sanjay, Tannishtha Chatterjee Arpita Pal Chatterjee, Soham Maitra, Riddhi Sen and Dhritiman Chatterjee.

The movie, directed by Bikas Ranjan Mishra, has been a resounding success at film festivals, with wins at IFFLA 2015 and MAMI last year. For Onir, festival glory is great, but the real satisfaction is to see the film reach its intended audience. “It is a special project for me and Sanjay. It’s been a very satisfying journey — right from the making of the film to the festival tours. Now, we will finally be able to bring it to the audience. The whole point of making a movie is to take it to the audience,” he says.

The My Brother Nikhil helmer said what urged him to produce this film was its narrative about the untold story of rural India. “The script was engrossing. It’s about the world I knew little of and wanted to know more. It is set in rural India,” says Onir. “I am a very urban person, so it was a new tale for me. We don’t realise that in rural India, people are different from us. It is a whole different world out there, which one needs to understand,” he adds.

PHOTO: AMLAN DUTTA