Bengali Director Kaushik Ganguly whose gay love story featuring Rituparno Ghosh & Indraneil Sengupta in the lead is ready for release, talks to Subhash K Jha.

Just Another Love Story is anything but just another story.What made you go into the dark area of alternate sexuality?
You call it 'dark' perhaps because sexuality in any form, other than what we deem normal, is taboo, discussed judgmentally, despite an apparent air of openness in our conversations. Those who do not conform, are marginalized.

Which is why the term 'alternate sexuality' is commonly used.This is precisely what haunted me...for years, actually, and Just Another Love Story was born. The life of the erstwhile Jatra Queen, Chapal Bhaduri (Chapal Rani), was my inspiration. My film does not see any kind of sexuality as dark, or alternate. It is just another love story.

Gay love stories are still not considered mainstream cinema. How do you think audiences will react to Just Another Love Story (Arekti Premer Galpo)?
I wasn't focused on making mainstream cinema when I made Just Another Love Story. The subject is a social crisis that had made me think...and rethink, and the film is an expression and extension of just that.

My film moves according to the needs of Chapal's instincts, insecurities, questions, his vulnerability and loneliness. When I made Ushno-tar Jonyo (Longing for You) way back in 2002, I must say I was apprehensive about audience reaction. And I must also say, that our audience did not fail to surprise me.

The response was overwhelming. Hopefully, this time too, Arekti Premer Galpo, which is a take off from the film above, will get my audience thinking and, at the least, re-considerating their take on same sex bondings. The response in Berlin, London, New York, Delhi and Goa was positively over-powering.

How do you rate Rituparno as an actor? Was it easier/tougher to direct him as he happened to be a filmmaker himself?
Ritu is tremendously hard-working, involved and particular, as an actor. He went in for a make-over, worked out in the gym, took dance lessons. He opened himself to me like a book, which is not easy for one of Rituparno's stature.

He even had his costumes planned out, bought and packed in huge packing boxes more than a month before we went on floor. What more could I ask for of an actor?

Though he had claimed that he was not technically sound, he turned out to be very sure of the technical details that he required to keep in mind as an actor. It was a pleasure. Besides, the film-maker in him never surfaced on the floor, precisely because he is a film-maker himself.

He was aware, more than anyone else, that had that happened, I would probably have been very self-conscious, and his performance as an actor might have been affected. This mutual understanding, trust and respect went a long way in making the film what it is today.

What do you think about the recent gay films from Bollywood like Dunno Y...Na Jaane Kyun, and earlier My Brother Nikhil and parts of Jhootha Hi Sahi?
DYNJK, I feel, does not focus effectively on this sensitive issue. Onir has his personal style and honesty and that has made MBN an appreciable film. However, I have not seen JHS, but I certainly will, and give you my feedback if you're still interested... I'm surprised you don't mention Dostana. So no comments on that...

Do you think there's a lot of dormant homosexuality in the entertainment industry? Do we need to get more mature in our attitude to same-sex love?
Sexual preference is a personal matter. I feel that there is dormant homosexuality in almost any field. In most cases it lies dormant because of the fear of unacceptability.

I like it when you call it 'same-sex love'. Perhaps we need to realize that each same-sex bond is also a bond of love. And that each such journey is just another love story.

What made you choose Rituparno? Is it true you wanted to offer the part to Karan Johar and Onir?
Very many reasons, actually. First, I was making a film on Chapal Rani, none other than the Queen of Jatra. So I needed an actor who could more than match up to that stature.

Second, I could think of no one else who could move, talk, think and feel with the splendour and dignity of a woman. Rituparno Ghosh has a nimble gait, he talks softly, and has a deep understanding of human psychology.

The film would lose its honesty had my actor been inhibited, or insensitive. Ritu was in fact my only choice. I hadn't for once thought of offering the part to anyone else.Your mention of Karan Johar and Onir got me thinking...Onir would have been too young for the part, And Karan's would have been more suitable for the part of Uday' the wild-life photographer from Nice.

Is conservative Bengal ready for the sexual revolution? How do you think the audience that grew up and grew old watching Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Gautam Ghose would react to your film?
Believe me, I was brought up in the campus of an extremely conservative institution. If I could work on this subject for years, and feel free to make this film in Bengal, with the support of a Bengali producer, a Bengali cast and crew, without any hassles, qualms or unnecessary curiosity from anyone here, why would I be wary of the Bengali audience?

In fact, the film was written prior to Article 377. The conservative Bengali is perhaps much more open to change and much more tolerant than they are thought to be. Hasn't Bengal been the seat of many a revolution- political, social and religious?

However, my intention in this film has not been to revolutionize the attitude to sexuality, or promote closeted sexual preferences. So my audience is under no compulsion to accept or support the relationship that my protagonists share. My audience may feel that we are not yet ready for such films. They may hate the film. They may love the film.

I cannot say now. But what I can say, is, that they will discuss it. And to discuss, they have to think about the film, its subject. And if they discuss, the subject will take a baby step out of the 'dark' closet. That's enough.