Aparna Sen is a rebel in a manner of speaking, not only in terms of the films she directs but also in terms of her personal decisions. Excerpts of an interview by Shoma A Chatterji

Why did you transcend the constraints of acting to step into direction?
After some time, I became restless with the way in which the scenario worked when I was an actress. Anxiety would surface at the oddest of moments. I began to take interest in the craft and found myself making note of the trolley movements.

When I watched a film later, I felt that the director should have used a wider frame, but hadn't. Once I was playing a housewife ironing clothes. I suggested to my director that may be I could burn the shirt to suggest the emotions of the woman.

When I saw the film, I noticed that he retained only my close-up. I was livid. ‘Where is the burning of the shirt' I asked him. "It is not necessary" he explained. So direction came from the dissatisfactions that I encountered as my career as an actress evolved. It was a logical extension of acting.

How did you begin to write 36, Chowringhee Lane?
I began to write a short story that evolved into a screenplay. I discovered that I wrote more in pictures than in words. I wrote the entire screenplay in English and took it to Satyajit Ray. He liked it. He suggested I write to Shashi Kapoor.

Kapoor liked the synopsis very much. Jennifer (Kapoor) heard it ten times. That was how I directed my first film, 36, Chowringhee Lane. I did not have to direct Jennifer Kapoor much; she knew what was expected of her.

She did her homework well. Looking back, I think it had a lot of flaws. But it also had universal appeal. It has endured the vagaries of time. People still come back and tell me they loved the film. The cinematography was superb. The same goes for Jennifer's performance.

You write your own detailed scripts for your films. Comment.
That's right. I am not against making films on other people's stories. Till date, I have done only one film on someone else's story – The Japanese Wife. The how of any film story is more important to me than the what.

The characters I create take over from me after a point of time. In 36, Chowringhee Lane, for instance, Violet Stoneham, the Anglo-Indian teacher, was supposed to go away, according to my original script.

But she became too strong to surrender to pressure and decided to stay back. I believe in surrendering to the character I have created. Sometimes, though, it could hurt when they become real. The last day of the Yugant shoot was painful. I missed Deepak and Anu, the characters, terribly for some time after the shooting ended.

Were you disappointed that Iti Mrinalini did not win any prize at the Cairo International Film Festival last year where it was entered in the Competition Section?
Is there a filmmaker who is not disappointed if his/her film does not draw notice at any festival, big or small? Why should I be different?

But perspectives differ and I respect the decision of the judges. The film had its Gulf premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival and was the opening film at the River-to-River 2010 Florence Indian Film Festival in Italy.

It is getting international coverage and visibility which is very important for any filmmaker. And then it won the two prestigious awards at the NYIIFF last year.