Nandita Singgha is an adfilmmaker turned director. She is presently writing, producing and even directing four films based on journalistic background. The films are Mid-Dey, J Returns, Mega Corp and Red. She has already shot 35 per cent of the first two films Mid-Dey and J. Returns in Delhi. Here are the excerpts of the interview.
How did the idea of making films with journalistic background come to you ?
The broad daylight murder of J. Dey was the most shocking thing to happen. I just started probing the life of a journalist. I found that the pen of the journalist is the most powerful weapon. When you compare a journalist with a lawyer or a policeman, we find that the journalist is doing far better service to mankind. A lawyer can lie. A policeman can file an FIR which can turn out to be fabricated too. But the journalist will write his story after conducting true research and then the whole society reads it and applauds it too. J. Dey who was writing a book on five gangsters and he paid his price to the bullet. That means a real journalist’s life is totally insecure. I am also fighting for the rights for journalists. There is no pension scheme for journalists. Why? Half of the courses in journalism in India have closed their shops as they say Journalism is not a paying job. I found that journalists very hardworking who write and have no regular duty hours. They even come late night to their house as they have to complete a deadline for their stories. The same journalists have made Modi jee the Prime Minister, Kejriwal the CM of Delhi, made Anna Hazare a national Hero and all the actors owe their stardom to journalists. It is now pay back time. In my own humble way, I am glorifying and highlighting the life of a journalist and that too with the eye of a lady journalist from U.K. who is shocked to see the life and times of an Indian journalist. I am the first woman filmmaker to direct an international film on Indian crime journalism.
You come from a corporate world and you have seen the rise and rise of corporates who have taken over the media in a big way. What is your take about it?
Yes, today corporates have understood the strength of the media and are investing in a big manner. The good old days of aristocratic journalism is also coming back. Some of my old friends have been great editors too. I was a child when I had met Khushwant Singh several times. I was only 13 years old when I first won a debate and won a prize of 30,000 US dollars in Durban. Two American companies Motorola and 3 M offered me training in technology and I brought the first video conferencing in the Asia-Pacific region. I even received several international awards for years together.
Coming back to your filmmaking journey, how has been the experience so far ?
I have already made eleven films in South in all the languages i.e. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. I have even directed a Bollywood film in 2007. I was always passionate in my work and I found that technically we are now very superior, almost every big director is making good cinema but only a handful of them are really concentrating in the content of the film. I liked the way A.R. Murugudoss makes his films. He is more focussed towards the content and knows to thrill the audiences with good stories which caters to all age groups. I appreciate his style of filmmaking.
