Sonata of teen divas

They are three of the most formidable women with an impressive career trajectory in performing arts. And now, on April 21, audiences will get to see film director Aparna Sen along with actress Shabana Azmi and theatre personality Lillete Dubey bond in the role of three single woman in the English film, Sonata.

The movie is based on a play by Mahesh Eklunchwar and chronicles the lives of these working women in Mumbai. Sonata delves into the emotional journey that is peppered with philosophical moments. Aparna plays Professor Aruna Chaturvedi, Shabana plays the role of Dolon Sen, a banker while Lilette is esaying the role of  journalist Subhadra Parekh.

We met the three feisty and opinionated women for a quick tete-tate.
All three of you have been in stable marriages, so how does it feel to play single women in this movie, is it a liberating experience? Do you miss that phase of being single…

Aparna: All three of us have been single women many times over. As an actor you don’t have to be single in order to play or single or married in order to play married.

Shabana: It’s really about the script and what it asks of you. In many instances, you rely on your emotional memory. But these are not young girls, these are single woman our age, so their experience will be different from when we were single..

Lilette: When you do a movie it’s the emotions you recall, emotions don’t have to be in that context, vulnerability, loneliness, old age, losing my husband, fear loneliness, it can happen to anyone. You are talking about emotion, not context, you understand the part and shades of a character. If you play a character in a Greek tragedy, don’t have to be in that situation. You are trying to get in touch with emotion of loss, it is not conscious, you inhabit a character. For women of our age, in that film, there is no memory to fall back on.

What made you select Shabana and Lilette for the film?

Aparna: This is my fourth movie with Shabana. Apart from working together, we have been close friends. There is a great deal of trust and mutual dependence, always a pleasure for me to work with her, and there is a level of comfort.
As far as Lilette is concerned, it was a foregone conclusion. That woman is probably the most attractive, most well preserved and most abused too, but can’t live without the man either in the film. The playright, acting coach and I felt Lilette was perfect for the role. If she had not be able to do it, we were looking at a plan but had not decided on anything.

The movie chronicles the day-to-day moments in the lives of these ladies. They enjoy wine, and freely talk about their desire within the confines of their homes. But being socially conscious, they don’t air their views outside. They claim, “What awful creatures we are — no commitment, no aim, no ideology, We are not even feminists.”

Is that how the playwright perceived single women? What is your personal take on these three female characters? Did you identify with them?
Aparna: You have see it in a context,  they are having a ball, laughing so much. They are working women, independent and empowered. It’s a stray comment they make. To a feminist these women would come across as empowered.
Shabana: This statement is our item number (about feminism), it needed a provocative reaction. It is not something that you would expect from these women, but this line will make people sit up and wonder what the movie is about..

We have so much of talent in India, but why is there no market for women actors post 40s… Of course, there was Sridevi in English Vinglish, but such films are few and far between.     
Shabana: In the past seven years, I have played the best roles, funny, vampish, played women not played earlier. If you look at the framework of mainstram cinema, movies are made to appeal to the lowest common denominator, so you want many people to see it so there is a dumbing down of movies. But with the advent of multiplex that has changed.. There is no longer desire to appeal to every film that appeals to all. Hindi cinema is at a good space for actors, independent, parallel, mainstream cinema.
 

Lilette: I got into films 15 years ago. I feel that big super stars are not willing to do small roles. I came into films at 45 when most woman are packing their bags. I didn’t come with any baggage. They tend to put you in a draw with labels. After I did Zubeida, I got a slew of similar roles, they wanted to turn me into an Aruna Irani. With all due respect to her, I didn’t want to become an Aruna Irani. Look at Meryl Streep. She makes a huge impact with that one scene in Suffrage.

Aparna, is it easy to get funding for such films?
Aparna: Funding is difficult, producers need to be educated in terms of movies. Now some producers beginning to think different, do a basket of films, mainstream and otherwise.

Is there any target audience for this film?
I have never made a film that does not appeal to me, I don’t think I’m above the audience. If I like the film, and I can make them like it...Satyajit Ray once told me, “‘If films are not about humans, they are not about anything.’ A good movie is not about perfect shots. It’s about whether you have managed to touch someone deep inside, rest doesn’t matter.”