Filmmaker Romilla Mukherjee tells Aditi Sharma how she directed her mother Ava, a familiar face on Indian ad films, to make a film about a grandma who can give Karamchand a complex
Filmmaker Romilla Mukherjee tells Aditi Sharma how she directed her mother Ava, a familiar face on Indian ad films, to make a film about a grandma who can give Karamchand a complex
Every time Romilla Mukherjee gets the chance to talk about her debut film, her face lights up the way a new 
mom's does while chatting about her baby. The excitement is palpable even though she claims she so busy that the achievement of having created Detective Naani, a full-length feature, hasn't sunk in.
Grasping the nuances of being a propah director, she listens carefully as her publicist dishes out tips for the media screening. We caught up with the ad filmmaker-turned-film director, minutes before the first cut of the film arrived at her residence.
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You have a mass media degree, but no formal training in filmmaking. And yet, here you are writing, directing and producing a film.
Yeah, I've always been a huge film buff. During the mass media course, my film professor would source films from the FTII archives, and I loved watching them. It sparked off something in me. I didn't train formally, but took up an internship with Imtiaz Dharker, a poetess who dabbles in corporate films. She is an artist with a tremendous sense of verbal and visual imagery. I didn't realise how much that would inspire me. Eventually, I broke away. Some things you learn only when you make your own film.
What was it like to move from advertising to making a full-length feature?
There was no one moment when I decided, "Okay, now I'm going to make a film". I was asked to write a one-liner for a Children's Film Society project, which I did as a favour. But they came back asking me for a synopsis, then a page, then a scene. Finally, I didn't want to give the concept away anymore. So, I got ambitious.
As far as the actual task of making the film went, it was similar to being dunked into the deep-end of a pool. A feature film is like a runaway train, in terms of the scale of the project and the sheer scope of cinema and what it can include, tends to make you under-utilise it sometimes. That was something I had to be careful about.
What genre would you say your film belongs to children's fantasy or murder mystery?
It's a film for everyone, 5 to 95 year-olds. There is a lot in it for kids but I've had senior citizens having a ball while watching it. The plot is almost like a storybook, so there's a hefty dose of drama. But although it starts off with something quite child-like in structure, the crime element to the plot lends it a serious streak. The mood is always upbeat, and the tone of the film is governed by the personality of its characters; a funky and quirky bunch.
Your movie is set in a megapolis. How much of Mumbai does Detective Naani mirror?
It reflects the Mumbai I know, where a large part of our history is erased, in terms of where you come from. For instance, it's hard to tell a Bengali from a Sindhi from a Punjabi or a Mangalorean. For the movie, we've created a generic universe: Naani is a Bengali but apart from a few moments when she's under stress, we don't make a big deal of the Bengali factor. The tremendous tolerance and ease with which you see different cultures adapt so that we end up having a slightly Westernised but still thoroughly Indian family, is amazing. That's what the film reflects the universality of Mumbai, its ability to include.
How was it working with your mother, Ava Mukherjee? Did equations change on set?
It may sound politically correct but we don't have a regular mom-daughter relationship. She's a contemporary, she watches the same movies I do. She'll never miss a George Clooney film! So, she was clued in. It was more a collaboration. Only sometimes, I would have to push her because it was a hell of a tall order for someone her age.
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