After leaving a mark at 50 film festivals across the world and becoming India’s official entry to the Oscars, Village Rockstars is all set for its theatrical release this week.

It has been a surreal experience for Rima Das, who has written, directed, edited, produced and done the production design for the film all by herself. Turning three films old, with her latest film Bulbul Can Sing, which just had a successful run at TIFF, Rima is a rare talent who is being recognised all over the world owing to her soulful aesthetics.

A self-taught filmmaker, Rima grew up wanting to be an actor. “I grew up watching Bollywood movies and right from childhood, I wanted to be an actor. After I finished my Masters (in Sociology) from Pune University, I moved to Mumbai to give acting a shot,” she shares in an interaction with The Telegraph.

She adds, “While I was doing theatre, friends exposed me to world movies. I started watching films from Europe, South America, Iran, and Korea. Until then, I only knew the larger-than-life Bollywood films that I had grown up on. I never thought films could be small and intimate. That, more importantly, it didn’t need a lot of resources to make a film. That’s how the idea of telling my own stories started.”

While Rima agrees that filmmaking is a technical task, she feels that it’s more of an emotional endeavor. She explains, “Films are just a medium to tell stories, like writing a poem or painting a picture. It’s a visual story. I believe if you have a story to tell, the medium will show you the way. The honesty with which a director tells the story comes through on screen. A film works only when the audience feels what the director wants them to feel. It’s no different than painting a picture. Yes, you might not know how to hold a brush or what kind of paint to use on canvas but none of these matters if the painting evokes an emotion.”

She also shares the heartwarming story of how Village Rockstars came to life. “While I was shooting my first film Antardrishti (Man with the Binoculars) I saw some village kids pretending to be musicians in a rock band with make-belief instruments while a song played on the radio and that’s where the idea for Village Rockstars came from.”

The most special aspect of Rima’s film is that she has cast the very same kids in the film that she saw performing at the make-believe village concert. She shares, “They were so excited to make this film. After I told them, they would show up at my house every day and say: ‘Let’s go make the film!’ (Laughs) They even became assistants of sorts. They really are the best!”

Just as it has impacted Rima’s life, the movie has drastically transformed the lives of the kids who were a part of it. “They came to Mumbai for the film festival, which was a novel experience for them. Then, when the National Awards happened, this is the first Assamese film to win in 30 years, so it was a big deal. We had a big celebration in Guwahati. So they’ve been getting interviewed a lot at home and taking part in talk shows. They’re very special children — I did this film for them,” Rima shares.

On being asked why all of her films are set in Assam, Rima replies, “I was born and brought up here. I know the people, the traditions and the culture. This is my comfort zone. It also works from a financial point of view. More than anything, I wanted to tell stories about my people and my land. There’s no place like home.”

Village Rockstars is all set to hit theatres on September 28.

H/T: The Telegraph