By Deepshikha Chatterjee, Batch of 2016
Perfection is his habit. Non-conformism is his norm. Creativity is his second-self. This novice director has garnered much praise for his work, ideas and the directorial skills from critics, audience, peers and the fraternity alike. Dibakar Banerjee has redefined cinema, re-created the aura of Delhi and brought out the best in many actors.
‘A poster boy for the so-called Indie Movement’ (as quoted by the Caravan Magazine), Dibakar has given some very unconventional hits. While the national award-winning film Khosla ka Ghosla started off his directorial venture, all the movies that followed (from this self-made director) have lived up to the debut film’s excellence. He has experimented with direction styles with LSD, tying up the film in purposely amateurish video recordings to leave the desired impact. He has constantly re-invented yet stayed true to not directing a song-dance mainstream rom-com.
A self-proclaimed movie-buff, Dibakar’s life has forever revolved around the movies he saw. He dropped out of the prestigious NID, Ahmedabad to pursue his passions in film-making. He joined advertising while working on his big break. A prodigious genius, convinced of his ideas, Dibakar launched his debut film, Khosla ka Ghosla in an industry teeming with competition and talent. The movie drew major parallels with his upbringing in Delhi – the typical culture, problems, lingua of the quintessential middle class Delhi-ite. His subsequent movie OLLO (Oye Lucky Lucky Oye) too went on to win the national award, labeling him as “one of the best directors” (as quoted by Anurag Kashyap) the industry had to offer. LSD, Shanghai only cemented his fan-following amongst the ‘intelligent’ modern movie-goers, looking out for parallel cinema with ‘substance’.
In a joint-venture direction-production of four of the most influential directors of today, Dibakar paid his tribute on 100 years on Indian Cinema through his short-film ‘Star’ in Bombay Talkies. He was paired with stalwarts like Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar for this venture. His recent production ‘Titli’ was selected to take part in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The story revolves around a car-jacking family business, the youngest member of which, Titli, wants out. His latest directorial-production is Detective Byomkesh Bakshi , re-creating the aura of old Bengal and one of its greatest detectives (fictitious character) – another movie-with-a-difference for the connoisseurs of Indian cinema to look forward to.
Dibakar Banerjee Productions (DBP) is now a banner to reckon with, having produced such un-conventional hits over the last decade. A director who promises perfection and a cinematic experience with a difference, Dibakar has made his mark. As he endeavors to exceed his previous standards with every new film he creates, his name is sure to be etched amongst the stalwarts of modern-experimental cinema.
