Digital platform is the future of cinema: Sujoy Ghosh

Bollywood director Sujoy Ghosh, whose first short film "Ahalya" took the Internet by storm, on Wednesday said the digital platform for filmmaking is the future as it empowers the audience and liberates them to choose how and when they would like to watch a film.

"I do not think the moviegoers would completely shift to the digital platform, but they are becoming increasingly fond of the platform as it is more empowering. In the digital format, the audience has the freedom to pick and choose when and how he or she would like to watch the film," Ghosh told IANS on the sidelines of the screening of his latest short film "Anukul" presented by Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films here.

The 18-minute-long film, derived from a Satyajit Ray story written in 1976, revolves around the relationship between Nikunj Chaturvedi, a well-to-do Hindi teacher, and his robot Anukul, hired for domestic services.

Veteran actor Saurabh Shukla and Kolkata-based Parambroto Chatterjee feature in the two key roles in this film dealing with ideas such as intelligence versus instinct, faithfulness and the eternal debate between right and wrong.

Ghosh, the director of famous Bollywood film "Kahaani", said there is a chance that apart from the big films, most of the other genre of films would shift to the digital platform in the future.

"I strongly believe that we go to the cinema for an experience and for that experience to be good, I think it needs to be big, be it in terms of presentation or idea. It is possible that apart from big platform cinema like "Baahubali" or a big thought and big platform film, everything else would shift to the digital platform in future," Ghosh said.

Talking about the challenges in making the film for the digital platform, Ghosh said while the platform provides a better reach to the audience as a filmmaker, it also demands a greater amount of dedication and hard work.

"As the audience on the Internet is not limited to a country or a community, more effort needs to be put in creating things like subtitles or the language of the film so that it can reach everyone," he said.

Asserting that making a short film needs the same amount of effort and efficiency like making a full-length feature film, the director said the makers should focus more on the content of cinema rather than worrying about its length and which category it would fall into.

"A film is a film and every film, irrespective of its duration, demands the same kind of effort. Whether it is a short film or a full-length feature film, it does not make a lot of difference in terms of direction, acting, sound design or cinematography," Ghosh said.

"I think we should not worry about making short films or medium films or large films. We should focus on making films. And the time it takes us to tell the story would categorise whether it would go to the web, to the screen or any other format."

-IANS