The short film that made it to the Oscar Longlist from India last year had its starting point when filmmaker Chintan Sarda heard of a tragic case from a writer friend Ruchira Sehgal. She told him about an Alzheimer’s patient, who couldn’t remember that his wife had passed away and had to deal with the loss every single time he found out. The aching story became the seed for the script of The Broken Table. Thematically though the story evolved and became more about the protagonist Deepti’s conflict and her journey once Chintan and his co-writer Vikram Gupta startedworking on it.
Chintan Sarda is an ex-finance professional who shifted from the finance sector to pursue his passion for filmmaking. Born and raised in Baroda, he moved to Mumbai to study at N.M. College. While in London, he worked at UBS as an Analyst, but his interest in filmmaking led him to direct his first short film during his time there. Chintan’s love for performing arts began in theatre at school, where he directed plays and acted in lead roles. His childhood aspiration oscillated between becoming a Chartered Accountant and an Actor. During his formative years, Chintan’s exposure to Hollywood films and American TV shows deeply influenced his love for cinema. His decision to transition from finance to filmmaking was a thoughtout one, and he used his time in London to gain more exposure to world cinema and work on his passion.
Chintan’s next project is a complete departure from his previous work—a thrilling science fiction piece penned for Excel Entertainment, set to premiere on Amazon Prime soon.
Chintan Sarda
FIRST SHORT
A production house that liked a feature script I had written wanted to see a director’s reel as I had told them that I wanted to direct the film. So, I decided to make a short film with whatever limited resources I could gather.
The first image that came to me was of a rugged man sitting next to a kid and them sharing a comfortable silence. I wanted to know who these characters could be and what they shared. Fortunately, I got to direct Jackie Shroff in the film, which went on to win several awards and got great reviews.
RESEARCH & WRITING PROCESS
It is always enriching to collaborate with my co-writer, Vikram Gupta, who is also my closest friend. There were multiple drafts of the story and the script before we reached the one we shot. I think the process was similar to other stories that we have developed together. We need to be excited about what the film is about and find engaging characters and interplay to weave the narrative. Things just flow once we have the fundamentals in place and know the direction we are going in.
I had my psychologist friend Havovi Hyderabadwalla onboard as a consultant. She helped Naseer Saab understand what stage of Alzheimer’s the character was at and what the possibilities were. Rasika Duggal and I spoke at length about the character’s conflict and motivation. Both the actors are experienced and nuanced, they just needed to understand the tonality of our direction so they could form their choices.
BEING AN ACTOR’S DIRECTOR
I try to be an actor’s director because ultimately it is the performance and the emotions that drive the story. It was intimidating to even think of directing the legend, Naseeruddin Shah. He was one of the reasons I got into films and his work has inspired me so much. I tried very hard not to show him how much I was in awe of him because I am not supposed to act like a fan while we were working together. I have loved and followed Rasika’s work since Qissa and have known her for many years. It was quite something to see her process up close and watch her bring Deepti’s character to life.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 04.11.2024