Veteran Indian director and actor Aparna Sen is set to develop her latest project, “Her Indian Summer,” as an Indo-U.K. co-production. The announcement was made during a recent retrospective of her work in London, according to Variety report.
The film, a mixed-race love story set against the backdrop of the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, is being produced by Kolkata-based producer-director Aritra Sen and Los Angeles-based British writer-director Alex Harvey’s Big Bazaar Films.
Expressing enthusiasm for the new project, Sen said, “I am really excited about my story ‘Her Indian Summer,’ which I see as an Indo-U.K. co-production with major British and Indian actors. I am delighted that Alex Harvey and Aritra Sen of Big Bazaar Films are taking this project forward and hope to start filming soon.”
Aparna Sen first gained recognition as an actor in the “Samapti” segment of Oscar-winner Satyajit Ray’s “Three Daughters” (1961). She went on to act in several more films by Ray and collaborated with other Indian cinema legends such as Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, and Rituparno Ghosh. Her filmography also includes roles in Merchant-Ivory productions “The Guru” (1969) and “Bombay Talkie” (1970).
Sen made her directorial debut with “36 Chowringhee Lane” (1981), earning her the best director award at India’s National Film Awards. She has since directed several acclaimed films, including “Paroma” (1984), “Sati” (1989), “Paromitar Ek Din” (2000), “Mr. and Mrs. Iyer” (2002), “Goynar Baksho” (2013), and “The Rapist,” which won the Kim Jiseok prize at Busan in 2021. Sen was also the subject of Suman Ghosh’s documentary “Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen,” which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year.
Aritra Sen, speaking on behalf of Big Bazaar Films, shared their excitement, said, “We’re delighted to be working with Aparna on an original story, which will be an English-language film just like her first.” The company is also producing “Forest of Humans,” a documentary about Satyajit Ray and Kolkata, featuring Aparna Sen and directed by Harvey.
Harvey commented on Sen’s connection to Ray, stating, “Aparna appeared in four of Satyajit Ray’s films, and also developed a lasting friendship with the great filmmaker, who acted as a mentor at the start of her own directorial career.” Big Bazaar Films’ upcoming release, “Prantik” (The Talisman), draws inspiration from Ray’s classics “Pratidwandi” and “Jana Aranya.”
The retrospective event, organized by the Bengal Heritage Foundation in collaboration with Big Bazaar Films, was held at the Nehru Centre and Cine Lumiere. It featured screenings of Sen’s films “The Japanese Wife,” “Paromitar Ek Din,” and a restored print of “36 Chowringhee Lane.” The restoration was led by producer Shashi Kapoor’s son, Kunal Kapoor, with the screening introduced by Kunal’s brother, photographer, and actor Karan Kapoor.
Talking about the event, Sen said, “The most rewarding part for me was the screening of my debut film ‘36 Chowringhee Lane,’ beautifully and lovingly restored by Kunal Kapoor. The new print brought out all the rich textures of the original, and did credit to Ashok Mehta’s superb photography.”
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