A Piece of Meat: An Interview with Varun Khettry

Please tell us a little about yourself. How did you become interested in cinema and how did you learn filmmaking?

I grew up in a Jamshedpur a small town near Kolkata, because of having asthma, I rarely went out to play, instead just read books, comic books & watched a lot of films, kept struggling in studies but films instead became a source of entertainment & knowledge about the world we live in, just through a film I could understand the culture, the food & the people of that place, it became a window for me to see the world and experience it without having to travel much. Everything changed for me after I saw this Indian film “ Rang De Basanti” (Colour it Yellow), I was just 17 years old and I remember going in as a an audience member but coming out as a director, it had such a deep impact in my life at the tender age of 17 that I decided to leave studies & go away to Mumbai to work on films. After reaching there in 2007 I was lucky to have worked on a few amazing films like Rock on, Udaan (Flight) & Kai Po Che (I have cut it) as an assistant director which gave me a firm footing to start exploring ideas & stories which led me to leaving Mumbai & returning to Kolkata to make films from here as I a saw Satyajit Ray film at a film festival & decided to try to learn from him & follow his path which led me to “Kosha Mangsho” (A Piece of Meat).

This film, "A Piece of Meat," is your [first] work, and how did its idea form?

The idea was formed just by a random conversation while helping my mom with cooking & she told me about a couple of her experiences she had , when she was a new bride in the family.

How do the ideas for your works generally form, and how long does it take for you to turn them into a screenplay? Do you usually share your screenplays with other writers and artists?

After spending a lot of time with myself thinking & pondering I found my voice, & now I hear stories or some incidents or a newspaper article anything can connect but after finding my voice, it helps to filter out what does not work & what does, it’s important to find your voice as a writer- creator and then proceed to make a film.

Please tell us how you cast your actors?

For "A Piece of Meat”, I went to many theatre groups in Kolkata and announced regarding the auditions for my film were open, few who were interested came for it and after a process of 3 months. I was able to finalise my cast.

Your film is full of beautiful and eye-catching images. Tell us a little about the film's locations. About the filming locations and your experience working in these places.

Thank you, Yes for that I would give full credit to my D.O.P Mrinmoy Mondal. And the locations are in North Kolkata (Old Kolkata) where I grew up till the age of 6 but then we moved to another area ( but these childhood memories kept calling me back & I decided to go back to my roots and make this film. More than 200 years ago the Britishers had come and made the houses and the area (Sovabazaar) & most of them have remained similar like the red house which I shot in, The colour red for the houses had been brought in by the Britishers. It was a little tough shoot as generally not many people shoot in those areas , so controlling the crowd was a little hectic but we were finally very happy with

the results.

What do you think was the hardest part of making the film?

Raising funds for the film was the toughest as for 1 year I had tried to run a crowdfunding campaign which failed in the last minute but thanks to a journalist (Sneha Menon Desai - Film Companion Studios) she had called me for an interview for the campaign, which finally was seen by an investor who decided to finance my film.

Is the short film a bridge for you to reach a feature film?

Yes.

What did the audience who saw the film think?

It was a complete bipolar experience to begin with. Either people loved it or just didn't get it but after a 2nd or 3rd view they started getting it.

If possible, tell us about your favorite filmmakers.

My favourite filmmakers in the world are Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), Shoojit Sircar (Sardar Udham) & Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Rang De Basanti).

Finally, if there is anything else you would like to add, we would be eager to hear it.

I would like to specially mention Chandradip Goswami who was the music director of the film, his music uplifted the film a couple of notches higher.