‘Swaha’ director Abhilash Sharma – Firstpost

Swaha is a film that has been shot in black and white. The film had its World Premiere at Shanghai International Film Festival in the ‘Asian New Talent Competition’ where it won ‘two Golden Goblet Awards for Best Director and Best Actor’. And in an exclusive interview with Firstpost, director Abhilash Sharma spoke about the honor and the idea of the story.

Edited excerpts from the interview

What does the title Swaha suggest?

In our culture perspective, Swaha is connected with Hindu religious rituals. We recite mantras and say Swaha for successful completion of the rituals. So in my film, it’s connected with the struggle of a mother who is sacrificing herself, for the betterment of the world and the child and, all the complication of her life is like, the ritual around her.

And why black and white?

While writing, when I was developing those characters, I felt that black and white was more suitable when I was thinking about the visuals, the images. There is a certain kind of sadness involved with the black and white. And, when we were on recce, my cinematographer also told me that the location has more dynamic zone in black and white than colours. And this event was again challenged in post, and, our colorist asked for a color version, and he did very good.

But then we also realized that is not creating that kind of impact, what it was we expected in black and white. And then he again did the whole design in black and white, and I felt it’s really working for the story and the subject.

Also, it has won so many awards  internationally. So what do these awards mean to you?

This means the kind of world we are living where, it’s very difficult to be sure about your own conviction as a filmmaker. So all these awards and selection means there is some kind of acceptance and appreciation for my work. So when we work on a film with a lot of individualistic thinking, this gives us a sort of confidence to continue marching with the same passion.

How did the idea of the movie come about?

So when I look back, I see the film as my understanding of the world and my personal struggle with it. But, in the beginning, the idea was generated through a short animation film. So the idea of conflict between creator versus creation comes from that short film. And then, through my own personal experiences and my understanding of life, I consider mother as a origin of humanity.

So I placed the story in that way that there is a conflict between mother and son. I placed the story in, and, also, there is a certain connection between my own fear. Like, in my childhood, I saw for the first time the community of rat eaters eating rats, and that was created that stream.

Ever since the OTT has happened, how much do you feel cinema has changed or content has changed.

Cinema and content is a continuous evolving process. OTT has provided voice to many independent young filmmakers. So obviously, it’s contributing in a positive way. And, also, there is a commercial aspect of it. Every filmmaker I mean, I don’t have that kind of budget to make a huge film to have a theatrical release. Nowadays, it’s very difficult to get your film released in theatre.