Bollywood director Dibakar Banerjee says the camera plays a dynamic role in his forthcoming Love, Sex Aur Dhoka (LSD), which is about stories behind sensational headlines. And he is certain the content of the movie and the filmmaking technique will surprise audiences.
"The medium and the technique in the film are as important as the content. That is what will take the audience totally by surprise because they are not used to seeing a film being made this way," said Banerjee said.
"LSD is made with a digital camera and the way camera behaves makes it very different from the other Indian or international cinema. The concept is very new and it will hit the audience right in the beginning. And if the audience can get over that shock in the first 5 or 10 minutes, after that the content will keep them occupied. You will feel the presence of the camera as a dynamic character within the film and not as a recorder of the scenes. It's very dynamic," he said.
There are no known names in the film. Banerjee says he roped in non-actors to give it a real feel.
"To make it 'real' I have used all non-actors because the premise of the film is that it's not a film - it's stolen, found or accidentally acquired footages collected from various parts of the country. And the film is made on stories behind sensational headlines that we keep seeing in newspapers or televisions. We see the headline and then we forget, but there is a story behind every headline."
Asked if he has borrowed the idea from some real incidents, he said: "I don't think fiction is ever free of reality. Whatever is happening around impacts me. And things that happened around us has generated the fiction for the film. You can say that it is in the twilight zone between reality and fiction."
Banerjee's last two films were Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, but he has used lip-synched songs and an item number for the first time in Love, Sex Aur Dhoka.
"The film has five songs and for the first time I have incorporated lip-sync songs and an item number. The item number was shot in a weird way because in the film a young inexperienced filmmaker shoots the song. So I had to shoot it like an inexperienced person making lots of stupid mistakes," he said.
Throwing light on the storyline, he said: "In the film, three stories about very strong couples are intricately connected to each other. There are three different cameras that are recording these three couples' lives. And the film shows that by accident we have found those recordings."
Banerjee says that the idea was in his mind even before he made Khosla ka Ghosla.
"I was trying to do LSD before Khosla Ka Ghosla and then again I tried doing it, but then came Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. I wanted to do a totally different film."
"I was seeing certain things happening in front of my eyes and I am still seeing them. Those incidents had a great impact on me. The issues are extremely important especially in the case of modern urban India," he said.
Does the film carry any message? "I don't think there is any film which doesn't have a message. Even the absolutely scorching, entertaining hit would have a message. It also has a message."
