—Joanna LoboERNESTO RUSCIO/ GETTY IMAGES
(^64) Volume XLIII Number 41; For the week October 2-8, 2018, published on every Friday Total number of pages 92 (including cover pages)
Q.Is the Indian film
industry capable
enough to look at
history and prevalent
social issues?
I’ve seen some really
fabulous Indian movies
recently. They weren’t
historical but
contemporary. I loved
Masaan,Titliand am really
looking forward toManto.
Q A
THE CURIOUS
STORYTELLER
Filmmaker
Deepa
Mehta
talks literature
and contemporary films
Q. What excites you
about this year’s long-
list in the JCB PRIZE for
Literature?
We [the jury] read more
than 61 books or, as
someone counted, 150,000
pages. Some of those
stories just stood out. As
Shakespeare said, there
are three kinds of stories in
the world, but it is the way
you tell them that matters.
In these books, the
concerns and the way they
were depicted were very
dierent. Whether it’s the
language, the translation,
there was gender and
ecology and also, a deep
love for humanity that
really touched me.
Q. What are
your thoughts on
contemporary
Indian literature?
Based on the
shortlisted 10 books,
I’d say, it is very
healthy. If someone
asked me if I would
adapt any of these
into movies, I would
say yes to all.
Q. What do you seek
to convey through
your films?
What motivates me to
tell a story is curiosity.
If something intrigues
me or I don’t know
much about it, that’s
the first motivation. It
becomes a question
of exploration. I want
to know more about
it, then I say, this will
make a good film.
Q. Do you believe
that every story, be
it in a book or on the
screen, should have a
message?
I’ll speak as a filmmaker.
I don’t read a book and
say that’s an incredible
message. When I read,
it’s about the language,
the imagination, the
story. A message is the
last thing on my mind. I
find messages boring.