Trisha Das: Making a feature film is a money game, documentaries are more flexible format

Trisha Das is happy that her book, Ms Draupadi Kuru, is all set to be adapted into a major motion picture. While the National Award-winning documentary filmmaker she can’t reveal much, she’s certainly excited.

“The official announcement has not come out yet, the talks are still on. I can’t divulge much about it, as to who will playing what… all that is in progress,” says Das, adding, “The book had been nominated for an award too in 2016, so there’s a lot of interest. I think it lends itself very well to the big screen and has a lot of story potential. I’m pretty excited to see it at some point.”

Given that she is the sister of comedian-actor Vir Das, one wonders why didn’t she venture into mainstream filmmaking, and instead chose to stick to documentaries? Das says this format allowed her more freedom.

“I think every documentary filmmaker goes through a phase thinking, ‘Should I make a feature film?’ So I won’t lie, I definitely went through that phase at some point, that maybe I should [direct a feature film]. But, at the end of the day, I am really happy with the fact that a documentary has the ability to bring out stories that people don’t really know,” she explains.

The writer-filmmaker adds that documentary films explore the rural India, the length and breadth of the country and that excites her.

“There are millions of people doing amazing things. Only as a documentary filmmaker, I am really able to bring all those stories to the forefront. Making a feature film is a money game, documentaries are more flexible format,” she says.

Das further elaborates on the monitory aspect that is a crucial factor while making a mainstream film.

“You have to have masala. At the end of the day, it is about having a big celeb for mass market. Otherwise, you are not going to be able to make the film. In the process, you lose a lot of integrity, you lose a large chunk of the story,” she opines.