麻豆传媒映画

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of 鈥� A film about a classical musician鈥檚 struggle to balance his career dreams and life in contemporary Mumbai will this week return India to the main competition at the Venice Film Festival for the first time in nearly two decades.

Writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane鈥檚 鈥淭he Disciple鈥� is among the 18-films selected for competition at the festival, which opened Wednesday. The last Indian film in competition was 鈥淢onsoon Wedding鈥� by Mira Nair, which in 2001 won the festival鈥檚 top prize, the Golden Lion.

Tamhane spent four years researching, filming and editing 鈥淭he Disciple,鈥� which follows a would-be classical music vocalist who struggles to balance his craft鈥檚 centuries-old traditions with contemporary Mumbai.

His film is slated to premiere Friday and despite travel restrictions and precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tamhane plans to be there.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been my dream, in a way to, you know, (to) be in competition at the festival,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou know, there would be no bigger high than presenting the film in person at Venice.鈥�

鈥淚 started off almost like a journalist, you know, attending concerts, interviewing musicians and hanging out in these spaces that they inhabit. So it took me two years to do the research, travel around the country and write the script,鈥� Tamhane, 33, said in an interview last month.

鈥淚ndian classical musicians 鈥� there is a general perception that they are very serious and, you know, and they are very sort of solemn and sombre. And once you start hanging out with them, once you start kind of talking to them, you realize that they鈥檙e just as normal, as ordinary as all of us,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e also in their respective field facing the same kind of issues, the same kind of problems that, you know, a journalist would be facing or an athlete would be facing.鈥�

鈥淚t was a process for me to arrive at that realization,鈥� he said.

As with his 2014 debut feature, 鈥淐ourt,鈥� which takes a swipe at the Indian legal system through the trial of an aging folk singer, 鈥淭he Disciple鈥� reflects his concerns about society.

"鈥楥ourt鈥� was a lot more observational, a lot more objective. 鈥楾he Disciple鈥�, I would say, is a lot more subjective,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of my observations about society and people, you know, do kind of seep into the script. And I feel not just me, everybody should be socially conscious and not be insular and live in a bubble, and react and engage with what鈥檚 happening around us.鈥�

鈥淐ourt鈥� won Best Film in the Orizzonti section that runs parallel to the main Venice Film Festival competition. It also won Tamhane the Lion of the Future award given to best first films.

Tamhane said he can relate to people swimming against the tide.

鈥淚 kind of think that I am on the fringe, you know, of the mainstream film industry in India, which is so dominant,鈥� he said.

At 19, he took a jab at his homeland's film industry with his documentary 鈥淔our Step Plan,鈥� which addressed plagiarism in Indian films.

鈥淪o when something is so popular, so dominant as an entire machinery, how do you survive? How do you find your own voice? How do you do something that鈥檚 not going to have, say, as big an audience and never going to make as much money or gain as much popularity? So then how do you keep going? How do you find your audience,鈥� he said.

Those themes also run through 鈥淭he Disciple.鈥� Tamhane said he doesn鈥檛 take for granted that he鈥檒l be able to continue to make movies.

鈥淚 may not get to make the kind of things that I want to make is a constant fear in my mind,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven when I was shooting this film every single day, I would remind myself that, you know, I鈥檝e been blessed, I鈥檓 privileged that I鈥檓 getting to do this. And this might not be the case in a few years.鈥�

Juwon Park, The Associated Press