Cinematographer-director Premendra Bikash Chaki’s Alaap is a love story of two IT professionals who never meet. With Abir Chatterjee and Mimi Chakraborty in the lead, the film also features Swastika Dutta. In a chat with OTTplay, the director elaborated on the theme of Alaap.

By his admission, Alaap was written ages ago. “I was not a director then. I was at an outdoor shooting in Jhargram as the DOP. Unlike now, we used to have a lot of leisure time during shooting during that time. It was about 20 years ago when I thought of the story,” said the director.

However, When Chaki and Padmanabha started finalising the script, they had to bring in a lot of changes. “It was written at a time when our life was not as fast. The young generation had a life beyond coffee shops. This generation has mobile phones and hence they don’t need to wait under the famous boro ghori of Howrah Station or Anandamela at Gariahat. Life has become easier. Alaap is slightly old-school where the hero and heroine write notes to each other. It is not a love story of school children who often take infatuation as love. Alaap is about two adults falling in love,” the director said.

In recent times, the success rate of thrillers in the Bengali film industry is arguably the highest. Why does Chaki choose a love story? “We are surrounded by negativity. News channels, newspapers, and social media are constantly presenting a grim picture of society. I did not want to delve into the negativity of another murder. I feel we need a break from murder mysteries and thrillers and enjoy love stories,” he said.

But what about the statistics that show a higher success rate of thrillers in the Bengali industry? “Let’s not buy into that. A successful film has many owners. Everyone wants to be a part of a hit film. Hence, everyone wants to show their films to be a hit. I feel there are always many takers for a love story,” said Chaki.

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