A Death in the Gunj: The most fun part was to create 1970s world, says Konkona Sen Sharma

Actor-filmmaker Konkona Sen Sharma, who has made her directorial debut with A Death in the Gunj, has said she would definitely like to direct again if she gets interesting stories.

“This film (A Death In A Gunj) has gone to many film festivals including that in Busan and Toronto. We have mostly got a positive response, so I hope the audience will also like the film. The most fun part was to create 1970s world in this film. I hadn’t thought that I would direct a film, but an interesting idea came up to my mind and then I developed it and eventually I made film on it. I enjoyed whole experience of direction and in future if I find any interesting story, I would like to direct again,” Konkona said at a special screening of her film on Monday.

Celebrities like Vikramaditya Motwane, Rajkummar Rao, Nasseruddin Shah, Radhika Apte, Bhumi Pednekar, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Sudhir Mishra, Tanuja, Tanisha Mukerji, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiah and Ira Dubey attended the screening.

Kalki Koechlin, who plays an important character in the film, said she loved the subject of the film. “I really liked the film. It’s a really interesting subject. It is set in 1970s and look of the film is also different. I am glad that film has travelled to so many festivals, including Toronto and New York film festival and now it will release in India.”

Gulshan said that being an actor herself, Konkona can understand other actors well. That, he feels, made it a great experience to work in A Death in the Gunj. “It was a really great experience for me to work in this film. I am really happy the way it has shaped up. I already knew Konkona will make good film when she narrated the story to me. I haven’t worked with such an amazing cast earlier in my career. Konkona herself is a fabulous actress, so she understands other actors and it was easy working with her matching with each other’s sensibilities.”

Praising Konkona’s first-time direction effort, Siddharth said: “I am very excited for the film. There are some good actors in it. I feel it’s great that women are coming into the field of direction... More power to them.”

The film is an atmospheric thriller set in 1979 at McCluskieganj, near Ranchi. It also features Vikrant Massey Ranvir Shorey, Tillotama Shome, Jim Sarbh, Tanuja and the late Om Puri. The movie, which won the Best Director honour for Konkona at the New York Indian Film Festival, is jointly produced by MacGuffin Pictures and Studioz IDrream.

A Death In The Gunj will hit the screens in India on Friday.