Nandita Das, whose directorial debut Firaaq is already creating a buzz in the industry, says that film direction for her is a way of venting her all her ‘accumulated angst and desire’.

“I don’t even remember when the seeds of this film were sown. I guess it had to do with a day when I woke up one to find that the newspapers were filled up with stories of
violence,” says Nandita.

The debut director now goes off on a complete tangent…well at least for the Bollywood filmi crowd. Decipher it if you can, we couldn’t.

“It also had to do with conversations about identity and the notion of the ‘other’ that would soon turn into arguments,  polarising people instantly,” she says.

Nandita goes on, “It probably even went back to growing up in a liberal secular environment and gradually finding oneself in the midst of prejudices, thrusted identities and the many ‘isms’ that make one feel alone and alienated. The sadness, the anger, the helplessness kept growing and a compelling desire to share all those stories with a larger group of people started taking roots. I needed this catharsis. I didn’t start out looking for a story that I could direct, instead the stories found me...”

But now that Nandita has taken up directing, will acting take a backseat? “I have always enjoyed doing different things and I hope to continue that. I don’t see any reason why one has to make choices between this and that when one can potentially do this and that together. I have never really planned my life, even though I believe that every choice you make leads you to the next crossroad,” she says.

Well, this basically means she wants to continue doing both of them.
“If there are stories that compel me to direct, I will. But, as of now, I am just working towards taking Firaaq to as many audiences I can. I am also reading a few scripts that have come my way. I hope to get back to acting soon and also my Human Rights work, which has been neglected in the last few months,” Nandita ends.