Director Jaydeep Sarkar Unveils Art of Storytelling Across Genres

Hyderabad: Renowned filmmaker and storyteller, Jaydeep Sarkar, shares profound insights into his distinctive approach to performance-based storytelling in advertising films and his success in addressing social issues through impactful projects. From critically acclaimed short films like 'The Wives' to navigating diverse mediums like feature films and TV shows, Jaydeep Sarkar discusses his creative process, challenges, and the future direction of his storytelling in an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle.

Q. Can you share insights into your approach to performance-based storytelling in advertising films, considering your extensive work with prominent brands like The Times of India, Nestle, Lux, and more?

I find every window to tell a story a privilege. Advertising with its thirty second formats challenge you to capture a feeling or a moment with economy. And I am a fan of brevity in storytelling, so I find this challenge very motivating. Often, this economy in storytelling makes the work more impactful and powerful! Advertising, as a medium, works best when it is disruptive.

One of my favourite mainline adveritising work is for a Horlicks campaign released during exams. Instead of telling the children to study hard, which everyone around them drills into them, the film told them to be fearless and go into exams with the gumption with which they approach play- carefree yet confident! This disruptive film which went against the communication of other competitive brands that were telling children to concentrate… really landed well!

So yeah, in something as traditional as advertising, I have the most fun when I can go against the tide and challenge existing structures. If the mother is traditionally seen as a primary caregiver, I’ll put the father in that role and see what happens. The power of mainline advertising is immense and I like shaking things up bang in the middle of this, and create work that raises questions in households across the country.  

Q. The short film ‘The Wives’ received accolades, including a Kyoorius D&AD Blue Elephant award and the Laadli Award. How did you navigate the storytelling process to address social issues effectively in this project?

For me, the human story is at the centre of any subject. While the film was about how local communities have traditionally navigated systemic problems, I chose to concentrate on the relationship between the three wives. And that is where the magic lies. That is what makes it universal. And to find a sisterhood among these three wives (who may all be vying for the husband’s attention) was ironic and humane and it is what finally made the film raw!

The social issue then becomes a haunting context for the narrative and the film doesn’t end up being preachy, because you have not been delivered a message but made to feel feelings! I think these layers of human connections is what makes a film stand the test of time.

Q. ‘Nayantara’s Necklace’ garnered attention on various platforms, including social media and film festivals. Could you elaborate on the challenges and creative choices involved in bringing this project to life, especially with Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead?

With Nayantara’s Necklace, I wanted to make a film about female friendship in an urban context. It was as much as about plot as it was about silences. I got lucky with Konkona and Tillotama, who are close friends in real life, and this camaraderie translated to screen seamlessly. The main challenge for me was to go into the minds of the characters and how they see each other and themselves. Both Tillotama & Konkona probed deep into the character motivations and what emerged from their character work was far beyond what was captured on paper. Tillotama’s childlike sway as she listened to the song her school friends sends her, or Konkona’s haunting silences were all sculpted through workshops and then eventually, on set.

Apurva Asrani, who edited the film with absolute love, saw that the soul of the film was in its silences and punctuated and underlined it and finally what is going on in the minds of the characters is what propels the narrative, rather than what they say to each other. To me, this is the primary feat of the film!

Q. As a filmmaker who has worked across different mediums, including feature films like ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ and TV shows like ‘Remix,’ how do you adapt your storytelling techniques for varied formats?

I believe no individual is just this or that- there are so many aspects to our lives and I don’t want to simplify myself and see myself as a popular filmmaker or an ad filmmaker or a documentary filmmaker only. I like my multiple identities and I love the various challenges that each world brings. Traversing different worlds has always made me appreciate the other!

At the end of the day, for me it’s telling a story, irrespective of the medium. Once you buy into the medium, the genre, the grammar of the project- then everything else flows easily from it. It stops mattering whether it’s a Sudhir Mishra film or a television series for teenagers, what the characters feel and do in their universe will organically come to you, if you buy into it. The medium is just a form, but as an artist, my primary concern is what is at the heart of the piece of work!

Q. Your recent project, ‘Ishq Mastana,’ was part of Netflix’s anthology series Feels Like Ishq. What drew you to this particular story, and how did you approach it within the anthology format?

The young are very often seen as naive and simple and hopelessly idealistic, but I believe in this hope. The older I get, the more I appreciate the optimism of the young. I wanted to set a love story in an unlikely setting. A protest is so many things all at once and I love exploring beyond the black and white. I wanted to see this protest, where passions are peaking, as a backdrop for a romantic connection.

Having studied at St. Stephen’s college, I have grown up doing street theater and I wanted to create a world where the young are rubbing shoulders with the world around them. People, by and large, live in silos now. But what community gives you, is the fuel to live and love! I wanted to create this robust world, the adventure of a protest gone wrong and juxtapose it with a tender connection between Mehr and Kabir.

Q. Having written and directed for both streaming platforms like Netflix and traditional networks, what differences do you find in storytelling dynamics, and how do you navigate those differences?

While in the previous decade, people were only chasing TRPs, what I feel networks now do is concentrate on creating relevant pieces. Work that is disruptive, topical, important and entertaining is at the centre of programming now. It’s not just the numbera. And that is very liberating for an artist.

Q. Could you share insights into your experience working on a non-fiction show with Vice for Amazon Prime Video? What aspects of this project challenged you as a storyteller?

From the time I started working on Rainbow Rishta, I have had the privilege of keeping my experience as a queer filmmaker as the fulcrum of the creative process. This is unprecedented for me, as a gay man. For most of our professional lives, we lurk on the fringes of a largely heteronormative creative world. But both Vice studios and Prime Video subverted this structure. And that is where the true victory of the project lies. Authentic storytelling is something that Vice and Prime Video strongly believe in and I realised what they mean by it, when we crewed up for the show.

Everyone who came together (queer or straight) were empathetic people whose perspective on the project was deeply valued and nurtured. It is rare, that such an atmosphere of love and care is created for a project. This was, in most senses, an ideal confluence of energies!  

Q. Any hints about the theme or the creative direction you plan to take in your future projects?

Currently, I am in preproduction for a show and a feature film and both are comedies. While one is a satire, the other is a romance. I find comedies very powerful in conveying the darkest of thoughts and observations. I want my work to be a commentary on the world we live in, but at the same time, I don’t want to be preachy. I find comedy a great middle ground.

Q. How do you balance creativity and commercial considerations when working with brands on advertising films, considering your extensive portfolio in this domain?

While, in many advertising films, one has lesser room to play given the communication the brand wants, there are many brands that want to explore beyond just the product-benefit communication. I have had the great fortune of working on films that have challenged conventional communication.

I have worked with great creative directors whose work goes beyond the ‘brief’ and it’s always a dance between the budgets and creative aspirations from a project that is a challenge. But with every project, I find a new rhythm and I always approach each advertising film like it’s my first film and I try to devise a new way to marry art with commerce, and more often than not the results are deeply rewarding.

Q. As someone with a diverse portfolio encompassing writing, directing, and show running, how do you stay creatively inspired and continue to evolve as a storyteller?

I think, having a robust life beyond work, is most important. Many of my friends, including my partner, are not from the movies. My evenings are spent discussing everything but films and that’s so important to keep us rooted, aware of the context of the world we live in. I don’t want to live in echo chambers where we hear only what we want to hear. I love to travel and live in different parts of the world for short stints.

It makes me aware of the world beyond books and stories, but more importantly it makes me aware of myself. At the end of the day, my work involves me exploring myself and understanding my own mind and its whimsy. And the more I can challenge myself, the more rewarding my work will be!