The Kakori Project, plight of kids during Freedom Struggle

Inspired by the Kakori Conspiracy Case, a historic armed robbery of a train by freedom fighters to challenge British colonial rule, 1924… masterfully recreates the era, capturing secret meetings in dilapidated houses and secret locations. The film, made in Bengali and Hindi with English subtitles, has minimal dialogues, enhanced by precise direction and brilliant performances by the cast, which vividly portray the intensity of the times.

Children as silent sufferers

“Making films about the past comes naturally to me,” Saha explains about why he chose to make a historical film. “I have read about the entire Freedom Struggle. If you read about the Independence Movement, people talk about the main events or the precursor to the main events. I haven’t come across too many narrations about the common people’s stories. I wanted to make a film about the entire process that happened before the main event,” says Saha, whose films have won 28 awards in 14 countries, including the Oscars, Canadian Screen Award and BAFTA Qualifying festivals.

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Saha chose to depict the trauma of children caught in conflict, as there are hardly any mainstream accounts of the impact of conflict on them. This is particularly relevant in the current times. “We tend to view war and conflict through the experiences of adults, focusing on those who are martyred or survive to tell their stories. But children are mostly caught in the crossfire. They have no agency, no choice in the matter, and are often left to navigate the consequences of decisions made by others. And I think the plight of children has been overlooked for far too long and for far too many times,” says Saha. He adds that we are often so focused on looking at conflict from a macro perspective that the loss of human life becomes just another statistical number. He adds: “Through this film, I wanted to shine a light on these silent sufferers, whose stories rarely make it into the historical narrative. A child’s fate is too often determined by the forces around them, and that tragic reality is what I hoped to depict.”

The art of intelligent filmmaking

The process of making a period film requires research and wherewithal to recreate the era in which it is set. In 1924… Saha achieves this in every detail. From the settings to the authentic costumes, every frame transports the viewer to the 1920s. Remarkably, Saha has achieved this on a shoestring budget. “There are ways to reduce costs,” he emphasises.

Saha used his grandfather’s clothes for the costumes. “The almirah in my Kolkata home was kept as it is and all these clothes were carefully stored with naphthalene balls for a very long time.” The pristine condition of the clothes, he says, is entirely to the credit of his mother and grandmother. “They meticulously preserved them.” Incidentally, Saha’s grandfather participated in the Freedom Movement. “He sold bodis (dried lentil dumplings) during the Swadeshi Movement to help the cause. I don’t want people to forget the fact that the independence of our country has come at a cost. The film is a nudge to remind people about how we earned our freedom.”

The film was shot in the older parts of Saha’s home city, Kolkata, in areas such as Baranagar ghat. “Part of intelligent filmmaking is to scout for locations,” says Saha. “We didn’t have to change anything in the locations. In fact, Baranagar ghat was a place where nationalists held clandestine meetings. Although the film was shot in Kolkata, rather than Kakori village near Lucknow where the Kakori Conspiracy took place, it successfully makes the viewer feel that they are back in the 1920s, lending an air of authenticity.”

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Saha explains how the team used inexpensive, innovative techniques. The diffused look of the film, for instance, was not due to any elaborate cinematic methods. “Joydeep Bhowmick, the cinematographer, used a 20 rupee hair shell (an accessory used to make hair buns) on the lens to get a glazed look. We purchased the props from local markets, and the umbrella was hired for 60 rupees from Tollygunge. To make the old book, we took pages and immersed it in coffee water to get the brownish colour, and then stitched the book together.”

Visual aesthetics

The performance of the cast, comprising Kartikey Tripathi, Deboprasad Haldar, Rohit Basfore, Sudeb Das, and Swarnakshi Dey, added to the authenticity. “The three actors are very experienced. Kartikey plays the role of the recruiter, Deboprasad plays Rohit, the father of the child. And Sudeb acted as the young man,” says the filmmaker.

Sudeb earlier worked with Saha as a production director, but he was also interested in acting. Saha thought he would be a perfect fit for the role of the young man. “Sudeb felt that this might be a gamble, but I thought it would work and will give the film a freshness. The film was shot in May 2023, the height of summer in Kolkata. I would put my camera on a tripod and he would enact the entire role in front of the camera, dabbling in variations. He did this for five days continuously. He would send the takes to me and I would assess them. The cast, on the whole, showed unimaginable dedication.”

The essence of a good film is about being a master of the craft, says Saha. “Even if you don’t have the money, you need technical knowhow. That is the only way to compensate for not having a huge budget to make a film.” Filmmaking is really about evoking deep emotions and making audiences think, which can be achieved through technical expertise and a deep knowledge of the subject matter. “It is about how you express yourself and you learn it on the job. It is crucial to take a keen interest in framing and composition. For me, visual aesthetics is very important,” says Saha.