Renowned filmmaker Sai Paranjpye shared insights on censorship, realism in cinema, and her career during an Idea Exchange session moderated by The Indian Express. At 89, she donated her archives to Ashoka University and reflected on societal issues like caste and nepotism. Paranjpye emphasized storytelling without preaching, drawing from everyday Indian life.
Sai Paranjpye, a Padma Bhushan recipient and one of India's pioneering women filmmakers, spoke at an Idea Exchange event moderated by Anuradha Mascarenhas of The Indian Express. Known for films like Chashme Buddoor, Katha, and Sparsh, her work highlights warmth, humor, and everyday realities, often inspired by chawl life in places like Pune and Delhi.
Paranjpye described herself as an optimist, focusing on life's positives without delivering social messages. "I hate the idea of socially driven films. Who am I to give social messages?" she said. Her stories, such as those in Katha and the TV serial Hum Panchhi Ek Chawl Ke, capture community dynamics where "one family’s sorrow is shared by everybody else."
Recently, she donated her handwritten drafts, screenplays, and films in Marathi and Hindi to Ashoka University, facilitated by friend Latika Padgaonkar. "I have written so much... I have handed over a bit of my legacy to the university," she noted, lamenting unproduced scripts due to lack of funding.
On censorship, Paranjpye expressed concern over its misuse. "When people feel they have the power to negate something with just a scratch of a pen or a stamp, it’s often misused," she said, recalling past tiffs with the Censor Board. She criticized efforts to please specific societal sections, leading to labeling people by religion or region, and recent controversies like cuts in Punjab '95 and Homebound.
Disturbed by contemporary issues, she highlighted caste segregation, nepotism, and retaliation over ancient grievances. "Be adults, be forgiving," she urged. Paranjpye opposed the merger of film bodies like Films Division and FTII under the National Film Development Corporation, calling it "ridiculous," akin to clubbing unrelated sports.
Reflecting on her biography Sai, now in its seventh edition, she credited her mother Shakuntala Paranjpye, a family planning pioneer, for fostering her creativity from age eight. For Disha, her favorite film featuring Nana Patekar and Shabana Azmi, inspiration came from a villager digging a well in Naigaon and migrant workers in a Mumbai gada, including the line: "Sone ki jagah hai, lekin karwat nahi badal sakte."
At 89, Paranjpye has begun solo shows, reading from screenplays like Angootha Chhaap. She convinced actors Farooq Shaikh and Naseeruddin Shah for challenging roles in Katha, based on a Marathi play. On hyper-masculinity in cinema, she traced it to historical tropes like Sati, praising modern women directors like Zoya Akhtar. Good cinema, she concluded, "stays with you forever."