By Subhash K Jha

Ekta Kapoor won’t show her new film “Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ directed by Dibakar Banerjee to her parents. Given her initial reaction she wouldn’t show it to anyone. But then better sense prevailed after she saw and absorbed Banerjee’s gritty and real feature film on digital drama.

Apparently Ekta simply freaked out at the trial, screaming and wondering aloud what this director had made for her.

Dibakar (Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!) Banerjee’s first film for Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Films is also Ekta’s first foray into experimental cinema.

And when she saw the finished product Ekta simply freaked out. According to onlookers Ekta’s reaction to Banerjee’s digitally shot film on the absence of privacy and the prevalence of voyeurism in today’s time was one of horror and utter disbelief.

Dibakar Banerjee doesn’t deny his producer was shocked. “When Ekta saw the film she wasn’t so much shocked by the content on voyeurism and free-for-all invasion of privacy as the treatment and format. I’ve shot the film on a digital format with a hand-held camera. So Ekta’s first question was, “Why is the camera shaking so much?’ Her second question was, “Who is going to watch this film?’ Frankly I had answers for both the questions. But Ekta’s initial reaction of shock remains. She doesn’t really believe that such an unusual and shocking film is viable. But she sees me as this nice sweet seemingly harmless Bengali guy who can’t deliberately do anything wrong. She’s indulging me. See, normally the digital format is used by a filmmaker for the lack of choices. But for “Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ the digital format was the only choice.”

Ekta doesn’t deny she was startled by what she saw in Dibakar’s film. “The camera was shaking so much I was completely shaken. There are three stories and all of them affected me very deeply specially the one about the woman who’s shot with a hidden camera. When I came out of the movie I was furtively looking for bugs and cameras everywhere. I realized I was so jolted not so much by the technique of storytelling which is unlike anything we’ve seen, but by content which tells us there is no privacy in today’s day and age of mobile cameras and MMS.”

Now Ekta is terrified of how “Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ will be received. “Forget how it will be received. How will we release a film in such an experimental format? It’s easy for Dibakar to make what he wants. Now it’s my responsibility to see it reaches the audience.”

The question is, how would a digital movie called “Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ appeal to the audience? The title was nearly shot down by the moral watchdogs within the industry.

But Dibakar stood his ground. “It had to be “Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ I know the title is reminiscent of “Sex Lies and Videotape’. But “Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ is nothing like Steven Soderbergh’s film. In fact it’s unlike anything audiences have seen. That is why Ekta is apprehensive.”

-Sampurn Media