Bengali filmmakers Q and Nikon talk about their forthcoming film ludo that made its presence felt at the Cannes festival this year
Bengali filmmaker duo, Nikon and Q, are ready with their latest film ludo. The film created a strong buzz at Cannes Festival this year. The film is bound to shock and leave the audience awestruck with its brand new storytelling. “We have finally set the tile as ludo, a game of chance. It is known for its fluid design and may appear in many ways. Your perception of the board game is soon going to change after you watch the film,” says Q.
The makers of the movie have gone ahead and applied for registering the film’s title as a trademark and present it as an entertainment idea. They believe that it has a potential of building a franchise around the whole concept. “The title has much to do with the game and is bound to make the audience interested. Beyond it simply being a board game, it is there in our cultural fabric. The whole of India played the game at one point in time. And it is strange that the game vanished overnight. We don’t spot anyone playing this game anymore. The ludo board, which was once there in every household, is hard to even find in markets. The design was very common. The game has been played in India for the past 1,000 years and has its root in this country. Our starting point is how and from where did ludo comeIJ This is also like a game film. Though the game of ludo seems very simple yet it has an attention grabbing, strange sort of spiralling technique. But then it is a game of chance. We found these things appealing and started to build a story around them,” says Q.
The movie stars actress Rii. The film is being promoted as a fantasy thriller. Speaking about the genre of horror films, Q says, “The idea is to scare the audience and this genre offers lots of of opportunities. Takshi Miike’s film Audition completely blew my mind. I remember watching this film around 2001 and since then I started watching films ranging from fantasy, thriller, horror and psychological horror. If you can make a film which scares people you can probably do whatever you want. Interestingly, ghost stories in Bengali literature rely on a rustic culture.” ludo is being made under the banner of OverdoseJoint, Q’s production house, and is co-produced by Idyabooster and Starfire Movies. Q, who made the critically acclaimed and controversial film Gandu, has got critical acclaim in various quarters of the country and many international critics have dubbed him as the most subversive Indian filmmaker ever. Co-producer Nandini Mansinghka from the production house Idyabooster says, “To acquire and own a film title, one needs to register it with a film association, in this case we have done with EIMPA (Eastern Indian Motion Pictures Association). But that’s not enough in case of a dispute. If one trademarks the title, which is registering it with the government, it protects our interest and refrain others in the country from using it (in that category) as a film title/name.” Q and Nikon are already looking forward to a sequel.