New Town inspires Bengali film on ‘Fountainhead’

KOLKATA: The stark contrast between north Kolkata and New Town has inspired Kashmiri filmmaker Ali Emran to adapt the global bestseller ‘The Fountainhead’, which revolves around an architect who defies convention in his pursuit of innovation, in Bengali. Emran is currently set to shoot a documentary on Bengal’s partition as part of a series. He was in the city during the Kolkata International Film Festival and a trip to Newtown made him decide on the location for shoot.
“The division of Bengal will also be a part of the adaptation. It won’t be a remake but an inspired take. My current project will capture why it’s not possible for Bengal to remain united like the European Union,” Emran told TOI. ‘The Fountainhead’ was made into a film in 1949 starring Gary Cooper. The 1958 film ‘Suryatoran’ starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen was based on the same book.
Emran has been researching on ‘a united world and saving the indigenous in an united world. “I start shooting the documentary series in July. Apart from the Bengal division, it’ll also feature Tibet and Kashmir. I prefer depicting the political scenario of disturbed areas, especially the historically significant ones. We are sourcing information from various material as we have to be neutral,” he said.
Born in Kashmir, and later shifting to Delhi during high school, Emran has an engineering degree along with an MBA. He had visited the city when his film ‘Quolf’ (The Ensorcelled) was screened at the festival. “While in Kolkata, I went out sightseeing. There was a film festival party at Newtown, and that is how I landed up there. Meantime, I had already visited north Kolkata. The stark contrast was striking. I had already been planning the movie and seeing the area and the construction, I decided this was the best location for the film,” said the filmmaker who is in his early 30s.
Emran is planning to return to Kolkata for location hunting in September. The film will be in Bengali and there will be local actors, he said. Asked on the budget, he added: “As of now I’m not entirely sure but it won’t be a low-budget film.”
The protagonist in Ayn Rand’s ‘The Fountainhead’, Howard Roarke, fights for his belief that buildings should be designed according to modern necessities even as he is opposed by those who choose to adhere to historical convention. While the lead actor has not yet been selected, there have been some talks and everything should be sorted out when he visits Kolkata in September, said Emran.