Aparna Sen reflects on cinema, conscience and creativity at Kolkata Literary Meet

Filmmaker, actor and writer Aparna Sen offered a rare and candid reflection on her creative journey, political consciousness and cinematic philosophy during an engaging conversation on Friday, as part of the Kolkata Literary Festival 2026.The session, titled Aparna Sen Unplugged, saw Sen in conversation with filmmaker Suman Ghosh and author-poet Kalyan Ray, with journalist Raju Raman moderating the discussion. Traversing her decades-long career across acting, filmmaking, writing and public discourse, Sen spoke with characteristic clarity about her relationship with cinema as an expressive, rather than didactic, medium.“I don’t want to use cinema as a kind of pulpit for preaching. I’m not a preacher. I’m an artist,” Sen said, emphasising that her films emerge from personal disturbance and a need to communicate what she finds meaningful at a particular moment. She added that cinema does not need to address every subject, but should engage deeply with human experience.Reflecting on the political undercurrents in her work, Sen recalled how Ghare Baire Aj was conceived after a sleepless night following the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh. Drawing inspiration from Rabindranath Tagore’s politically charged novel, she spoke of her growing unease at what she described as “the way my idea of India was changing right before my eyes,” which compelled her to respond through cinema.When asked by Suman Ghosh to identify the films that gave her the greatest satisfaction, Sen returned to her debut directorial venture, 36 Chowringhee Lane. Speaking of her intimate understanding of Kolkata, she said, “I knew all the sounds, I knew what the light was like at certain times of day,” underscoring how cinema’s power often lies in visual nuance rather than narrative exposition. “It can be a hand lying in a shaft of light… and that hand can become very expressive,” she noted.Offering an insider’s perspective, Kalyan Ray spoke about witnessing the evolution of Sen’s creative process over the years. He highlighted the tension every artist negotiates between the “inner eye” — the deeply private space from which creation begins — and an awareness of the world outside that inevitably shapes the work.The discussion also addressed whether filmmakers have a responsibility to take political stands. Sen responded by acknowledging that while films such as Arshinagar and Ghare Baire Aj were driven by political disturbance, her intention has always been to raise questions rather than deliver conclusions.Aparna Sen Unplugged offered audiences a layered understanding of a cultural trailblazer who, despite her stature, approaches each project, as she put it, “always with the approach of a first-timer.”