Director Dar Gai draws inspiration from human emotions: 'What does having butterflies feel like?'

Dar Gai is at ease in myriad spaces, but none as intriguing and moving as the realm of human emotions, that drives her body of work. . Dar has acted in more than 15 theatre productions and has directed about a dozen plays and street performances. She has written and directed the videos ‘cold/mess’ by Prateek Kuhad, Ritviz’s ‘Liggi as well as feature films like “Teen Aur Aadha,” co-produced by Anurag Kashyap and "Namdev Bhau". Each project carries her signature element; a chiaroscuro in the play of human emotions, created with human insight and technical finesse.

She opens up about her creative process as a multihyphenate, the lessons taught by Bollywood, and the many ways to evolve as a filmmaker.

Art Beat (AB): How long have you been in the film space?

It’s cliched to say I was always attracted to it but I started acting when I was 10. I continued my journey into theatre, while I was studying philosophy. I was acting in two different groups and soon, I started organizing film festivals and art exhibitions. So, to sum it up, I forayed into the space nine years ago, before which I was mainly understanding creative processes and observing how people are managed on the set.

AB: Who or what is your biggest inspiration?

Definitely, emotions. As a consequence, I find inspiration in the people and things that give me those moments of extraordinarily high or low feelings. Basically, anything and everything that can be a carrier of these different sensations; from a human being to music to animals, or birds. It's something that excites me enough to explore it.

I understand how sometimes we become slaves of our own emotions. So, what does it feel like to feel butterflies? How do they form in your stomach? How does it feel to be satisfied, unsatisfied, or guilty? Where do these emotions stem from and what’s the connection between your mind, body, and emotions? Asking these questions becomes a part of my creative process and leads me to stories and narratives.

AB: Did you always know you wanted to be a filmmaker?

What I always knew was that I want to create things, inspire people, and be inspired. But with filmmaking, there was never a eureka moment. How it came to me was on a trip to Sri Lanka. I was on this six-hour-long journey, and the idea for a script just randomly popped into my head. I had nowhere that I could just pen it down, so I took out the notes app on my phone and wrote for five hours straight. This was the first and last time that happened (unfortunately).

And I wasn't even a filmmaker at that time but a screenwriter. This moment gave me an unusual, unearthly high, something that only film-making does for me and I knew nothing else can come close.

AB: What does it take to be a filmmaker?

It’s cliched, but it takes everything and nothing. I say this because you’re so immersed in the process of breathing life into stories that it just takes you away from your personal life.

Also, you have to be slightly illusional because you are essentially creating an illusion in the form of a story that did not exist till yesterday. You have hundreds of people on the set who believe in your story or even if they don't, they are forced to believe in it to help you execute it. At that moment, it feels like the most important thing in life and that nothing else matters.

That moment on set is the most sacred because it's the moment of creation because you're witnessing the sacred birth of something from nothing. Having said that, it’s again something you made up in your head that you’re giving so much importance to. You’re believing in your illusion, making sure that other people around you also do, and leaving it once you’re done. It definitely feels quite schizophrenic if you ask me.

It’s cliched, but it takes everything and nothing. I say this because you’re so immersed in the process of breathing life into stories that it just takes you away from your personal life.

AB: What is your artistic process of building a world as a filmmaker?

Throughout my years in the industry, one thing I can say I’ve learned is how my brain works. I need to have pressure. I need to be locked in the room and be guilt-tripped. For example, if I take a trip to relax amidst a project, I turn it into a source of guilt for myself. The narrative then becomes that because I invested my money and time in this trip, I better write the script. I’ve realized that this pressure hanging over my head - like a sword - is important for my process.

AB: How would you define the relationship between a director and their DoP?

For me, it is based on comfort. Years of experience have taught me that at this stage of my life, quality is not as important as comfort. It’s about not being ready to suffer with a creatively and emotionally incompatible colleague even if we’re creating a masterpiece together. I would much rather opt for a comfortable environment where we're exploring together, coming up with new ideas and collectively adapting our tools to storytelling.

For the director, it's very important to find someone who we can comfortably collaborate with and not fear experimentation because if the ego comes in between, you run the risk of losing the heart of the project. Having said that clashes of thought can sometimes prove fruitful, considering it is respectful and comfortable.

AB: Do you think formal education is necessary for a director?

People go through formal education to learn in a classroom setting because it pushes them to think. Going to film school gives you the opportunity and time to read, study and experiment, something that you will not ever have time for on set, because you’re busy either assisting or giving directions. Most importantly, you have the opportunity to experiment and create the worst or the best films ever, because you don’t have to fear failure. While there have been geniuses shooting feature films at the age of sixteen, I feel education and experience in general give you perspective and widen your horizon.

Having said that, I also feel real-life experience in any domain is an excellent teacher. For example, I met a couple of people who were in the jewelry business till the age of twenty-eight, and then they became filmmakers. So they spent about seven to eight years traveling around and understanding the difference between different types of diamonds. So, as a consequence, they now know the importance of details that they can translate onto the screen.

So there are a lot of ways to make it as a director, it’s about putting what you have to the best use possible, consciously pushing yourself, and understanding how your brain works.

AB: What is something that you think Bollywood could learn from independent cinema and vice versa?

I know what independent cinema can learn from Bollywood which is unity. No matter how much they hate each other, if a peer’s film is releasing, all the actors will be tweeting about it. There is support because they know that it doesn’t affect their performance and survival in the industry.

Now, when it comes down to independent filmmakers, we are just so separate from each other that we think that we're competing with each other. We need to understand that any collaboration just creates a bigger financial market. But if we don't collaborate, how can we compete with each other in a healthy manner? Moreover, how will we become better and have open dialogues when we’re not being challenged by someone who's maybe better than us in a certain area of work? Showing up for your peers and supporting them, even if it is fake, is definitely what we can learn from Bollywood.

Bollywood, I feel, can learn flexibility in terms of being open to new themes and the new zeitgeist. Moreover, the industry needs to learn that it’s okay that the world is changing and you need to change as fast as the world, otherwise you will just be left behind. So, as an industry, you should take those chances and risks and stop thinking that the public can define everything. At some point in time, we need to decide whether the audience is making films or we are making films. So, Bollywood needs to take a stand and understand who they are making films for and why.

I know what independent cinema can learn from Bollywood which is unity. No matter how much they hate each other, if a peer’s film is releasing, all the actors will be tweeting about it.

AB: What do you want to see the film industry in India become?

I want the industry to be a playground where all the filmmakers, actors, and writers, feel the freedom to experiment. Also, it must be a space that allows them to have both successes as well as failures. and get unwavering support either way. I also want to see unexpected collaborations with indie merging into Bollywood and vice versa, but just having fun with the craft.