Anuparna Roy reveals she is receiving threats over Palestine remark

Pride and celebration should fill Anuparna Roy’s days, who made history on September 7 as she became the first Indian to win the Best Director award in the Orizzonti section of the Venice International Film Festival. But it takes very little for things to spiral. When we got on a call with Roy on Thursday morning, the director was amused at how her historic win had taken a backseat to her acceptance speech in which she expressed solidarity with Palestine.

“I stand by my words,” she asserted before expressing her disappointment with the ongoing public discourse. “People speculated that I am less Indian and less Hindu [because of my remark]. Some feel I’m trying to get fame out of this speech. I’m talking about justice! As a global citizen, I have to. I have to talk about what is happening in Nepal also. Secondly, I’ve been talking about Palestine since my first film. I stood in Russia and said that I am with Palestine. That doesn’t make me less of an Indian.”

(L-R) Naaz Shaikh and Sumi Baghel in ‘Songs of Forgotten Trees’

Has this episode scared her about speaking her mind going forward? Not at all, Roy said. “I’m receiving threats now. Now the focus has shifted from the film and the award to my speech. But I’m also receiving positive messages. I’m not famous enough to get triggered by this,” said Roy, who thinks of herself as a “student of cinema” more than anything else.

At this point, she is easily among the most promising students of cinema around. Her debut feature, Songs of Forgotten Trees, tells the story of two women forming a companionship as they navigate their lives in Mumbai. To bring her indie film to life, she began by approaching producer Ranjan Singh. “When I started writing the script, I decided I wanted Ranjan sir [to back it] and he would take me to Anurag [Kashyap]. Vikas Kumar, Sharib Khan, Romil Modi, Bibhanshu Rai, and Naveen Shetty joined in. I want to name them because these seven men have supported a woman-centric film.”

That Kashyap believed in her project was a big personal win as it turned her father, who was skeptical of her profession, into a cheerleader. “My father loves Anurag Kashyap more than me. He approved my profession when I sent him a picture of Anurag sir backing my film. On seeing that, he said, ‘Now you can win the world.’ This morning, he told me, ‘Follow Anurag Kashyap’s advice. Don’t say anything to the media’.”