Kolkata, Jan 9 (UNI) Asserting that she has never believed in using cinema as a platform to lecture audiences, actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen says her films are meant to explore people and ideas rather than deliver moral sermons.
Speaking at the 17th edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2026 on Friday, Sen said she prefers to tell stories drawn from her own experience and has never felt the need to cover every social issue on screen.
Her foray into showbiz happened at the tender age of 15 when she was photographed by Brian Brake for his 1960 Monsoon series of photographs; the still appeared on the cover of Life magazine.
Just at 16, Sen essayed the role of Mrinmoyee in the Samapti portion of auteur Satyajit Ray’s 1961 offering “Teen Kanya”.
Sen made her debut as a writer-director in 1981 with the Jennifer Kendal starrer “36 Chowringhee Lane”, which fetched her the National Film Award for Best Direction.
Recounting an early career anecdote, Sen said the idea for her debut film “36 Chowringhee Lane” emerged during a period of disillusionment while working on a commercially driven project in erstwhile Bombay (now Mumbai). Feeling disconnected from formula-driven cinema, she began writing a short story, which eventually became her first feature film.
Sen acknowledged her long-sleeve association with Left-leaning politics, shaped in part by her interactions with theatre stalwart Utpal Dutt, but emphasised that political belief does not automatically translate into cinematic obligation.
“I very wisely chose not to talk about farmers, factory workers and so on. I’m not trying to make films on every topic under the sun. The point is to try and communicate and share with other people whatever is on my mind and disturbing me, whatever I find meaningful at that point in time.”
While her editorials in the popular Bengali magazine Sananda have often engaged directly with politics and topical issues, Sen said she does not feel compelled to bring the same approach into her cinema.
“My cinema can be a way of talking about human beings, talking about people, seeing meaningful things about people that I know and understand.”
The 80-year-old actor-turned-director underscored, “I’m not a preacher. I’m an artist.”
Sen said some of her most political films came from moments of deep personal disturbance rather than planned intent. Referring to “Arshi Nagar” and “Ghare Baire Aaj”, she said both were shaped by her growing discomfort with the changing social and political climate of the country. “Ghare Baire Aaj” is one such film based on the incident after the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh, an event that left her shaken and unable to sleep.
