Sourav Sarangi

Sourav Sarangi is best known as the director, cinematographer and producer of ‘Bilal’, a documentary about a three-year old boy who lives in the slums of Kolkata with his blind parents. ‘Bilal’ has travelled the international festival circuits and has won a special mention at the Jean Rouch International Film Festival in Paris. It was granted the Dutch IDFA Jan Vrijman fund that supports the characters in the documentary and this money was used to secure Bilal’s future. Sourav studied editing at the FTII, Pune and made his debut film ‘Tusu Katha’ on traditional harvesting ritual called Tusu in 1997. His next film was ‘Bhangon’, on river erosion in Eastern India.

Sourav is a man of varied interests and subtle contradictions. A trained geologist who is as fascinated with rock formations as he is with the human condition. A veteran in the field of television, the former head of a channel in Kolkata, he still does not own a television set. He turned to films as a process of self-discovery and believes that films are a journey, a learning process and likes to take the audience along with him on these cinematic trips. He prefers to focus on the uncertain and unknown in his films and strongly believes that poverty is a treasure trove of creativity. Following his heart while shooting a film matters more to him than following a bound script. A constant learner, he likes to unwind by observing the mannerisms of his fishes in the huge fish tank he has at home. Much like the way he observes the characters in his films in order to bring out their inner reality on screen in a minimalistic manner.

Sourav also travels to different parts of the world to observe unique geological formations and always brings back interesting pebbles as mementos to gift everyone. After all, the processes that create the earth are no less fascinating than the process through which a movie is born.

Website
To know more about Sourav Sarangi, visit: www.bilal.in

1. Bilal