Cinema, in more ways than one, has the power to change. The influence of a film can last longer than one can imagine. Something similar happened to Sanjeev Gupta, who was growing up in Agra. Every film he watched changed him bit by bit. Films became such an intrinsic part of his life that he made it his profession. After a degree in Media Studies from Pune, Gupta moved to the maximum city to make it big in the film industry.
While not many are courageous to break out from the conventional set-up for the fear of losing the regular income and work, Gupta did just that in an industry often termed ruthless. His film about a six-year-old girl's transit visit, who is brought to Mumbai from a village, has won quite a few awards, including the Gollapudi Srinivas National Award 2015 for the best film director and the Grand Prix Best Feature Film Award at Paris Indian International Film Festival, among others. The story of Q, according to Gupta, is inspired by “many real life events around the world”.
A poster of the film on Netflix
“I researched a lot before writing the script. It is around a situation and how people deal with that situation,” he said.
Q has now been picked up by Netflix and would start streaming from mid-February. Gupta couldn't be happier to have got a platform that would enable a larger audience to access his labour of love. He always wanted the 96-minute film to get a theatrical release, but at a time when many are struggling to get the nod of the Censor Board of Film Certification, Gupta's story is no different. When asked about the CBFC's response, he said, “I applied for censor last year. Things are in process, response is good from the CBFC. I hope I will get a censor very soon, but before that I got this Netflix opportunity and I opted this for Q.”
“Q has been selected in many international film festivals. Audience and festival curators, festival directors, organisers have celebrated my film. After the Best Film Award at the Indian Film Festival of Paris, I came across a Netflix person,” said Gupta, as he explained how the deal happened. “The process is quite long though,” he said. “They first see the film to decide whether they want it or not. I feel lucky that they have picked up Q. Netflix, as a platform, has a huge audience across 180 countries. That’s the best part. With a deal like this, you know your film will be internationally watched.”
The digital boom, besides giving a platform to people like Gupta, is also a boon as far as the remuneration is concerned. “Netflix pays you for taking your film. My film will be on Netflix for three years,” he said. He pointed out that if one can shoot a film digitally, why not release it digitally, too. “Digital viewing is flexible and convenient.”
