Bhutanese monk Khyentse Norbu’s ‘Vara: A Blessing’ dedicated to Satyajit Ray’s ‘Charulata’

The 96-minute English feature was the opening film at the Busan International Film Festival in 2013.

Author, teacher and a consummate cinema lover, Norbu’s inspiration comes from Satyajit Ray’s cinema. So much so that he dedicated part of ‘Vara… to Ray’s ‘Charulata.’ “I must’ve watched Charulata 40 times. I am drawn to Bengali songs, Carnatic music, and indulge in their literature,” he says. ‘Vara…’ intertwines the world of Hindu gods with classical Indian music and dance. Norbu says he was captivated by the idea of devadasis and the strength of a woman.

Punctuated with a Bollywood ‘item’ track, exposing human weaknesses and close up shots of the characters, ‘Vara…’ is an exploration of the human form. “I am not much into Hindi film songs, but I am a fan of AR Rahman. I wrote to him and also to Shankar Mahadevan. I love his (Mahadevan’s) track ‘Breathless’ and he agreed to write me a song,” says Norbu, who got hooked to cinema after watching moving images shot at an Indian railway station and then, Man with the Golden Gun in London.

For Norbu, cinema is a powerful and important medium, and if used well, can deliver equally powerful and important messages. “For instance, ‘Vara…’ deals with the vast Indian culture, devotion, Bharatanatyam, caste, and Krishna. As a filmmaker, I like doing something different, and it also means being open to learning and failure, and to be disciplined,” he adds.

His dream project, a film on the life of Buddha, admits Norbu, will take some time. “That is going to be a disaster for sure, as it will be a big budget film,” he says. But meanwhile, he is keeping his eyes focused on making a low-budget film that looks at the power of anonymity. “I like to go to my retreat as that is where I read, introspect and get maximum ideas. Anonymity is very important to me,” he says.