Debutant director Durgesh Pathak: Making a film is still easier than releasing it

Academician-turned-filmmaker Durgesh Pathak started working on his debut film Lakeerein in 2017 which is still to hit the screens.

Academician-turned-filmmaker Durgesh Pathak started working on his debut film in 2017 which is still to hit the screens. After learning from his “mistakes”, the Lucknowite has now begun work on a true success story which he plans to shoot in his hometown again.

Durgesh Pathak has shot for his debut feature film in hometown Lucknow

“Probably the subject I chose was a little heavy and many people asked me why I picked up marital rape as the topic in my debut film. As a creative person, that’s the story I had researched and wanted to be told to the world. It’s inspired by true incidents and I feel proud in making the film and hope it hits screens this year itself,” says Pathak.

Durgesh Pathak with actor Ashutosh Rana during shoot in Lucknow

Going into the conceptualisation of the film he says, “After quitting Amity University as an assistant professor, I started writing. My debut movie was supposed to be a 15-minute short film but then things started to shape up well. Then, the Dabangg (2010) film writer Dilip Shukla came on board. We shot Lakeerein in the 2019 and 2020 winters with Tia Bajpai, Gaurav Chopra, Ashutosh Rana, Bidita Bag and Aman Verma. Finally, we started the post-production and the struggle to release the film began. Making a film is easier than releasing it. But, this experience will certainly help me in my next.”

He feels his teaching stint has been his biggest learning. “While teaching media students, filmmaking became my passion and I started as a cameraman and then got into production and direction. I have been part of at least 350 projects in some capacity which is my biggest learning. I gained confidence when my short film As The Ice Melts (2016) got nominated at the Dada Saheb Phalke Awards.”

Pathak is determined to shoot his next flick in Lucknow again. “During an assignment, I travelled in every district in U.P. and got across some amazing success stories. The basic work on my next movie is complete and after this film’s release, I am geared up to shoot it again in Lucknow with a good cast. But, this time, I won’t repeat the mistakes I made during the making of my debut film,” he adds confidently.