PRAT THE BRAT

“Wonder, this time where’s she’s gone,
Wonder, if she’s gone to stay”…

Blues, as a music genre, was not one of the favorites till I came to Bangalore. It all started with the ‘Best of Eric Clapton’ CD that my friend Mrinal gave me as a parting gift. And in no time I was addicted to ‘Layla’, ‘Cocaine’, ‘Nikita’ and many more. I got interested in the genre and started listening to the likes of Stevie ray Vaughan, B.B. King, and most importantly Bill Withers. When I speak about Bill Withers, the first song which comes to everybody’s mind is ‘Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone’. And that is the song which reminds me of one of the most talented actresses I’ve seen among my friend circle. I liked her acting so much that I had casted her in all the student films I had directed. And in every role she proved that she is a powerhouse of talent. Be it Sanjana Saigal or Anusha Banerjee, she has done every role with perfection. A good newspaper editor, superb actress, excellent dancer, and more than anything, a very good friend… Pratiba Raman

“I ought to leave the young thing alone, but ain't no sunshine when she's gone, ain't no sunshine when she's gone, only darkness every day.”

After completing my first film in the first year of college itself, I planned my next film very soon. And I was very sure that I would cast Pratiba as the protagonist. My films generally dealt with the dark side of women [The Femme Fatale], and somehow Prat has that look in her, combined with her classical Bharatnatyam expressions. Often I used to tell her that she will make a superb Komolika. So when we were preparing for my second film, I just had to frame a story around her. Kavita and Sherry wrote a wonderful story called ‘Reflection’. The story was about an actress’s journey through guilt, and Pratiba was brilliant as usual. Be it as the horrified actress, or the jealous friend, Pratiba was outstanding. But the part which I love the most was when she confessed her crime to the psychologist, and she’s trying to get back to the normal life. She washes her face and looks up in the mirror and has a smirk on her face [ Before that scene every time she was looking at the mirror she could only see a reflection of her distorted face].

While editing I had many soundtracks in mind for the film; disturbing soundtracks like the OST of Max Payne, Apocolyptica version of Fade to black, enter sandman, nothing else matters clubbed with heart beats and water flow. But for that part I couldn’t find a proper soundtrack, I went through my music collection over and over again but the right track was not there. I needed some track which could provide a refreshing feel. A song to start everything from the beginning, a song which helps to forget the past and inspire the future, a song which is like a new sun starting a new day. That’s it… I got the song… sun, sunrise, sunshine… Ain’t no sunshine, when she’s gone…

The song was depicting every mood that Pratiba had onscreen. Her smile, relief, reprieve from the guilt was so evident with the song that we all just loved that bit. This song is not a song for me anymore, it’s an inspiration, motivation, encouragement, hope for a new sunrise. From that day whenever I listen to Ain’t no sunshine, I don’t see Bill Withers in a orange pullover, sitting with a guitar and singing. I see Pratiba Raman as Anusha Banerjee, getting a new lease of life, trying to break through, trying to feel alive again. Haven’t met Prat after college, but thanks to facebook, we are in touch. This post is for you Prat… trust me whenever I make my own movie, you will be the first person whom I will offer a role, will you be game for it?


Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.
It's not warm when she's away.
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
and she's always gone too long
anytime she goes away.