We caught up with Amit Masurkar, the director of L. He had also made a very well-received feature film Sulemani Keeda that released last year.  In this interview he talks about his journey, from being an Engg student to a filmmaker, his fascinations for world building and a South African tale that became the emotional and cultural basis of "L".

Q1) Hi Amit! Can you tell us something about yourself? Where did you grow up. What attracted you to film-making?

I'm from Mumbai, but from a family not associated with filmmaking. My father worked in pharmaceuticals and my mother was into computers. I was interested in everything around me and not excellent at anything as a result became a jack of all trades and took part in the only competition that allows such people to win- quizzing.  I don't remember watching films with my family but they encouraged me to draw, play sport and take part in dramatics. While I was studying Engineering, I started finding films like "Taxidriver" and "Pulp Fiction" interesting. I started reading more about these films online. That led me to more films by the same directors and I began to read more about the behind the scene aspect- scripts, cameras, theory. I was fascinated by what making films would allow me to do- live vicariously by creating worlds, living through characters and travel.

Q2) How did L happen?

Anuj Gosalia and Chintan Ruparel who produced "L"  approached me to make a short film for their site. I follow Terribly Tiny Tales and thought it would be a good experience to work together. They make 5 short films every two months and this time the subject was "Mother's Day". Though I found the topic cheesy, I thought I could make something different. Around the same time, I was writing something with Sharanya Rajgopal, who co-produced the film and we thought a shoot would be a nice way to take a break from writing.

Q3) You made your feature film debut in 2014 with Sulemaani Keeda, and then made a short film. How did your experience making a feature film inform your short film? Do you think short film as a medium is evolving beyond a "stepping stone" to a feature film?

I enjoyed working on Sulemani Keeda and the experience definitely helped me in every way while making "L". Short films are getting bigger as an independent medium because of the internet. There is much more freedom, no censorship and a larger scope for experimentation in shorts. Ironically feature films are also getting shorter in length. I don't see short films as a stepping stone to anything but making more short films.

Q4) L is a slice of life film, observing a house-wife who learns to ride a cycle without the help of her loved ones. Where did the idea originate?

When I was asked to make a short film revolving around the idea of a 'mother', it compelled me to think beyond ideas that we find to be synonymous with the image of a mother as a nurturer or a caretaker. Instead, I set out to portray 'mother' in a different light.

I drew inspiration from JM Coetzee's autobiographical 'Boyhood' while conceptualizing the film. There a description revolves around a boy's feelings of embarrassment while watching his mother learning how to ride a bike. Even though it was set in 1950's rural South Africa, it encapsulates a similar social construct - a classical patriarchal setup where even children impose themselves and exercise control over how their mother conducts herself in society - what she ought to wear, how she ought to interact, or present herself around others.The mother more often than not succumbs to such intrusive demands at the expense of asserting herself, her dreams and aspirations.

This is the norm, these are her everyday battles. She has to seek the permission, help and approval of her family to even have novel experiences and to carve out her own identity. Even then she is discouraged and subjected to snide remarks and ridicule.

Q5) Can you tell us about the process of making L. How did the team come together and how many days did you shoot? What was the budget of the film? How did the unconventional casting come through?

Sharanya hunted the perfect location for the film- it's the outhouse of one of the original Four Bungalows of Andheri. Being interested in the history of Mumbai, I was pretty excited to shoot there. I knew Tannishtha Chatterjee and Pankaj Tripathi from their work and wanted to work with them.The script was written with the hope that they would agree to act in it. Sharanya cold called them and we met to discuss the story and we were happy when they both agreed. Casting the kid was not easy. Casting director Anmol Ahuja gave me access to his bank and we liked Svar Kamble's audition. We were lucky to have him in the film. Swapnil Sonawane has shot films for Pan Nalin and I was keen to work with him and was glad that he agreed. Khushboo Agarwal Raj edited Sulemani Keeda and was my first choice to edit it. Shishir Chousalkar is known to me and agreed to do the sound recording and design. Raghav Singh, another old friend provided the ukulele riff which is the film's theme music. Shelley Sharma helped out as the Assistant Director and Production Designer. We shot the film on a Red Epic with Cooke s4 lenses and Sharanya's contacts with Santosh Sivan and his team helped us crack the best deals for the equipment. The film was shot in a budget of about 85000 rupees in one day. We got the best grips, lights and food on the set and even had time for a four hour break!

Q6) We can't wait to see more work from you. What projects are you working on next?

Thank you! I'm working on two feature film scripts and haven't started pitching them yet.

We wish Amit all the best for his future endeavors. Do watch his film here: http://www.shortfilmwindow.com/l/