EntertainmentPosted at: Jan 10 2026 7:55PM


"I take my criticism most seriously": Aparna Sen

Kolkata, Jan 10 (UNI) Renowned filmmaker Aparna Sen today said she is the first person to question her own work, but she also listens closely when criticism comes from a place of understanding.
Speaking at the 17th edition of the APeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2026, she criticised what she described as a culture of haste, where films and books are judged instantly. "What happens today is there’s this instant coffee entertainment. You just see a film or read a book, and you like it or don’t like it. Maybe you haven’t even understood the whole thing. Maybe you haven’t gone deep enough, but you form your judgment, and there’s nothing I can do to stop you. If you form a conclusion on the basis of your first viewing in your limited understanding of a film, then so be it."
Invoking her father, noted film critic Chidananda Dasgupta, Sen said good criticism begins with an effort to understand a film and sometimes even requires watching it more than once.
After "15 Park Avenue", the 80-year-old actor-filmmaker recalled coming up to her emotionally overwhelmed, talking about children in their own families who are rarely spoken about. “That’s when I know I’ve touched a chord.”
The discussion also shifted to how Sen looks at her own films. Now 80, she said she measures her films by how they age, whether they hold together and speak to her. She named "36 Chowringhee Lane" and "The Japanese Wife" as favourites, while admitting she still spots flaws in her work.
Sen recalled that "15 Park Avenue" took shape when she visualised a mentally ill woman wandering the streets, a figure she believed existed beyond rigid social divisions. She felt the image spoke beyond class and social divisions, reflecting the inner world of the protagonist played by Konkona Sen Sharma.

“That was very important to me,” Sen said. “But oftentimes, this happens without me realising why I do it.
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