'Alfonso Cuarón loved 'Court'; we discussed cinema for hours': Chaitanya Tamhane

The award-winning film _Court’_s director Chaitanya Tamhane must be over the moon. It’s not every day that an up and coming filmmaker is chosen by Alfonso Cuarón to be their protégé. As part of the Rolex Mentor & Protégé Arts Initiative, Cuarón chose Chaitanya Tamhane among a host of upcoming filmmakers. The initiative is an annual, philanthropic programme which pairs up-and-comers with established veterans. [caption id=“attachment_2825412” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chaitanya Tamhane and Alfonso Cuaron. Getty Images.[/caption] “It’s been a long process actually. I got a call in December informing me that I am a finalist, and then I met with Cuarón in London, as part of the final round,” says Tamhane to Firstpost over a phone interview. The Court director was chosen among 3 women directors and we don’t even have to ask him about his meeting with Cuarón; he gushes about it from the start. “We connected instantly. He’s so humble and chilled out and he immediately put me at ease because he said he loved Court. We discussed cinema for 2 hours,” says Tamhane. He further goes on to tell us what this programme entails, “For a period of a year, I get to hang out wit Alfonso Cuarón, while he shoots his next film. I’ll get to learn about his way of working, his processes and the commercial framework within which he works, which is very new to me.” Upon noticing that he used the term “hang out”, we ask him further about it. “It’s all very relaxed, there’s no formal diktat. He has a very vast repertoire of work, and had worked with big budgets and huge casts, so there’s lots for me to learn,” says Tamhane. We can’t resist asking him what his favourite Cuarón film is. “I loved Children of Men, but I’ve never seen anything like Gravity before,” says Tamhane, and we can’t help but agree.