What is the genesis of Miss Understanding?
I wrote it sometime in 2013. I was thinking about relationships, how some exist while others fade away. Some people pretend to understand how you feel and they pretend that they care while deep inside you know they do not. It’s better to move away from them. It’s a farewell song.Why write it in English?I have always enjoyed writing in English, these days even more. I felt like expressing it in English... and people would get to see me in a different avatar.Your writing in Bengali is full of imagery, metaphors and wordplay. What kind of approach do you take when writing in English?Similar, exactly these three things, and whatever comes naturally.You write, “A moment in time when you realise it’s better to let go. It’s hurt rather than anger that silently burns your heart. So it’s time to say goodbye.” Is the song autobiographical?It is semi-autobiographical. It’s actually a situation I made up in my head. What if she was with me? Should I have stayed? I put myself in a difficult position to write this one.
It’s a farewell note to an imaginary person with traits that are common to many I know
Anupam Roy
Miss Understanding is also a wordplay on misunderstanding...Yes definitely. Sometimes in a relationship there is too much of confusion, too much of misunderstanding. You realise that the two people are not on the same page ever. She thinks she understands but no, she doesn’t get it at all. But again as I had earlier mentioned, the relationship was “imaginary”.
Roosha Instagram
The song is also tinged with sarcasm. Why?Yes. Now that you ask, I am actually thinking, ‘Why was I sarcastic?’ I just felt like that.
Upamanyu Bhattacharyya did the video artwork from Italy. How?Upamanyu and his team helped me out with the video. He is a top animator from our city, our country. He was in Italy for some work. Just then the pandemic struck... and now he is stuck there in a village in Tuscany with a weak Internet connection. But if you really want to work, you work and that’s how we made it possible.Why arrive at that particular visual for the video, with two people standing apart with the white car in the background?