Mar 22, 2026 3:41pm IST
‘Jazz City’ Creator Soumik Sen on Crafting a Story of Culture and Conflict: ‘We Barely Know About This Cultural War That Shaped a Nation’ (EXCLUSIVE)
For “Jazz City,” creator Soumik Sen isn’t just recreating a time or a place; he’s confronting a silence. Set against the textured backdrop of 1970s Kolkata, the series emerges from a deeply personal reckoning: the shock of discovering that one of South Asia’s largest genocides unfolded less than 100 kilometers from where he grew up, a history he remained unaware of for decades.
In an exclusive conversation with Variety India, Sen reflects on memory and erasure, the uneasy relationship between violence and storytelling, and why music, language, and culture become powerful acts of resistance in a story rooted as much in identity as it is in history.
When asked what led him to make “Jazz City,” Soumik Sen said, “I have been trying to make this for the last seven odd years. I grew up in a city that is less than 100 kilometers away from where the show is set. There were people who gave up their lives to form this nation, a nation built on the back of a mother tongue, which is my mother tongue. Until almost the age of 40, I had no clue that one of South Asia’s largest genocides happened so close to where I lived and grew up.
“For me, that was one of the starting points. And of course, the apathy and the antipathy. I had no idea about any of this, so I felt it was important for people to know.”
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He further added, “That was the seed point. I have grown up in Kolkata, in Calcutta, around Park Street. The music, the cosmopolitan nature of the city, and what it once was have shaped who I am. That was one world I wanted to explore. But I also wanted to tell the story of the birth of a nation, arguably India’s finest military hour, and this entire cultural war that happened, which we barely know about.”
Further in the conversation, when asked about violence becoming the flavour of the season and where he places “Jazz City” in that context, Sen said, “Every episode of ‘Jazz City’ has at least one murder and one song. So how do you avoid discussing violence in a show that essentially addresses a historically established act of genocide?”
He added, “When violence is inflicted upon you, and when it is imposed as an official policy, it becomes something uniquely disturbing in human history. Under the rule of a government, genocide has taken place. When genocide becomes policy, how do you look away?”
The creator also spoke about the creative compromises he refused to make while making “Jazz City.” “Why do you think I take so long to make the things I do? Because I don’t relent. I keep at it. Especially ‘Jazz City,’ which I consider to be the best thing I’ve ever done. I had to fight hard, go through a lot in the process, stake a lot, and lose a lot.
“Only within challenges do you think outside the box. If you have everything in comfort, you end up in ease. And ease is one of the biggest hindrances to progress,” he concluded.
“Jazz City” is now streaming on SonyLIV.
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