Sign up to have posts delivered directly in your email inbox. Much of the content will be free, and there will also be weekly posts for paying subscribers only. I will be reporting from India and the neighbouring countries on stories the world needs to hear. I will interview journalists, writers and public intellectuals known globally for their profound expressions of discontent. There will also be ongoing discussions and debates with experts, policy makers, leaders and creative professionals, on current affairs, crises and humanitarian concerns. Films made on India that give us hopeWith state-backed propaganda films becoming the norm in India, women making films on critical issues about the country are making waves worldwide.
The director and cast of All we Imagine as Light at the Cannes Film Festival An Indian film 'All we imagine as Light' by debutant director Payal Kapadia, a former student of the Film and Television Institute of India is making waves around the world. Most Indians only woke up to the sublime film when news broke that it became the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Who was Payal Kapadia and what is this film that moved the jury and the audience nominating it for the Palme d’Or, the most prestigious award at the Cannes festival? The film 'All We Imagine as Light' explores the life of three women working in a hospital in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, and how they explore their love and longing in what is a 'city of dreams and Bollywood' but claustrophobic and merciless in equal measure. Using aspects of documentary style filmmaking, Payal gives the world a window into the fast-paced life of Mumbai with its migrant workers, their struggles, the life of the working class traveling in overcrowded trains, their desire to have a roof over their hand as big business houses monopolise the housing sector. Through the eyes of the protagonists, it explores the ideas of female sexuality, desire, the theme of marriage, the essential freedoms of a woman largely viewed through the prism of a moralistic and patriarchal setup. While one of the protagonists, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) leads a lonely life as a head nurse, abandoned by her husband who lives in Germany, the other nurse Anu (Divya Prabha) is jeered at for being a 'over-friendly' woman, scandalously dating a Muslim man. In a country like India, where laws are being framed against inter religious marriage, Anu's love is an act of rebellion. And then there is Parvaty, the third of the protagonists, a cook in the hospital, fighting to save her land, the place she calls home, fighting for her independence. A storytelling so humane, seen through the lens of a woman, written by women, and performed with great finesse by three actresses who have put their souls into the performance making you root for their freedoms. They do not seek your sympathy, they traverse life on their terms and make their own choices. The film is in no rush, often times there are no dialogues, we are just left with a haunting frame of a woman hugging a rice cooker in a dark room, it has been purportedly sent by her husband who lives in Germany. The poignant visual of love and longing tell the story of a loneliness so profound contrasted with an overpopulated city, bursting at its seams You would imagine that a film from India, a country that is in the news for patriarchy and violence against women would celebrate this film that centres women and feminism. But that is not to be. Astonishingly India did not send the film as its official entry to the Oscars citing technical inadequacies, receiving severe backlash from film critics and connoisseurs of cinema. As a student of the celebrated Film and Television Institute of India, Payal was at the forefront of a four month protest after the Modi government installed a controversial figure as the head of FTII. Labeled an anti-national by many in the country for opposing the move, Payal was booked in a case where she continues to make court appearances (https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/when-all-we-imagine-as-light-director-payal-kapadia-protested-against-ftii-chairman-gajendra-chauhan-9352762/)
Another film that has yet to clear the censor board in India that premiered at the Cannes film festival is 'Santosh' made by British Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri with an all Indian cast and partly Indian crew and writers shot in northern India. The film was the UK's official entry to the Oscar in the international feature category. Set in a fictional village in North India, the film starring two stellar women actors Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar explores the underbelly of policing in India seen through the eyes of two women police officers . The film also takes on the issue of corruption, casteism and Islamophobia in the forces that lead to discrimination and injustice. At a time when mainstream Indian filmmakers are glossing over and making films glorifying the forces that are fighting the threat from 'Muslim' enemies, Santosh, is one of the bravest films of the day laying bare the endemic discrimination on caste and religious lines. In the film, Santosh played by Shahana Goswami is a newly widowed woman who is offered her husband's job who died as a police constable. She comes across the case of the rape and murder of a dalit woman (lower caste woman ) and when the cops are forced to investigate the murder, the needle of suspicion falls on the easiest candidate who happens to be a Muslim friend of the murdered girl. Santosh is not free of prejudices herself neither is her senior investigating officer, her thought process belongs to the same milieu she was raised in but it is the internal struggles that she goes through to evolve as a police official determined to get justice forms the crux of the film. For a woman police officer who is mocked by her male colleagues who has to prove her worth and her humanity, who has to respond to the piercing, judgemental male gaze, Santosh is the story of women overcoming the patriarchal expectations and proving her mettle. And the year of women in cinema in India does not end with 'Lost Ladies'. Another woman centric film that is now streaming in India is a coming of age film called 'Girls will be Girls' by debutant director Shuchi Talati. The film is produced by two Indian actors Richa Chada and Ali Fazal. I must add a disclaimer here that both Chada and Talati are my classmates from journalism and film school. In Girls will be girls, a mother and daughter share a complex relationship as the daughter, soon to turn an adult, studying in a boarding school discovers her sexual awakening. The entry of a boy, her daughters boyfriend, stirs up complex dynamics with the mother trying to play a role in their equation. Initially the mother tries to police the daughter, setting boundaries for her relationship with the boy but soon finds herself intertwined in their sneaky, adolescent love, trying to find moments of liberation and love missing from her marriage with an indifferent husband. Films like Girls will be Girls are a fresh take on womens sexuality, on a mother-daughter relationship, on the grey areas of life and morality, a film ahead of its time for a country like India You would ask why ? In a patriarchal society like India where women are meant to be treated as goddesses, their sexuality controlled by society, the norms of their feminism decided and controlled by men, women are telling their own stories, they are reclaiming the agency over their bodies, their thought processes, their politics, their humanity. Men are not being shown their place in these films but they are gently being reminded of their privilege in a country where a section of girls are still married against their own wishes, where a population of the girl child is still deprived of basic education and schooling. These films have taken a huge leap on behalf of all women in a country increasingly leaning towards majoritarianism, where democracy is turning out to be a farce. A month ago, the Prime Minister of India presided over the screening of a propaganda film in the Indian parliament. He has been promoting some of the most Islamophobic films that project Indian critics and dissenters as anti nationals. The Indian mainstream film industry has become a tool to extend the agenda of the Modi government. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/20/modi-cinema-muslim-hatred/) In the critically applauded film 'The Monkey Man', a fictionalised account of a dystopian India, a snippet from the film talks about the American president being upset over the eroding religious freedom in India and the rise of the Hindu nationalist movement. The lines almost eerily similar to the Biden goverment's religious freedom concerns for India. In the film, a godman who runs a flourishing business empire with saffrom flags all around installs a Prime Minister who works at his behest to stoke hatred and divide the country. The plot is not lost on those observing the political situation in India. Unsurprisingly the censor board of India created a situation for the film to not be realeased in India and ironically I saw the film on the entertainment system on a flight to America (https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/censor-board-thwarts-monkey-man-release-even-after-global-cuts-by-universal-studios-toned-down-political-implications/article68324823.ece#:~:text=By%20avoiding%20a%20screening%20for,it%2C%20The%20Hindu%20has%20learnt.) Payal Kapadia's 'Love is political in India' rings true in these circumstances. Every single film made by and for the women in the last one year making waves across the world is a moment of reckoning for the country made possible by women who stood up for their convictions, their belief in cinema as a reflection of the society and a mirror to its flaws. This is the year India needs to celebrate these women who have given each one of us a reason to smile and be proud of our existence, our beliefs and our convictions. It is the year the women spoke, to be heard and applauded by the world, they refused to be shamed for telling stories that are often considered a taboo. More power to you women (An edited version of this column first appeared in the Washington Post earlier this week ) You're currently a free subscriber to Rana Ayyub's Newsletter. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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