How did you transform “Door Nahi Sahil” from an idea into a full-fledged documentary?

I remember watching the first 5-minute cut of Door Nahi Sahil — the first scene we edited to gauge the style and narrative of the film — and crying a little afterwards. It was because of all the time and human effort that had brought it so far, on a mobile screen in my hands. I was first introduced to the concept of Self-Help Groups in May of 2022, and the final version of the documentary was made available in January 2024. This 2-year journey included several trips to Jabalpur, where we understood the work being done after visiting villages like Baghrai and Panagar. It also involved brainstorming and planning done at home — everything from writing down the scenes to crafting the question to creating the schedules for the women. We decided early on what we wanted to highlight in the script: the narratives of the women, the production processes and insights with the government officers. All of these things were imperative in brining out the ethos and information out of the documentary. Indeed, time was also put into receiving approvals at the State and District levels from the Government. Finally, we shot Door Nahi Sahil over 4 days in October 2023 and spent the rest of that year editing it and compiling the documentary together. Looking back, I suppose its title remains very appropriate, both for the women in Jabalpur and for the team who worked on the documentary!

What would you like audiences to take away from this project?

Door Nahi Sahil, fundamentally, is a story of the human spirit. It explores the lives of women once bound by their gender, surroundings, family and prejudices— women, who, eventually, found themselves with the help of one another. Today, they rejoice in their own identity, earn and spend their own money, and make choices prioritising themselves and in this, they have become torchbearers of empowerment for their peers, and for women all over the world. If there is anything that the audience takes away from this project, let it be the strength in determination. I hope this documentary is able to remind each individual of the value of community, and in extension, of contributing to that community. Moreover, I want to shed light on enhancing women’s economic autonomy and prioritizing girls’ education as avenues that fundamentally challenge traditional gender roles within families. Women’s financial independence disrupts patriarchal norms by promoting equitable resource distribution and decision-making power. More than anything, I hope this documentary ignites a spark of hope in the audience, a belief in their abilities and an intent to support those who need to be supported.

 
How did you get started in filmmaking?

The roots of my passion for filmmaking lie in my interest in photography. After the pandemic, there was a voice inside of me that wanted to capture life’s moments, that wanted to convey stories visually. It is what led me to pick up my phone, and gradually, a camera, and start collating memories in a frame. A deep enthusiast of cinema, and a writer by choice, I discovered that a documentary as a medium of media brings all my passions together so beautifully, and impactfully, that I had to engage with it. Moreover, at the time, I was also working with an organisation called the Joint Women’s Program (JWP), who work towards the betterment of the lives of women and children across the country. At JWP, I interviewed 15 domestic violence survivors to understand their stories— and this made me keen on capturing the life stories of women further. This is how I started in filmmaking: a curiosity, an unprofessional photograph, a determination, and nothing else.

 
How do you decide on the themes and messages in your films/documentaries?

The camera has always been inextricable from its politics of representation for me. At 15, I directed my first neorealist documentary in the style of Phoebe-Waller-Bridge-filtered-through-Greta-Gerwig-aesthetics on an institution that influences many students in India: the Central Board of Secondary Education. While the shots for this documentary lay dormant in my hard drive, the ethos which powered it has peeked out in multifarious manners. I had, very early on, decided that all the work I create should convey a social message to my audience. As someone who cares deeply about discrimination in society — based on gender, colour, caste, creed, age, sexuality, wealth or otherwise — I believe that my work should harbour the power to illuminate shunned narratives. If my art can bring about meaningful change in a single life, that is my contribution to our society.

 
Which director’s work do you admire the most, and why?

A director whose work I deeply admire is Greta Gerwig. Gerwig started as a screenwriter in the industry, using her hold on language to craft powerful narratives like Mistress America, a film that explores the complex dynamics of sisterhood. It is her masterful narrative work that first drew me into her work. Her films — an impressive roster of Nights and Weekends, Little Women, Lady Bird, and Barbie — comment, critique and initiate discourse around crucial societal topics such as the patriarchy, sexuality, the spectrum of perfection and the coming of age of an individual. It is through her work that she can deliver imperative messages while finding an audience in millions of individuals who see themselves as Jo March or Christine McPherson. Moreover, my love for Gerwig’s work is also rooted in the raw, authentic and bold female characters that she centres her work around. Of course, it is impossible not to stand in awe of the cinematography and use of colour in Greta’s films — crafted with intent and skill.

 
What books or movies had the biggest impact on you growing up?

My first introduction to the world of creativity and imagination was through reading. At the age of 9, I devoured Matilda in 24 hours, and that was the beginning of my journey in the world of literature and media. A text that had a profound impact on my primary school self was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It was the first time that I was able to see myself in another character— another tomboyish feminist who wanted to write. As I grew up, I found life’s key learnings in other texts like The Alchemist by Paula Coehlo and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. John Green’s Looking for Alaska is a novel that I read on the premise of my teenage, and was forever changed by the insights it provided me about being stuck in labyrinths and the importance of forgiveness. More recently, Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice and Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife have helped me grow as an individual, and given me much to think about in regards to the society we inhabit, and the way we live. Undeniably, movies have been crucial in making me who I am today, too. A notable few include Zindagi Na Milegi Dubaara from Director Zoya Akhtar, Kelsey Mann’s Inside Out 2, the adaptation of Dead Poet’s Society and Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s A Moment of Innocence.

 
How did you decide on this particular documentary’s visual style and cinematography?

My vision for Door Nahi Sahil had always been a clean, minimalist, feminine visual style, that borrowed from the mesmerizing natural beauty, and the extraordinary monotony of rural life that we shot in. I did not want strong transitions or artificial layering; I did not want an inhumane, perfect piece of work. Instead, I wanted the documentary to portray human life as it was, with all its noises, movements and mistakes. This is why most of the documentary has been shot with a hand-held camera. Moreover, I also wanted to have shots panning out the landscape, silhouettes of faces and hands, and shots of people just being people. I wanted to incorporate some bit of expressionism to bring impact. The lighting was important too— we shot primarily with natural light, only using white light when the electricity was out, or it was dark outside. These elements were very important for me, as a director, in order to produce a documentary in line with what I had envisioned it to be.

 
How do you create a positive working environment on set?

It was important for me to set clear expectations and goals for the team. I ensured everyone understood their responsibilities and the overall vision of the project. Also, regularly acknowledging and appreciating the hard work and contributions of the team — positive reinforcement— was key to our environment on set.

 
What was the most important lesson you learned as a new filmmaker, and how can others benefit from it?

The most important lesson that I learnt as a new filmmaker was that things keep moving, you have to move with them. The only constant in the life of a director is change, and the ability to embrace it with gratitude and determination is what decides the course of your filming journey. We shot Door Nahi Sahil in a thunderstorm without electricity, without a room to place the camera in, with delays and lost time, with key characters often absent on the day they were scheduled to appear— with several things that didn’t go according to plan. At the end of the day, though, we chose to accept these changes and move forward; we adapted along the way. This is a key learning, in filmmaking or otherwise, and the sooner an individual is able to understand and ingrain this within themselves, the sooner they can chase new opportunities and walk down different paths in life.