Kani Kusruti says she is happiest at home with her plants in Goa, practicing the sitar - a routine that got disrupted due to the year-round celebrations of All We Imagine As Light and Girls Will Be Girls, two internationally critically acclaimed films she was part of this year.

Kani says, "I think this is mostly the first time I felt there was more celebration than work. I feel it’s very disproportionate in terms of celebration - it’s like too much celebration. I’ve never had a year like this."

Kani shares, "I will honestly say, I don't think acting is really my cup of tea. I just happened to become an actor at a young age, and I ended up practicing it and continuing with it. I have many fellow actors and colleagues from Kerala, theater, and elsewhere who are way more talented, passionate about acting, and hardworking than I am. But, like in every field, especially in cinema, I think sometimes people get picked up by chance rather than the most deserving ones."

She continues, "Payal is a really nice person, a good director, and it was a great team. So, I loved working on Payal's film. Some projects come along like that, and I feel truly happy about the way we work together. But when I talk to other actors, I know they feel very happy just acting alone, just being able to play a character - they're genuinely happy. I don't have that kind of happiness. For me, happiness comes when the team is great or when we enjoy the process. I find joy in other things, like the stories we tell, not necessarily in my character."

"I thought maybe Payal reached out to me for a diploma film at FTII, didn't know it was feature film." Payal contacted Kani Kusruti for the film when she was studying at FTII. Over the years, Kani has seen different drafts of All We Imagine As Light. Payal initially offered her younger part and years later when the project was finalized she ended up doing the elder nurse role."

Today, it's understandable when someone is excited to work with Grand Prix winner Payal Kapadia. But back then, when she was just a film school student, what was it about her that made you look forward to working with her? Kani says, "It was not so much about the character for me. Why should women bear the burden of making only good films and proving themselves constantly? They should be able to make bad films too."

Kani has worked with many female directors. She says that she didn’t plan it; it just naturally happened. She says, "I’m just very happy every time it’s a female director - I feel a different kind of happiness. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman in India, and when I see female directors coming up, I already feel a sense of joy. It’s like, 'Oh, who is she? How is she thinking?' You also feel a little safer and that you can express yourself. I’m not saying all women directors are always going to be nice and amazing- not necessarily. In fact, true diversity will come when more women enter the field. Then, we’ll have all kinds of films - even bad films - made by women. Why should women bear the burden of making only good films and proving themselves constantly? They should be able to make bad films too, just like everyone else."

Kani says that the female directors who have helmed projects in the last 10 years, whether in commercial cinema or other sections, have really paved their own paths by putting in a lot of work on themselves. She says, "I believe these women are slightly exceptional in some way, which is why they’ve reached where they are today. It’s not an easy journey. They’ve worked hard, and some may have had certain privileges, but they’ve earned their place."

She says, "I’m sure male gazes and patriarchal perspectives may sometimes come from female directors too. Most female directors I’ve worked with have been kind, collaborative, and understanding. They created environments where we felt safe. And it’s not just about female directors - the sets are often run by women. Right now, we mostly talk about two genders, women and men, but there are many genders. When the industry becomes more inclusive of all genders, I think everyone will feel safe. I believe all artists, regardless of gender, have to work hard on themselves to create a healthy workspace. I consider myself fortunate that most of the male directors I’ve worked with were also good, with only a few exceptions where I felt the working environment wasn’t healthy. Most of the male and female directors I’ve collaborated with have had good spirits. However, there have been instances where I worked with female directors and felt that the workspace wasn’t ideal. So, it’s not exclusive to one gender. Creating a positive and healthy working environment is everyone’s responsibility."

What does she mean by a healthy working space? Kani explains, "What I meant by a healthy workspace is that there are often different kinds of abuses that happen- taking people for granted, exploiting their time excessively, underpaying them, making them work overtime, not providing proper contracts, or verbal abuses that sometimes occur during shooting. We have many such practices in India. I understand that someone may get angry once during a 60-day shoot. People are under stress - that much I can understand. Everyone is human. But when such behaviour becomes a habit is what is a problem. For example, an A-list actor might receive better treatment, while others don’t. Everyone should be treated equally. That’s what I meant by a healthy workspace."

Kani says that it is normal that people may occasionally misbehave, but that’s not the only issue. There are entrenched hierarchical and unethical practices in workspaces that need to be removed. She shares that fortunately, the next generation is already bringing in new ideas, and she is hopeful things will change. However, even when people don’t intend to misbehave, bad workspace practices and lack of resources can lead to stress-induced behaviors, like shouting. She says that’s why she believes the resources of a film should be allocated properly, not just for stars. Sometimes, the allocation feels excessive - for instance, spending disproportionately on entourages.

She says, "I understand the need for one or two assistants in some cases, but often, these luxuries take away from ensuring that people, like those in lighting crews, get adequate rest. These crew members often sleep the least, leave last, and arrive first."

Kani shares, "We have a history of bad practices; how to change it, I don't know. For example, in Kerala, they are trying to have an ICC (Internal Complaints Committee), but what kind of power it can have depends on whether people are willing to consciously change and whether producers are willing to put the money in the right places to establish good ethics and practices, such as ensuring people get enough rest. Are we able to allocate money in a way that we can give everyone an ample amount of rest, proper conveyance, and good food? In Hindi projects that I’ve been a part of, I see there are different eating places. Actors eat in a separate mess with specific catering, technicians have a different one, and daily-wage artists who work on the film have another buffet. I don't understand this. It's unbelievable. That disparity is so clearly visible, even in the food. So, we have to work a lot to achieve equality and treat everyone with equality."

Payal was completely different. At the location, we were just trying to remake what we had achieved all day in the rehearsals. It was more like a theater production. Before going to the location, we already knew everything. Payal shot all that rehearsal on camera. Then she also edited it to see how it looked. So, she already made a film, which looked very similar, sometimes even with the actual costumes. Sometimes, it wasn't the actual actor, but another actor playing the role. We all felt we knew how the film was turning out because she made everyone involved in the film - like an equal collaborator

We would first rehearse, then every department would watch it. Everyone would know what the actors are going to do. Everybody is part of it. Then everyone would prep for the scene, right there, and then we would shoot the scene. Also, Shuchi had a completely different interpretation of the characters. The same dialogues were said with completely different intentions. So, I was very curious to watch Girls Will Be Girls finally because I was like, which Anila is coming out? I was also curious Is it the Anila close to the script, or the Anila that was discovered on the set? Shuchi made Anila different on set. She interpreted Anila very differently on set, so that was very interesting.

Richie is not much of a rehearsal kind of person. He'd rehearse a bit on the spot but doesn't really fix the performance exactly how he wants it. He also goes with the spontaneity and what the actor brings to the scene. Most of my scenes in Richie's series were shot with handheld cameras. So, the DOP (Director of Photography) had a free-flowing approach, following the actor's movements. The DOP also chooses which parts to focus on, and sometimes it's not your face; it might be yourzfingers or what your hands are doing. This approach brings out a different kind of performance.

Girls Will Be Girls stars (centre) Kani Kusruti and (right) Preeti Panigrahi

Why is that skirt so short? Why are you bending over the desk like that? Who is calling you so many times? Shuchi Talati remembers these questions being thrown at her constantly during her teenage years. Those years of being questioned and her defiance have led to her maiden feature film, Girls Will Be Girls.

“I started to make this film from a place of anger and rebellion. As teenagers, [girls] are subjected to constant policing and surveillance, which instills in them a deep shame about desire or sexuality. I wanted to tell a story about a young girl’s first romance, her sexual awakening, but treat it as a normal part of growing up. I wanted to do it in a way where the storytelling doesn’t shame it at all,” starts the director.

Girls Will Be Girls—which won two awards at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival—tells the story of 16-year-old Meera, essayed by Preeti Panigrahi, and her complex relationship with her mother, played by Kani Kusruti. Their friction only increases when the daughter’s boyfriend starts showering attention on the mother. Talati reveals that the mother’s track came to her much later.

She recalls, “The character of the mother appeared in a later draft. It was so rich because I was closer in age to the mom. I felt, ‘This woman is in her late 30s. Why should she not have desire? Why should she not have fun?’ This boy is giving her attention. Nobody else in her life did that. So, I started feeling a lot of empathy for her. The film became about the two generations of women, who are trying to break out of the box that society [imposes] on them. They are trying to subvert, circumvent, and somehow live their life with more freedom.”

She adds, “Their friction is key to our story [because initially] Meera looks down on her mother, who stays at home and seems unfulfilled. Through the film, she grows up to see her mother as a full person. That kinship comes to them eventually.”

To Talati, the movie is of much emotional value, not only because it is her first feature film, but also because it comes from a personal space.

However, she points out that it is not autobiographical in nature, as she says, “With first-time women filmmakers, people assume that they’re writing about their life. This film is deeply personal. Not because any of these things happened to me, but because I felt all of these things. For instance, Meera gets worried that her boyfriend is getting close to her mother. I have felt [a similar] insecurity when my boyfriend was talking to some girl who seemed older, cooler and more interesting. I have felt [that pang of sadness] that the mother feels when she sees that someone is going to have so many more opportunities than her.”

Filmmaking is a career that happened by chance to the Baroda-born writer-director, who was almost on her way to become a doctor. But a conversation with a friend made her realise that her calling is in the arts. It is in journalism school that she met classmate Richa Chadha, who, years later, along with actor-husband Ali Fazal, backed Girls Will Be Girls as their maiden production.

“Richa was the first person to come on board. I was pitching it at Film Bazaar at the co-production market. I called Richa as she is the only person I knew in the industry. She read the script and loved it. She said, ‘I wanted to produce for a long time. What could be better than backing one of my oldest friends’ scripts that I love!’”

In the past few weeks, All We Imagine As Light director Payal Kapadia has shed light on the challenges of indie filmmakers in India. Talati chooses to be optimistic as she gears up for her movie’s 2025 release.

“Hopefully, people will hire me to do other films. I am hoping to write something new. The thing is people misunderstand nuance. People think that a nuanced, quiet film means it’s slow and boring. But since we all observe humans all our lives, we understand nuance. So even though this film is nuanced, it’s extremely accessible,” she states.

Is there a greater joy for filmmakers than seeing their maiden movie winning awards? Over the weekend, Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal’s debut production, Girls Will Be Girls, clinched two awards at the Sundance Film Festival 2024—the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Entry category, and the Special Jury Award for Acting for Preeti Panigrahi.

Starring Panigrahi and Kani Kusruti, Shuchi Talati’s directorial venture revolves around a 16-year-old girl’s complex relationship with her mother. In the coming-of-age drama, Chadha and Fazal found just the kind of meaningful stories that they want to back. Their belief in championing unheard stories has been rewarded with the wins.

Chadha says, “It seems as if life is going in all directions at the same time, in a good way. I hope this gem of a film maps out its own journey.”

Actor-producer Fazal is already planning the film’s festival run. “Up next is the Gothenburg Film Festival and another festival. This win helps us dream bigger and take on some more stories that we want to push the buttons on.”

Crediting Chadha for advocating the movie, Talati says, “It’s fulfilling to see our story strike a chord with viewers and reviewers, igniting discussions about the often-overlooked coming-of-age encounters depicted on screen.”

Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal recently wrapped up the first training programme of Undercurrent Lab, which aims to train female gaffers, thus increasing women’s participation in the lighting department of the Hindi film industry. The idea of the incubation programme struck them when Chadha and director Shuchi Talati sought to hire an all-women crew for their film Girls Will Be Girls, only to realize that the lighting department is a largely male-dominated field.

Tanya Negi, who is associated with Chadha’s maiden production venture, then suggested creating a lab that would promote the inclusion, training and mentorship of women in these technical areas.

Fazal, who launched the production house Pushing Buttons Studios with partner Chadha in 2021, is glad to be an ally as women explore new opportunities for themselves. “I have always been deeply inspired by some dynamic personalities in my life, mostly the women I grew up with. I suppose it reflects in my work and life choices,” says the actor, who also attended the week-long programme.

“I attended all the sessions to educate myself as well as extend my support. From the guests to the lecturers, I’m grateful to all those who supported the lab, [especially] Nasir bhai [Shaikh] and others who allowed us to conduct the training at Light n Light studio.”

The actor duo hope that the women gaffers will be hired by production houses and filmmakers.

Richa Chadha’s maiden production Girls Will Be Girls has a reason to celebrate. At the Berlinale Co-production Market that was held from February 12 to 16, the film won the Talents Footprints Mastercard grant — an annual funding designed to help filmmakers achieve social impact through financial support, mentorship and public awareness. Chadha and director Shuchi Talati’s winning proposal was an incubation programme to increase women’s participation in the grips and lighting department in the Hindi film industry. 

The programme was proposed with the vision to promote women’s inclusion and training in technical areas that are currently dominated by men. Chadha says the idea struck them when they began production work on Girls Will Be Girls. “When Shuchi and I were building an all-women crew, we realised there are no women in some departments. That’s when we thought, ‘How can we come up with solutions to increase the participation of women?’ Our teammate Tanya Negi came up with the idea of the incubation programme. We sent in an application since our script was at the Berlinale Script Station last year, and won this grant,” she says.

Having received the grant of €5,000, Chadha hopes to rope in Bollywood’s senior cinematographers and members of Indian Women Cinematographer Collective (IWCC) to train the applicants. Director Talati adds, “We are inviting all Mumbai-based women who are interested in learning about cinema lighting. Electricians, engineers, and aspiring cinematographers should apply. We are also [hoping] the film fraternity supports us by providing mentorship to our trainees.”

Actor Richa Chadha recently announced that she has decided to try her hands at production with a film called Girls Will Be Girls, along with boyfriend Ali Fazal. Besides being her maiden venture, what makes this project more special is her decision to work with an all-female team.

The 34-year-old tells us that it was her director, Shuchi Talati’s idea to aspire to have an all-female crew. She continues, “Shuchi wanted to see what that would do, having only women on board. We have had one round of interviews with some aspirants. Our co-producers in Delhi, who have produced several award-winning feminist indie films, also feel strongly it should be women-led.”

Set in a boarding school in a hill station in north India, the plot of the film revolves around the coming of age of a 16-year-old girl and her relationship with her mother. Talati’s last film, A Period Piece, had a largely-female crew and she found it to create a nurturing and supportive environment. This influenced the duo to push for an all-female team for this project.

Chadha feels that this move holds the potential to change a lot of things across film industries everywhere. “I think it’s a great, positive, social experiment. I experienced a certain freedom from male expectations, from dressing up, etc in my last year of education at a girl’s college... I don’t know if it’ll usher in a revolution but I definitely think it’s worth trying,” confesses the actor, who is currently busy filming for another project.

First-time producers Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal are overjoyed as their project, 'Girls Will Be Girls', is making waves in the international circuit. The movie, to be directed by Shuchi Talati, was chosen for the Berlinale Talents Script Station programme earlier this year. Now, it is among the 15 international scripts selected for the international features section at Gotham Week, a prestigious global film market where established and emerging filmmakers get the opportunity to network with film financiers, festival curators, and producers. The annual event, sponsored by Netflix, Amazon Studios, Audible, SAGindie and Warner Media, will be held virtually between September 19 and 24.

Ahead of taking it to the global film market, the team has shot a pitch video that will help in raising funds. Chadha says the script’s selection has given them the confidence that they are on the right path. “At Gotham Week, we hope to find like-minded investors and collaborators who will join us in making this film. It is a fresh and feminist story, and I believe Shuchi is a new voice in Indian cinema,” she says. 

Writer-director Talati hopes to make the movie with an all-women crew. “The film deals with gendered power dynamics and female sexuality, and I always thought the story would resonate internationally.”

Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal have already greenlit their first movie, Girls Will Be Girls, under their newly launched banner, Pushing Buttons Studio. Even as the film is currently in pre-production under the supervision of Brooklyn-based director Shuchi Talati, the actor-producer duo have turned their attention on their next. Keen to give a platform to budding writers across the country, Chadha and Fazal have invited aspiring screenwriters to send their scripts to the studio, one of which will be chosen for their second project. 

While the move helps bring in stories that are raw and realistic, Fazal emphasises that it will also provide an opportunity to writers from smaller towns to gain a foothold in the industry. “I believe there is no lack of talent, even in the remotest parts of our country. If given the right platform, the writers will soar,” he says, before quipping, “So, we have set ourselves on a Salim-Javed hunt.” 

Chadha chimes in, “Ali and I are big fans of Malayalam and Assamese films. We hope to give a platform to creators from everywhere.”

A couple who stays together works together. Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal have collaborated as producers, and work on their first project has commenced. We hear that the projects they will back aim to tell stories that are rooted in the Indian ethos for a global audience. The first script to be green-lit under their banner is titled Girls Will Be Girls and is written and will be directed by debutant Shuchi Talati. Interestingly, it is the only Indian script invited to the prestigious Berlinale Script Station 2021 — a lab that selects only 10 projects from around the world each year.

Talking about the venture, Ali Fazal said, “This is the first time that Richa and I are collaborating on a film as producers, and the experience so far has been very rewarding. This film being our first is close to our hearts. I am also excited that we are making a foray as filmmakers with such a progressive, female-led story. We hope to be able to tell thought-provoking and universal stories with humour and love.”

The film is set in an elite boarding school in a small Himalayan hill-town. It follows the story of 16-year-old Mira, whose sexy, rebellious coming-of-age phase is hijacked by her mother, who never got to come-of-age. Mother and daughter grow up together through the course of the script, and their fraught, but loving relationship lies at the heart of the film. Shuchi Talati, the writer-director, who is based out of New York, says, “I like my work to challenge dominant narratives around gender, sexuality and the Indian identity.”

Richa says, “The world that Shuchi has created is relatable, often cruel, but never hopeless or nihilistic. Its honest awkwardness will make you chuckle, not weep. It’s full of relatable incidents, that one finds oddly satisfying — like popping a zit. The mother in our story routinely dodges the self-sacrificing stereotype of the typical Indian mom — she’s complicated, grey and not a martyr. The dynamic between mother and daughter is so under-explored in Indian and world cinema.”

Shuchi and Richa have been longtime collaborators. They co-directed a documentary about adults living with autism and Down’s Syndrome while they were students at Sophia College in Mumbai, as an assignment. Even as Richa became an actor and Shuchi became a director, the two remained close friends and often talked about making films together.