Actress and dancer Isha Sharvani made her first public appearance with her four-year-old son recently in Thiruvananthapuram
Arya R (BOMBAY TIMES; February 5, 2020)

When actress-dancer Isha Sharvani recently made an appearance at a fashion show in Thiruvananthapuram, she surprised everyone. With her was her four-year-old son Luca, who walked the ramp with his mom, marking his first public appearance. In a candid chat, Isha talked about her son, but refused to divulge any further details. Excerpts...

Tell us about your son Luca and his recent public appearance...
I feel lucky to have a son like Luca, who loves his mother so much. And I love being a mom. He is my partner in crime and we have a lot of fun together. He loves to perform rope dance and presents it in his own way like a long solo (laughs!). He also wants us to watch him when he performs. I have never tried to impose any steps on him, but he learns watching us. When I wondered how he could dance so well at such a young age, my mom said that I used to dance on tables from the age of two, whenever I heard music or when we were at restaurants. At his first public appearance, Luca was a bit shy and nervous, probably as it was his first time seeing so many lights and cameras.

How is it being a single mother?
I am a fiercely independent woman. I am financially stable, I raise my child on my own. Whether you are a single parent or not, raising a child is a beautiful experience which we learn a lot from. Children are innocent and have a beautiful perspective on this world. As parents, we can care for them, but I believe we shouldn’t think we know more than them. In my experience, all parents can learn a lot from their kids, alongside taking care of them.

Why did you take a break from films?
I am not saying no to films. I say yes when the right projects come along. The break happened as scripts that interest me haven’t been offered. Even recently, I rejected a script as it didn’t portray women in a way in which I was comfortable. I believe in equality and I’m definitely a feminist. My ideologies have also changed with age. Moreover, I have never been a career-oriented actress, though I love acting and have learnt a lot from the industry, working with talented artistes. My favourite genre is comedy and I love stand-up comedy routines. I will definitely try comedy roles if I get a chance.

According to you, what makes a woman desirable?
I believe womanhood means finding happiness within oneself. The most desirable thing for me is a life in peace and serenity. We can spread happiness when we are happy with ourselves. As women, we should feel content and feel our life worth living.

Tell us about your latest dance project, Sari
The performance shows how a sari is weaved out of handloom. It is choreographed and conceptualised by my mother Daksha Seth. Its music and direction are by my father Devissaro. My brother Tao Issaro performs along with me with the other artistes at the show. We have been touring with it across the world for some time now. It might sound like a simple subject, but through the dance, we showcase its journey from being a cotton pod to a handloom fabric, and how it is draped in various styles.

What is dance to you?
For me, dance is many things in life. I started it at the age of two and now I am 35 years old. It is also a therapy for me. When I am stressed, I go to the studio and perform for one and a half hours. I come out with a smile and a relaxed mind. Dance, for me, is also an offering to the universe I believe in.

While this tussle between a director's passion for a film and the reality of business is eternal, it is perhaps worth a debate in today's world
Nandita Das (MID-DAY; September 25, 2018)

I am beyond overwhelmed by the response that has been pouring in. It is much more than what I had imagined. From young 18-year olds to those in their 90s. From far off cities like Patna and Kochi to those in Delhi and Mumbai, it is touching people deeply. Mantoiyat is spreading far and…no, not wide enough. Films like Manto are constrained by the presumptions of those who are responsible for marketing and distributing films. There is a clear dissonance between what is seen as 'creative' vs. 'business' in terms of the spending on publicity and advertising and on the number of screens and the show times. While this tussle between a director's passion for a film and the reality of business is eternal, it is perhaps worth a debate in today's world.

Manto, is perhaps a good example of how in-built biases in the distribution system might affect the potential of a film that is not classified as a "Bollywood" film. These are the ones that get labelled as niche films. This has big consequences. This impacts the number of screens – a mid-sized release for 'Bollywood' is about 2000 screens while Manto released in less than 500. The basis of this decision is old-style 'focus group' analyses that more often than not merely reinforce the bias of the marketing and distribution team. We live in a world that is awash with data, so my assertion is not merely as Manto's film-maker, but also as a viewer of good cinema.

In fact, I shared the hard-data that was, to me, more relevant as to how widely the film should be distributed. For instance, Google trends that measure millions of searches for each subject clearly showed that because of Manto's festival run, positive reviews, and scores of articles about the film, the awareness and the positive buzz about it were higher than all the films being released around the same time. Yet, as a result of flawed research with a small sample, the film did not show at all in even capital cities like Srinagar or Amristar, where Manto grew up and has a huge following, or in the cinema-literate Trivandrum. Even in the cities it has released, shows were too few with show times often too early in the morning or too late at night to reach all the potentially interested audiences. Despite social media and word of mouth, if the screenings are not close to your home and at convenient times, audiences, despite their best intent, are unable to watch the film.

The numbers game is of the first weekend. That is what determines how long and wide the film will run thereafter for it to reach the widest audience possible. And this was jeopardized because of a bumpy start. The media informed us that the first day, first shows got cancelled all over the country. I was told that this was due to some "technical glitches" or lack of "adequate paperwork". The prevailing assumptions about who Manto can reach was bad enough, but not delivering, what should be a routine task of simply getting the film to the theatres, was indeed unexpected. For me having spent six years on the film, I am compelled to discuss these challenges in the public domain.

I have realized how helpless I am as a filmmaker and how one is left with no choice unless you, yourself, have the resources to market and distribute the film, which most of us don't. Many films have and will continue to suffer because of this gap and perception. And the audiences too have and will continue to suffer as they will not have access to the films they may want to watch. There are too many mediators between the film and its audiences that are deciding how and to whom a film should reach. While I think new digital platforms will fill this gap, it is not in the public interest that independent voices get completely pushed out of the social experience of watching films in theatres. There ought to be space for both.

The heartfelt responses to Manto among those who did manage to see it, despite all the odds, gives me some hope that while we filmmakers battle the 'system', maybe the change can start with audiences. And perhaps if they were made aware of how difficult it is for an independent film to even make it to a theatre (not so) near them, they would go the proverbial extra mile to support it. This is important to break the vicious cycle. If filmmakers found ways to tell diverse and authentic stories and audiences thronged to the theatres to make such films successful, the mediators would have to let go off their prejudices and submit to the real 'demand and supply' theory that they hold so dear.

We need to cherish our stories, those that mirror the world we live in. Let our films disturb us, inspire us, trigger conversations and challenge our prejudices. Cinema will always remain an art and not a science and therefore let no one claim that they know just too well what will 'work' and won't. The heartfelt responses to Manto have made me realise that we need to have this dialogue or else we will be subjected to only what the market forces want us to consume. This change is up to us.

MID-DAY (July 26, 2017)

Ever since he took office as chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in 2015, Pahlaj Nihalani has come under the scanner for his censoring actions, with a majority of industry folk citing his decisions unwarranted.

Rumours doing the rounds that the Board will replace the infamous chief comes as no surprise then, given that he also recently attracted the wrath of cinephiles and filmmakers for his stance against the “lady-oriented” Lipstick Under My Burkha and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Indu Sarkar.

While Nihalani has often shielded his decisions behind the archaic Cinematograph Act, the chief has now apparently come in the line of fire for contempt of court. A member of the Board, on condition of anonymity, tells mid-day that the Kerala High Court has issued a notice against the CBFC after Nihalani refused to certify the film, K A Bodyscapes (see picture below), putting the filmmaker in a soup for nine months.

The source says, “A screening was held for the CBFC in February, following which Pahlaj and his team refused to certify the film. The HC ordered him to give his verdict in May, and sent subsequent reminders.” When Nihalani failed to pay heed to the orders, a contempt of court issue was served. The team even requested for a two-months extension to due to “lack of funding to arrange the screening and the cost of bringing all the Board members together.”

Speculations suggest, the screening will happen in Thiruvananthapuram on  28 July. In the subsequent Board meeting, scheduled for the same day, Nihalani may be asked to step down. Our calls to Nihalani, went unanswered. A source says, “If he’s asked to step down, he won’t relent.”