00:00It's really amazing and overwhelming.
00:07You know, from the first time, the first idea to this first screening, this film was eight
00:13years in the making.
00:14So it took a really long time to make.
00:17So at the end of it, that to have the film received like this, you know, everywhere is
00:23on a global stage.
00:25But also, more importantly, back home here is very moving.
00:30What challenges did I face?
00:36Well, it's a tricky thing, you know, to create great characters who you sometimes like, sometimes
00:42don't like.
00:43And yet in the end, like, you understand them.
00:46So that was a tricky thing in writing.
00:49However, we have these amazing actors, Preeti Panigrahi, who plays Meera and Kani Kusruti,
00:54who plays Anila, who really embodied these characters.
01:04The representation behind the camera is essential because people bring their lived experience
01:08to telling the stories.
01:10And this year, you can just see the variety of films that are there made by women directors.
01:15Santosh by Sandhya Suri, All We Imagine is Light, Payal Kapadia, Village Rockstars by
01:21Reema Das, Laapata Ladies, Girls Will Be Girls.
01:24So, it's such a wide range of films, and I'm really glad to be in this company.
01:35It was great.
01:36Richa is a very old friend of mine.
01:37We went to college together.
01:39We co-directed a documentary together a long time ago.
01:43So our collaboration really goes back many, many years.
01:46And actually, when I applied to film school in the US, Richa acted in my application short
01:51film, which is a five-minute film about a struggling actress.
01:54So for that friendship to turn into this collaboration, because you know, with your producers, you
02:01work for years.
02:02Richa has been on this film since 2018, for six years.
02:06So it's kind of like a marriage.
02:08And it's amazing.
02:14Richa is a protector of the film.
02:17She understood my vision, and she fought for it.
02:21And she made sure that we could cast it how we wanted, and we could shoot it how we wanted.
02:28So I would say she is like a lioness who protected the film.
02:37Look, we can't control what audience members think and what some critics think.
02:42For me, I'm trying to create a film where I put you in the shoes of this young girl.
02:48You feel what she feels, but also have empathy for all the other characters.
02:54And I think, hopefully, the audience comes on this journey.
03:03I don't think so.
03:04Look, look at the awards at MAMI.
03:06Look at the audience response at MAMI.
03:09Where people were fighting to get into the theatre, where they watched the film so lovingly.
03:14So I think we underestimate our audiences, you know.
03:19Audiences are ready for different kinds of films.
03:21So we just need to give them a chance.
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