New York Indian Film Festival 2019 - Maya
Having found someone she likes, Maya is ready to commit to marriage under one non-negotiable condition: that her mother joins the household. The secret reason behind this requirement is awkwardly revealed during a loquacious exchange about love marriage over lunch between the two families.
Interview with Writer/Director Vikas Chandra
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you! You know, when you leave home in your early twenties, for education or job, the faces that you carry in your memory of your mom & dad still belong to the school years. With that, nothing prepares you when you go back later and suddenly encounter them as a pale impression of their past selves. A couple of years ago I started noticing it - each time I went back, my parents seemed to have ‘shrunk’ a bit more. So, in a way, this story emerged as the necessity to confront my own fears - about loss and the need to cope with it.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Maya is about relationship politics, and I'm sure you will find something in it you can relate to. Movies may have us believe otherwise, but in life, love has myriad ways of expression. In fact, I am from a culture where showing affection and overtly expressing love to your family is frowned upon. I wanted to show a kind of love that was never expressed, and when it did, it expressed itself through cruelty. We usually show kindness to strangers but reserve our bitterness and cruelty for our most loved ones. I wanted to dig the surface of such relationships and see what lay beyond.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I'm drawn to themes of growing up, family, relationships - what makes us respond to our immediate environment the way we do. It's my way of decoding life and the world we live in. It's funny that even after 20000 odd years of existence, we humans struggle to deal with each other. I guess that's something to do with mortality, every 60-70-80 years one dies and then someone else has to start from scratch. The world may be dying of extreme climate, but my biggest problem is relationships! I love digging that.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
It took me a long time to get the script right. I started writing it in 2012. It was always supposed to be a very personal film. Since I was putting myself in the shoes of a female protagonist- I was scared of hitting a false note. What kept me going was peer feedback, from scathing to heartbreaking sometimes, and the constant fear that I may end up making a bad film. In my early drafts, the mother was an under-confident, submissive character who would avoid any confrontation with her daughter. Thankfully, all the senior actors I went to rejected the script as they were tired of playing a hapless mother. I realized I was perpetuating a stereotype unknowingly, so I rewrote the character. When I got that right, the film fell in place. Those rejections were godsend.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I remember after a festival screening, a fellow filmmaker whose film was also in competition, her mother came and gave me the longest hug of my life. She said her relationship with her daughter was exactly what I'd shown in Maya. For her watching, it was a cathartic experience. I was humbled. However, I have only interacted with an Indian audience, and the major response has been that people could relate to the relationship nuances and complexity, for once sans any judgement. You should note that in my culture, talking back and shouting at parents is considered offensive. Also, a lot of my friends opened up to me saying they too had ailing parents and were struggling to cope up. They were thankful that someone chose to show that. They felt heard.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I was clear that I should be true in my depiction. The willingness of the audience to take the film in their stride and see it for the nuances was a heartening discovery indeed.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I would love to know how other cultures react to a story like this. The film deals with arranged marriage, which is a very traditional Indian concept, at the same time the relationship dynamics are modern, and the underlying emotions are universal. It's a set up that's easily accessible to the Indian audience, and I'm intrigued to find out how will non-Indians respond to it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I'd love if I could reach out to film festival programmers and journalists worldwide. The intent is to find a newer audience for the film wherever possible.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
It's a very personal film, and if it manages to move you enough so that you reflect on your own relationship with your parents, the way you treat them, I'd be very happy.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Do your loved ones often leave you frustrated? Have you wondered why?
Would you like to add anything else?
Hope the film plays in the UK soon. Would love to know what you think!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I'm working on my debut feature now. Alongside, I'm producing a feature documentary The Ordinary Star, which is an intimate look at the innermost workings of an acclaimed Indian filmmaker, and asks what is the price of making art.
Kirti Kulhari, the actor who played Maya, won the Filmfare Award (the biggest Indian film awards) for it. She is an amazing talent and has the potential to break out internationally.
DOP Priyanka Singh has also turned director, with a short called Maun (Silence), on child sexual abuse. It's currently doing the festival round.
My producer Navjot Gulati's debut film as writer/director will be out this year. He's already on to his next feature.
Interview: June 2019
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Maya
Having found someone she likes, Maya is ready to commit to marriage under one non-negotiable condition: that her mother joins the household. The secret reason behind this requirement is awkwardly revealed during a loquacious exchange about love marriage over lunch between the two families.
Length: 19:11
Director: Vikas Chandra
Producer: Mr Ghaliba Datta, Mr Navneet Singh Gujral, Mr Navjot Gulati
Writer: Vikas Chandra
About the writer, director and producer:
VIKAS CHANDRA is a screenwriter & director based in Mumbai, India. Having grown up in a small town in Eastern India, he strayed from his family ethos and joined the unconventional “movie business”, driven by a desire to tell the stories of his milieu, his world. His latest works are available on Amazon India & Voot India. He is a Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab (India) Fellow (2012) and also a Finalist at Film London’s feature film scheme, Microwave International: Shakespeare India (2015). He wrote, produced & directed the unique collaborative short film Project 11. The film was shot in 11 cities with 11 co-directors. Nominated for the Grand Prize at Puchon Fantastic Film Festival 2012 in South Korea. He was named as one of the Top 50 young filmmakers in India at the 1st Indian edition of Berlinale Talent Campus in 2001.
GHALIB DATTA is a media consultant based in the Middle East & India.
NAVNEET SINGH GUJRAL is an Internet entrepreneur based in India.
NAVJOT GULATI is a writer, producer & director based in Mumbai.
Key cast: Kirti Kulhari (Maya), Alka Amin (Mother), Naveen Kasturia (Boyfriend)
Looking for: film festival directors, journalists
Facebook: Maya, Vikas Chandra
Twitter: @vikSchandra
Instagram: @vikschandra
Hashtags used: #relationship #motherdaughter #ageingmom
Made in association with: Dhakka Start Productions and Versova Hustler
Funders: Independent Production house - Dhakka Start Productions (Mr Ghalib Datta and Mr Navneet Singh Gujral)
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Independent Production house - Dhakka Start Productions (Mr Ghalib Datta and Mr Navneet Singh Gujral)