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Eve's eyeview

Aparna Sen. Click for bigger pic!

Swapna Mitter

It proposes to document how women see life and how they present their viewpoint on celluloid. And to this end Sangeeta Datta calls on Vijaya Mehta, Sai Paranjpye, Aparna Sen, Deepa Mehta, Aruna Raje, Kalpana Lajmi and Suma Josson to be spokespersons for their gender.

These women are educated, thinking women who have presented their thoughts -- which have been rather bold at times -- in cinematic idiom.

Datta, a research scholar in Sussex, England, has tried to trap on film some aspects of their thought, opinion and 'gaze' -- gaze was the term used -- in a film tentatively titled The Way I See It. Other than the film-makers, the documentary also called on Shabana Azmi, actress, activist, MP, UNDP ambassador and the winner of her umpteenth national award. For she's whom the aforementioned ladies often called on to depict their visions of Indian women.

There's just one man in this group representing the distaff side, Shyam Benegal, one of the very few male directors in modern India who tell their tales from the feminine viewpoint.

Deepa Mehta. Click for bigger pic!

They all come from different backgrounds -- Aparna has grown up in a family steeped in serious cinema, Vijaya harks from theatre while Suma has no film background.. But most speak of similar problems -- a lack of funding and infrastructure, a dearth of distributors, and, finally, the difficulty of making their way into what is predominantly a male domain.

The issues they deal with bear broad similarities. The protagonists are usually female, their fight for emancipation often riding piggyback on sexual liberation or, at at least, sexual awakening. The relationships they portray are complex, It could be between a woman and a tree (Aparna Sen's Sati), between two women (Deepa Mehta's Fire) or between a woman and her hermaphrodite son (Kalpana Lajmi's Darmiyaan). Another recurring theme is that of extra-marital relationships.

But already there appears to be signs of divergence. While Vijaya Mehta says she hasn't the time for another film, Aruna Raje says she's dying to make a comedy. And Kalpana Lajmi is clear that she's be shopping for 'stars' for her next film, so that she can sell the film easily. Even earlier they lady had spiced up her film with a little commercial sauce -- she had called on Dimple Kapadia in the critically and commercially successful Rudaali. She also asserts that if that film had been made by a man, he would probably have "exploited" the heroine more than she had.

Kalpana Lajmi. Click for bigger pic!

Only Aparna Sen still asserted that she would make films only on her terms. And Shabana Azmi -- like many other heroines but far more believably -- said she would not accept a film in which she doesn't have a meaningful role.

Datta explains how she got around to making this film. "My research project is on the representation of gender studies in Indian cinema where I have included a chapter on Shabana and Aparna. But while going about my studies, I realised how little documentation there was of women film-makers in India."

She found this a little incongruous, considering the strides Indian women have made in the last 20 years or so.

"There has been a serious movement involving women, both in public and private life. The definitions of women's subjectivity and sexuality have undergone a change. But there is no proper record of this movement," says Datta. The Way I See It she says, is an effort to fill the gap.

Datta also mentioned the contribution of young film-maker Tanuja Chandra, who she said was the first woman in Indian mainstream cinema to make thrillers (Dushman and now Sanghursh), complete with car-chases, violence and more.

Shabana Azmi. Click for bigger pic!

Her subjects, Datta pointed out, are a radical departure from the themes of love, family and relationships explored by the women.

The 80-minute documentary was shot last year and has already been shown at some festivals and several universities in England. It is also being considered for the London and Berlin film festivals, she says, going on to explain why she chose this time to make this film.

"The past two years have been a historical moment for several of these film-makers. Around this time, Aparna made Yuganta, Kalpana made Darmiyaan and Sai made Saaz, all three of them returning to film-making after long break. I thought the time was right to make this kind of documentary," says Datta.

The screening at the British Council at Bombay was followed by a panel discussion. The participants were Mehta, Raje, Datta and the reluctant but extremely articulate Meera Benegal, wife of Shyam B. The discussion merely reinforced what the documentary had already stated.

Sai Paranjpye. Click for bigger pic!

In the audience was theatre personality Dolly Thakore and activist Madhusree Dutta, who herself has made a documentary. These ladies threw quite a volley of questions at the panelists. The few bemused men in the audience contributed little. One of them admitted he hadn't seen the works of any of these film-makers.

The documentary, or at least the version shown at the British Council was a bit on the dry side, concentrating a little lopsidedly on the film-makers' views than their films. The effect was exacerbated by the fact that the personalities interviewed were picturised against backdrops that didn't change much, a necessary relief when dealing with a topic that demands some attention. There weren't many clips in between to relieve the tedium.

Meanwhile, Datta appears to have caught the bug herself. For she says she now wants to make a feature film. She already has a script ready. But, as with the others, funding has been a problem.

"It's about an NRI woman returning to her roots," she reveals. Shades of Hyderabad Blues? Perhaps, but, you know, you can tell only in the theatres.