Nirnay
NIRNAY (DECISION)
56 min, Hindi, Documentary, 2012, India
Synopsis:
The film is Pushpa’s personal journey as she tries to make sense of her own life, and that of her women friends. Set in a lower middle class neighbourhood in the outskirts of Delhi, it explores the lives of women, who are young, educated and bright, but who feel bound and helpless when it comes to taking any major decision regarding their life, be it career or marriage. By following the lives of the women over three years, the film documents the changes in their lives and tries to capture the essence of their existence, at times through conversations, and at others by simply observing their seemingly innocuous everyday routines.
Credits
Concept, Camera & Direction: PUSHPA RAWAT
Editing & Co-Direction: ANUPAMA SRINIVASAN
Sound Mixing: ASHEESH PANDYA
Produced by RAJIV MEHROTRA, PSBT
Awards:
Pramod Pati Most Innovative Film, MIFF 2014
Festival Screenings:
Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF), 2014
15 year Anniversary of India Habitat Centre Celebrations, 2013
Himan Rights Festival, Chennai 2013
0110 Digital Film Festival Mumbai 2013
SIGNS Festival Thiruvanathapuram 2013
Our Lives... To Live Film Festival in New Delhi, Pune, Gwalior and Kaithal 2012-13
Madurai International Film Festival 2012
Open Frame New Delhi 2012, 2013
Bionotes
Pushpa Rawat is currently pursuing her MA in Philosophy, but her heart has been in filmmaking ever since she attended a filmmaking workshop by documentary filmmaker Anupama Srinivasan at the National Bal Bhawan a few years ago. That first brush with cinema drew her in and she continues to love the feeling of exploring the world through the camera. She was one of the filmmakers of the 2007 short documentary Kyon, a group project that went on to be shown at many film festivals and workshops. Nirnay is her debut film as director.
Anupama Srinivasan is a freelance filmmaker based in Delhi. She did her BA in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University where she also got an opportunity to take courses in still photography and non fiction filmmaking. She went on to complete the three year course in Film Direction from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in 2001. She has been making documentaries and short films for over a decade, often shooting and editing her own films. Her films have been screened at various national and international film festivals. Her interest in working with children led her to conduct filmmaking workshops with children and young people. Since 2006 she has mentored several short films as a part of this. She is also visiting faculty at film schools where she does documentary making workshops. She is currently the Festival Director of the IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival, New Delhi, and the Associate Course Director of the Creative Documentary Course at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication, New Delhi.
Filmography: I Wonder… (70 min, 2009, Documentary), Music of the Mirs (75 min, 2008, Documentary), On my Own Again (70 min, 2007, Documentary), Everyday (6 min, 2006, Short fiction), A Lone Dog (1 min, 2004, Short fiction), A Life in Dance (30 min, 2003, Documentary), On my Own (30 min, 2002, Documentary)
Director’s Statement
I have often wondered, when people speak about youth in India, why do they seem to be referring only to young men? Don’t we the young women matter? I have lived in a family and surroundings where boys have always been privileged over girls. Over the years, I have carved out a space for myself where I do as I feel right and I am ready to take the responsibility for my own actions. But I find my friends bound, willing to give up their dreams, willing to give in to familial pressure. These are the girls with who I have grown up; we have shared our dreams and secrets with each other. And yet, I feel I don’t understand them. Am I wrong, or is something amiss with the world?
The idea for the film has emerged from this feeling of discontent that in turn has led to a need to question and understand. The aim is not to present these women as weak; it is to share with the viewer their spirit as much as their confusions; in other words, to portray vignettes of their existence and through that question the norms of the society we live in.
Contact Information
Anupama Srinivasan
B-2/71, Azad Apartments
Aurobindo Marg
New Delhi-110016
India
Phone: +91-9811585593
Email: onusrinivasan@hotmail.com
56 min, Hindi, Documentary, 2012, India
Synopsis:
The film is Pushpa’s personal journey as she tries to make sense of her own life, and that of her women friends. Set in a lower middle class neighbourhood in the outskirts of Delhi, it explores the lives of women, who are young, educated and bright, but who feel bound and helpless when it comes to taking any major decision regarding their life, be it career or marriage. By following the lives of the women over three years, the film documents the changes in their lives and tries to capture the essence of their existence, at times through conversations, and at others by simply observing their seemingly innocuous everyday routines.
Credits
Concept, Camera & Direction: PUSHPA RAWAT
Editing & Co-Direction: ANUPAMA SRINIVASAN
Sound Mixing: ASHEESH PANDYA
Produced by RAJIV MEHROTRA, PSBT
Awards:
Pramod Pati Most Innovative Film, MIFF 2014
Festival Screenings:
Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF), 2014
15 year Anniversary of India Habitat Centre Celebrations, 2013
Himan Rights Festival, Chennai 2013
0110 Digital Film Festival Mumbai 2013
SIGNS Festival Thiruvanathapuram 2013
Our Lives... To Live Film Festival in New Delhi, Pune, Gwalior and Kaithal 2012-13
Madurai International Film Festival 2012
Open Frame New Delhi 2012, 2013
Bionotes
Pushpa Rawat is currently pursuing her MA in Philosophy, but her heart has been in filmmaking ever since she attended a filmmaking workshop by documentary filmmaker Anupama Srinivasan at the National Bal Bhawan a few years ago. That first brush with cinema drew her in and she continues to love the feeling of exploring the world through the camera. She was one of the filmmakers of the 2007 short documentary Kyon, a group project that went on to be shown at many film festivals and workshops. Nirnay is her debut film as director.
Anupama Srinivasan is a freelance filmmaker based in Delhi. She did her BA in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University where she also got an opportunity to take courses in still photography and non fiction filmmaking. She went on to complete the three year course in Film Direction from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in 2001. She has been making documentaries and short films for over a decade, often shooting and editing her own films. Her films have been screened at various national and international film festivals. Her interest in working with children led her to conduct filmmaking workshops with children and young people. Since 2006 she has mentored several short films as a part of this. She is also visiting faculty at film schools where she does documentary making workshops. She is currently the Festival Director of the IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival, New Delhi, and the Associate Course Director of the Creative Documentary Course at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication, New Delhi.
Filmography: I Wonder… (70 min, 2009, Documentary), Music of the Mirs (75 min, 2008, Documentary), On my Own Again (70 min, 2007, Documentary), Everyday (6 min, 2006, Short fiction), A Lone Dog (1 min, 2004, Short fiction), A Life in Dance (30 min, 2003, Documentary), On my Own (30 min, 2002, Documentary)
Director’s Statement
I have often wondered, when people speak about youth in India, why do they seem to be referring only to young men? Don’t we the young women matter? I have lived in a family and surroundings where boys have always been privileged over girls. Over the years, I have carved out a space for myself where I do as I feel right and I am ready to take the responsibility for my own actions. But I find my friends bound, willing to give up their dreams, willing to give in to familial pressure. These are the girls with who I have grown up; we have shared our dreams and secrets with each other. And yet, I feel I don’t understand them. Am I wrong, or is something amiss with the world?
The idea for the film has emerged from this feeling of discontent that in turn has led to a need to question and understand. The aim is not to present these women as weak; it is to share with the viewer their spirit as much as their confusions; in other words, to portray vignettes of their existence and through that question the norms of the society we live in.
Contact Information
Anupama Srinivasan
B-2/71, Azad Apartments
Aurobindo Marg
New Delhi-110016
India
Phone: +91-9811585593
Email: onusrinivasan@hotmail.com