‘Decision to not show men was a political choice’: Sivaranjini on debut film Victoria

Definitely overwhelmed (laughs). We expected a mixed opinion, with a mild apprehension that the film would be looked down upon by some sections of the audience. But the audience was laughing, even clapping during the last screening. I’m still figuring out how to process [the response].

We tried a lot of things language-wise. What I have understood is that festivals need a certain cinematic language, while commercial cinema needs a certain language. We have done neither. [Victoria] neither moves very slowly nor has high commercial value. It was made without thinking about the audience, which is a privilege. 

For example, static shots are well-regarded in festival circuits, but we have a lot of handheld shots that were criticised. Another concern was whether the portrayal of the [interfaith] relationship in the film would be heavily criticised. 

I did not want people to look at the film only for its politics. They should not come with that presumption. I wanted the film to be open to interpretations and not restrict it to a one-dimensional space. 

While the rooster in the film can be considered as a metaphor for men, I look at it in a spiritual way. The theme was culturally familiar to me since childhood as I have seen roosters being auctioned and fed before being sacrificed, among other things. I wanted to introduce things we overlook in everyday life to a wider audience.

The decision of not showing men in itself is a very political choice. After the first screening, somebody asked me whether the rooster metaphor meant that all men would be chopped and made into a curry, but more than that it acted as a spiritual witness to that day in Victoria’s life. The conflict of the rooster runs parallel to the woman’s mindset. I like the style of hybrid filmmaking, which is also my PHD research area.  

I think it was in high school. There was a film society here in Angamaly where we used to go to watch movies. My father also had a light interest in films, but the question of [financial] security was always there when considering pursuing a career in cinema. The concept of practicing art to survive did not exist in our family. 

I studied engineering and went to National Institute of Design (NID) for further studies, but I still lacked the confidence [to enter filmmaking]. So I went ahead with the PHD, thinking about life in Mumbai, the hostel, the stipend I would spend on watching movies daily, reading film theory...

One film that struck me early in my childhood was Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990). After seeing such fragmented images put coherently, I thought cinema is made by intellectual people (laughs). 

Recently, I have been watching movies from Chinese filmmakers such as Bi Gan, Diao Yinan. Some filmmakers have fun with the medium, I like those who bring some playfulness to films. Celine Sciamma is another director who excites me.     

The idea of a rooster inside a ladies-only beauty parlour came to me when I was in a similar salon one day. That was the only image I had. Later, I focused on telling this story through one character. That’s when I took inspiration from my friend who’s working in the parlour, who is also named Victoria. I have borrowed a lot of traits, stories, and characters from the women in my village, which is shown in the credits. 

I also wanted to bring in the story of an emotionally unavailable partner, which is a very personal experience. The angle about an interfaith relationship also comes from real-life experiences of me and my friends. 

I wanted the character to be likeable. What I have seen in women in my life is that they never involve their personal worries in work. I wanted Victoria to be like that, someone whose work would not be affected by her sorrows in life, someone who would not project her sorrows onto another person. I have seen that in a lot of women, especially those in the hospitality sector. Women don’t make a hue and cry about work. 

A few people asked me why the character of Victoria was kept mysterious. That’s because I didn’t want the audience to understand her too much.

I wanted to give the audience a sense of shock and not let them get too comfortable, because the characters in the film are not always comfortable. The film should not move seamlessly because [Victoria’s] mind does not flow like that. We wanted a sense of being carefully careless. In the acapella scene, I told my music director to take inspiration from group song competitions at youth festivals, and make it something more powerful. 

I wrote the script when I was going through spells of anxiety attacks, which was also relationship-induced. I wanted to portray peak anxiety and how it develops. 

There is a scene where Victoria gets a panic attack while talking about marriage. Several people asked me why a ‘simple’ topic like marriage triggered her so much, but such things are not under our control. It is heightened for a person with anxiety. There is also the breakdown that happens when somebody recognises the anxiety we carry.      

Actually, no. It is about the difference in how Victoria handles conflicts when compared to her immature partner. I did not want to take a neutral position and show that both sides are wrong in their own ways. Victoria is a film that is constantly with Victoria. I made the male character loud and aggressive since I feared that people may side with him due to their social conditioning. 

I have seen women who are daily wage workers or those working in fabric shops come for a facial or threading to the beauty parlour in Angamaly. More than makeup, it is how society sees going to beauty parlour as an evil thing. But these same people would blame us if we are not well groomed and make comments on our bodies. 

I actually wanted to ensure that there are a sizable number of women working on my set. However, I was not that successful, since the crew consisted mostly of friends and there is a lack of women in the technical field. Shruthi Sharanyam (who directed another KSFDC project B 32 Muthal 44 Vare) wanted to form an all-woman crew for her film. But she could not find any spot editors and asked me if I could do it. That’s when we realised the situation [about the absence of women technicians]. 

KSFDC is providing training to women in technical fields, which is an interesting project. Having more women on set will ensure that there won’t be any significant gender skew.

I was desperate to make the film for a few years, and was lucky to have a crew that involved all of my friends from different places. So I was very comfortable. It felt like I got the opportunity to do something that I loved on the first day itself. The process is worth making the film. 

Meenakshi (who plays Victoria) and the actors were discovered through a casting call. 

(Laughs) These are true stories that have been told to me by the women in my locality. So I know it is a very common thing in the lives of women. Men who do acts of perversion would be thinking that we have not understood it or would not tell anybody. But we would be serving them tea and blasting them privately in our space. 

I was very nervous and conscious about how the audience would react to these jokes and whether they would clap. This might be the reason I did not want the audience to see Victoria only as a political film, as there would be too much scrutiny. Something exists just because it exists.  

I think it is a double-edged sword. Some topics need that restraint. I am deliberately conscious of how people would perceive what I write when it comes to certain topics. The feeling that we can write anything is not that great. But there will be mistakes even if we look at it from a feminist lens and try to be inclusive. 

What I have done is to send the script to some of my critical friends, seeking their inputs. For Victoria, I had a friend who studied Christianity as the script consultant, so that I do not hurt religious sentiments. All of us should do such research I feel, but it should not become too much scrutiny. 

I think it’s very ambitious and challenging to tell such stories, considering our socio-political situation. But it's great to see films like Joyland [ a 2022 film from Pakistan] coming from similar spaces. I hope there will be more attempts from India as we move ahead. I think there are a lot of contemporary issues to look at here compared to Europe. 

I am really excited about the possibilities of a psychological thriller, shot very stylishly. I did not get time to edit much in Victoria, it was mostly long takes. 

I would love to see women making movies that have the potential to be a commercial hit. I want to see big-budget movies being given to them. I wish I can make a film like Dune in the future (laughs). 

I find the potential of forming a writers’ collective very exciting. Imagine how sexy it would be to see six women co-writing a script. I want my next film to be co-written with a few women, because I feel writing alone is very restrictive.