Prataya Saha’s short film Just Another Day throws light on the hushed up reality of domestic violence. It depicts the story of a single woman whose life oscillates between despair, suicidal thoughts and desperate attempts to keep herself happy.
The ten-minute film has bagged two awards at the Thessaloniki Free Short Festival in Greece. It was also a semi finalist at Rhode Island International Film Festival, an Oscar qualifying festival. An official selection at the Chicago Film Festival, Just Another Day premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival last month.
Just Another Day tells the story of Anjali Katekar, a 40 something newly separated women, who experienced physical violence during pregnancy. Her husband pushed her down the stairs, killing the baby in her womb.
Saha believes it is important to narrate women’s experiences of gendered violence. “To me, it looks like one of the most complex rebellions mankind has witnessed and probably the most misunderstood and underrated,” says Saha.
Saha, an independent filmmaker based out of Bengaluru, has won several awards in the past. His short film The Good Wife, set in Kolkata, won 13 awards, including the best film award in Toronto, Chicago and Chennai International Short Film Fests and was screened in 25 film festivals both nationally and internationally.
Excerpts from the interview:
What is the prevalence of violence against pregnant women in India?
Widespread, rampant, under-reported, and cutting across income groups; these are the adjectives that come to my mind when I think about the phenomenon of violence against women. Violence during pregnancy is just a subset of the above. The causes of violence range from unwanted pregnancies to something as primitively rudimentary as jealousy against the unborn child by the biological father.
I will not delve into statistical numbers, but research has shown that violence during pregnancy is on the rise across both urban and rural areas.
In fact, what I realized during my research in the six months culminating in the film is that violence against women have captivated our imaginations to such an extent that we have completely ignored the subset—violence during pregnancy, a time when women are the most vulnerable. It was high time we start speaking about it. In fact, if you look online, you will find very few films on the subject, which really baffled me.
Women in your short film rebel against existing norms and systems of suppression.
I am fascinated by it!
Historically, we have romanticised multiple rebellions starting from the French Revolution to the American War of Independence. For the lack of a better term, these rebellions were in binaries, one group versus the other, who would look at each other with hatred.
However, this rebellion and women fighting for their rights is so much more complex and intricate, there are multiple binaries here and many times the people you are fighting are your loved ones, your husband, father, son, boss, etc. Others might differ with me, but to me, it looks like one of the most complex rebellions mankind has witnessed and probably the most misunderstood and underrated.
Anjali Katekar in Just Another Day refuses to be a passive victim. The protagonist in The Good Wife also chooses not to succumb to her fate. Why is it important to tell stories of strong women?
Because they deserve it and it is long overdue.
Just Another Day is a joint collaborative effort between two production houses in Bangalore, 'Desktop Films' and 'Red Polka Productions' who have been endeavoring to bring women-oriented art films.
Subjugation and oppression of one gender is happening for centuries and it is high time our collective consciousness as a modern society starts talking or doing something about it. As I said before, women’s fight for basic rights is underrated and misunderstood, and therefore showing strong women protagonists in my films, in my opinion, helps in getting the narrative straight and hopefully demystifies the misunderstandings. In a nutshell, this is my own way of rebelling against the portrayal of women as helpless, voiceless creatures, in movies over the last half-century (barring some notable exceptions where women have been portrayed justly). I want to show they are like just any other man, they can not only be weak and vulnerable but also strong and unstoppable. This is the first step in the path of normalisation.
Where do you find inspiration?
Just Another Day, at least a part of it, is based on a real-life inspiration where a YouTube comment of a suicidal woman garnered support of vetizens, which proved that humanity is still alive and there is still hope.
Also, growing up in the 90s, where the environment was different, I have seen how women have been treated differently than men around me. I had always questioned this, and growing up it has permeated my art.
This is the reason most of my films border realism as the characters can be similar to someone in your family, your neighbour or your office colleague.
It seems Just Another Day is poised to take film festivals by storm
The film has done exceptionally well and has won multiple awards in India and Europe. However, I am happy the film has been very well appreciated in the North American film festival circuit, which is a very competitive area. The film is a semifinalist at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying & BAFTA qualifying festival. It is also an official selection at Chicago South Asian Film Festival, one of the largest Asian Film festivals in the USA, and was the solo Indian entry at the prestigious New York Asian Film Festival, NYC.
Anshulika Kapoor, the lead actor in the film, won the best actress award in Greece and the film has won two awards in India in Chennai and Puducherry.
Tell us about your upcoming projects.
There are a number of projects I am working on, the most noteworthy of them would be a short film on climate change to be shot in Rajasthan and a web series on xenophobia and racism existing in the country.
