Renuka Shahane directed animated short film Loop Line (Dhhaavpatti in Marathi) is getting screened at the New York Indian Film Festival, and having ventured into this new field, the actor-director is excited. Ask her if working as a director helps her be more explorative than as an actor and she says, “I do think that’s it, because as an actor you are only as big as the role provided to you and the people that you work with.”
She adds, “You are not creating anything beyond the script, so in that sense, you are not choosing the stories to tell. As a director, it’s your vision, so you can try and add in whatever little elements that you feel.”
Her film shows the plight and discrimination women go through in society and even at home. Films with social causes don’t usually take the animation route, so why did she choose that? “When I was writing the story, I kept imagining the escapism you see in film in animation somehow. And a mix of live action and animation would have taken away from the experience as the film is a short film. So, my story itself dictated the format,” she responds, adding that she herself hasn’t seen any mature content in animation and was happy to fill that void.
Recently, a discussion erupted in the Hindi film industry post the Deepika Padukone-Sandeep Reddy Vanga feud about working moms asking for eight-hour work shifts. As her film talks about women’s plight, sharing her take on the matter, Renuka says, “I don’t want to make a general statement on it because I feel that there are even some male actors who would like to minimize hours, not just female actors. A lot of them have come out and said that they want to spend time with their families. In this context, it’s a difficult thing to say, because it is a matter of individual choice.”
A mother to two kids, the 58-year-old says, “I know of a lot of working mothers who are going to work in daily soaps for 18-hour shifts, and they manage their child by taking them to the set, and kind of raising them practically on the set. It is a choice that they have made and who am I to say anything about that? If the producer accepts that, it’s their prerogative. There should not be a compulsion as there might be mothers who want or need to work for 18 hours. It’s a very individual thing.”
However, Renuka believes that things need to be in tandem between the actor and the makers in such situations. “It’s a creative field where you need a collaboration, and cooperation of all the members of the team. So, unless you are all on the same page, there’s no point in going ahead. Whenever you decide to sign on the dotted line, that has to be something mutual. And that sense of respect has to be there because if there is no respect, you’re not going to be able to work with each other at all.”
