Madhureeta Anand, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, has penned her debut book, Krishna Circus, in which she sees mythology through a feminist lens. Excerpts from a chat.

The setting of the novel is apocalyptic and set in the past with mythological elements. Tell us about the inspiration behind it.

The book is set in the future and, yes, it does draw on mythology. Perhaps the hardest thing is to pinpoint where the inspiration came from because stories are an amalgamation of thoughts, learning and experience. The story was sparked when I was making my first film. The film required large painted backdrops. The premise of Krishna Circus came about when I was looking at one such painting of a forest lined with trees. Something about this visual spurred the thought of a superhero travelling back in time to save the Earth from destruction. As I developed it, themes of ecology and feminism were a natural progression.

You have a female superhero...

To start with, I wrote Krishna as a male superhero. This is because women-led films are so hard to get funded. As hard as I tried, it was not progressing well. One day in a cafe in Gurgaon a fellow writer walked in and she suggested that, perhaps, I was meant to write a female superhero. Women have a deep connection with nature, much more so than men.

The title is interesting too. Throw some light on it, please.

The title is inspired by events in the book. Krishna’s tent, known as her vaahan, or vehicle, is a sentient being that grows and evolves alongside her as she comes into her own as a superhero. The tent has its own powers and the circus is a way to display these. In a sense, Krishna and the tent are inseparable because the tent contains portals back in time where Krishna will find her missions to stop cataclysmic events on Earth. The title is also a play on the concept of Krishna Leela — a space where anything and everything is possible, where life itself exists with all its contradictions and dualities.

Krishna travels back in time to prevent ecological disasters. What relevance do they have to our current challenges?

In this part of Krishna Circus, the ecological disaster that is averted takes place in a small town in India. This mission is about the battle between greed and sustainability. The human urge to relentlessly raid the earth for its resources as a way to create value is erroneous and misguided. You cannot create value by depleting what is of value. As a race, we have been so focused on our version of development we have completely ignored the fact that we are just one of the many creatures that inhabit Earth. We have lost touch with what is really important and place value on the very things that are destroying us. We are cutting the branch we are sitting on, but somehow greed won’t let us stop.

What is the significance of the diverse team Krishna assembles across time dimensions?

Krishna is a warrior for Mother Earth. And her team come from dimensions of time and are aspects of nature. While Maya is a master of intuition, she has access to minds and can foresee the future. Anita has a special relationship with plant life, she can regenerate plant life and communicate with them as well. Ryan has super strength — he can lift and move objects that we consider grand structures. Prince has a deep relationship with the earth and, therefore, he can plummet to its depths to see all that lies below the surface. Krishna and her team, together, are the unstoppable forces of nature.

The character Kams embodies tyranny and oppression. Did you find any parallels in contemporary society?

Kams is a jamakhor in Krishna Circus. His greed and drive for power are the rudders that have moved his life. His hate for outsiders and manipulation of the citizens of his Kingdom are born out of a fear of death. The worst thing that can happen to a society is to be led by a person who is driven not by love but fear. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that almost all our world leaders today are speaking the language of hate and fear. If one looks closely, it is apparent that this fear and hate are born of their own insecurities that they are now foisting on the world. There is no reason for war, persecution and destruction but the small and sad egos of the men who are perpetrating this on people at large. Underlying all of this is the fear of insignificance, a central truth that we cannot accept as a race. Or perhaps they needed more love as children. The learning from this era should be that we need to love and protect our children. more; prioritise well-being over notional economic gains. We cannot turn away from mortality, we should find our place in the rhythm of creation and flow with it, not rally against it. It’s downright stupid.

What’s next?

I am working on so many things. Phree For Safety (a safety rating app for women’s safety) is growing. I founded the app to make the world safer for women. Also, I am working on a feature film called Yellow Line. I hope to shoot it this year. Apart from this, I am working on a filmmaker’s memoir of sorts as well. And the next part of Krishna Circus.

 Pictures courtesy Team Madhureeta Anand