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| The stills from the documentary show Durga Vahini members march (top) and a Miss India contest round |
About six years ago, India-born, Toronto-bred filmmaker Nisha Pahuja had an idea that took her to two different boot camps. The World Before Her, the feature-length documentary that emerged, is a tale of two Indias. In one, Ruhi Singh is one of the 20 contestants vying for the Miss India crown. In the other India, Prachi Trivedi is a young leader in Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. While one dreams of stardom, the other propagates violent resistance to Western culture. The film seamlessly bridges the two worlds.
At a Lokhandwala cafe in Mumbai, not far from where she lives, Nisha sits down to talk with t2 about what many are calling the most important film of the year.
What was the idea you started with and at what point did it evolve to become The World Before Her?
Initially, the plan was to focus on Miss India and then I started to read about the opposition to the pageant. I understood that it wasn’t just a contest… it’s a vision for the country and what women are supposed to be like. I started to research feminist organisations and Hindutva groups that are opposed to Miss India. That’s when I met Prachi (Trivedi) and she told me about Durga Vahini and the penny dropped. At that point I was already filming with someone called Milind, who was part of Bajrang Dal. He was another fascinating character but we had to lose him.
How tough was it to access the Durga Vahini camps?
It wasn’t tough. I knew that it wasn’t going to happen overnight. It involved building a bond and that’s what I did. You can’t meet someone like Prachi and start filming immediately. I knew Prachi for two years before we started filming. They are suspicious of journalists because most of them see organisations like Durga Vahini as problematic, to say the least. They are wary of being in the public eye.
Did you learn something that shocked you?
What surprised me was how similar their lives were. One day at the grooming sessions of Miss India, Marc (Robinson) was talking to the contestants and there was a question on rape. A girl, who was educated and from a well-to-do family in Delhi said: “There is no such thing as rape. It’s been scientifically proven that men don’t rape women; it happens when women are ‘asking’ for it’.” (Pauses) That’s not something one expected to hear from such women.
In the Durga Vahini camp, there was a girl, who I thought was struggling with what she was being taught about being a woman. On the second last day of the camp, she said: “We want freedom of choice. How can we progress as a nation if 50 per cent of us don’t have the freedom to choose?’ It was such a powerful statement and one would have expected to hear this from a Miss India contestant and not the other way around.
The film talks about how the struggles of Indian women are similar irrespective of their socio-economic background.
That’s right. You have these two worlds that couldn’t be more diametrically opposite. You don’t think that the girls in the camp and the pageant would have the same dreams and visions but, in fact, they do. It’s a reflection of India. It says a lot about where this country is right now.
The strength of the documentary lies in its nonjudgemental tone. How tough was it for you to maintain that?
I had similar responses while filming as the audience did while watching Prachi say that she hates Gandhi or Chinmaee (another girl at the Durga Vahini camp) say she has no Muslim friends. It’s shocking and it breaks your heart. These were hard things to film. Most documentary makers shoot footage that’s tough to stomach. We develop a strange sense of disconnect while continuing to remain engaged with what is happening. There is a part in your brain that doesn’t allow you to become emotional about what you are filming.
Like the scene where Miss India contestants are made to walk with bags on their faces or the parade of the Durga Vahini members on the street. They were emotionally- and psychologically-challenging scenes.
I like Marc but it was upsetting that he didn’t get the weight of the image of having contestants with hoods on walking the ramp for their legs to be judged. I understand he had a job to do but the visual was problematic.
It’s tough to stop thinking about the film. You lived with it for six years. Did it change you?
The film changed my perspective on different things. I now look at freedom, struggle, time and change differently. It has made me less angry and taught me to have more compassion. That’s important. I had so much compassion for Prachi’s father after the film. It was a powerful experience to go through. After all, we are all products of our belief system, culture, gene and the times we live in.
How did the two subjects of your film –– Ruhi and Prachi –– react to the film?
They love it. Prachi has been going to the screenings every day in Pune. Today, she is taking 60 of her colleagues to see the film. We have been talking every day but we haven’t had the opportunity to talk about what this (the film) means to her. Her story is out there. It’s an emotional time for her and Ruhi.
Were you at any point worried about how fundamentalists would receive the film?
I was. I was concerned about how everyone was going to respond –– Miss India organisers, VHP and Durga Vahini. I am told VHP wants to show the film to the girls in the Durga Vahini camps. (Pauses) I don’t even know how to react. I guess, it’s because the film is so balanced and objective.
What’s next?
In October we will tour the country with the film. The tour will last about six months. I want to go to areas where rape and female infanticide are high. I want to visit colleges and universities… to people who don’t have access to the film.
