(She skipped the festivities to travel to Tokyo fora conversationwith master Japanese filmmaker Hidekazu Koreeda.)
Vogue: This movie originated as a student film project, right?
That chance encounter is characteristic of only big cities.
Photo: Sideshow and Janus Films
In India relationships always come down to identity, whether caste, class, or religious identity.
But in cities, these relationships have the potential to become free of the baggage of these identities.
What appeals to you about that blend?
Photo: Sideshow and Janus Films
Somehow, the juxtaposition of nonfiction with fiction makes the fiction more real.
Actually, if you look carefully at that sequence, you will see Anu in it.
We dont know yet that shes a central character.
Photo: Sideshow and Janus Films
You might think shes just somebody sleeping on a train.
But we could very well have followed the strands of others.
The film is a portrait of Mumbai, where you are from, as much as any other character.
What did you want to convey about it?
The setting needed to be a commercial city like Mumbai where most people come to work and make money.
But I have a fraught relationship with this city.
In India, family can reach you no matter how far you go.
These things are very liberating.
Its not an easy life.
I wanted to explore all these mixed feelings toward Bombay.
I hope to make at least two more films hereIm still quite obsessed with it.
Theres a lot more to excavate in this city.
Whats something you excavated about Mumbai as you made this movie?
Many people left Ratnagiri to work in Mumbais biggest industry of the 20th century, cotton mills.
They are quintessentially Mumbai.
When the mills shut down, a lot of people found themselves jobless.
A ruling entitled the workers to one third of the land, but they never got it.
People are still fighting to get back what they deserve.
People havent given up.
Is that history well-known by people there?
People who are from here, yes.
If you pay attention in the film, youll see some chimneys of old mills.
Skyscrapers mostly replaced them, but once in a while, you see the old architecture.
When Parvatys standing at her balcony, thats a typical chawl.
Behind her you see the towers of investment banks, and below is a shantytown of slums.
Cutting between the two is a highway with cars whizzing by, completely oblivious to whats beneath.
What were some of your film reference points?
I love city filmsby Wong Kar Wai or Hou Hsiao-hsiensMillennium Mamboor Agnes VardasCleo From 5 to 7.
That film really stayed with me.
Jim Jarmuschs city films are also very inspiring.
How did you come to focus on women and their relationships?
I found myself questioning a certain moral code that one followed despite having financial independence.
Lawyers say that if a man disappears, its legally possible to leave him.
Many women know this, but only about 3% or 4% actually pursue divorce or annulment.
Theres a taboo here in India with divorce or being unmarried or single or a widow.
Youre among the few women being discussed for directing awards this year.
What are your thoughts on that?
Its 2024its really sad that its still a conversation.
She is a force of nature.
She employs everybody from her village as actors and crew members, including her cousins and little nieces.
It gives you hope that if you want to make films, you find a way.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
All We Imagine as Lightis in theaters today.
