Indian Women Shining Behind The Camera In 2022

Anju Menon’s 2022 release, celebrated the journeys of nine different women – financially independent women, financially dependent women, single moms and those completely dependent on their partners. Aptly titled Wonder Women, the film that landed on Sony LIV earlier this year and was one of the warmest tales of friendship that celebrated womanhood and discarded all kinds of judgemental views based on class, caste, region and even emotional dependency.

From Darlings director Jasmeen K Reen, to Gayatri Pushkar (Suzhal, Vadhandhi), Here is looking at Indian female directors and their works this year:

Jasmeet K Reen

She wrote and directed Darlings – a twisted take on domestic violence – which featured Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah and Vijay Varma in lead roles. The dark comedy, that premiered on NetflixNFLX
in August this year, also marked her directorial debut.

Bhatt essays the role of a young girl (Badrunissa) married to her lover Hamza Shaikh (Varma), an abusive alcoholic who has been beating her up for the three years of their marriage. Shah plays Badru’s mom in the film. Darlings is not the first Hindi film about domestic violence, but the use of dark comedy to talk about the subject, and the power that the women eventually wield in the film, together make it a refreshing one.

Reen’s expertise lies in the fine details thoroughly implanted across frames to showcase the ‘chawl’ life of Mumbai and the gory reality of domestic violence. She also ensures that the victims of domestic abuse in her film, when broken, gather and pick up their own pieces to strike back with full strength.

Anju Menon

Wonder Women is a film about pregnant Indian women from various walks of life and filmmaker Anju Menon ensures that the film’s warmth catches up instantly. It landed online recently on Sony LIV and features Nithya Menon, Padmapriya, Amruta Subhash, Parvathy, Sayanora, Nadia Moidu and Archana in lead roles.

The film opens up rarely-explored avenues of relationships and traces the journey of motherhood for nine different women. Menon showcases the women in varied aspects of life – financially, emotionally and regionally. They come from different parts of India, one is a housewife while another is musician and another one is a soon-to-be single parent. Some plan to raise their child with their husband, some with partner and some alone. Despite all the differences, Menon creates a world that brings them all together, as they navigate their own respective journeys.

Alankrita Srivastava

Famous for films such as Bombay Begums and Lipstick Under My Burkha, Alankrita Srivastava made one episode from the AmazonAMZN
Prime original anthology, Modern Love: Mumbai. The show was based on the American anthology series Modern Love. ^{Titled My Beautiful Wrinkles, the episode featured Sarika in the lead role and is about an elderly woman who sets on a journey of self-discovery after a young man expresses his interest in her.}

Anubhuti Kashyap

Anubhuti Kashyap made her directorial debut this year with Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Doctor G. The film talked about apprehensions and stereotypes surrounding gynecologists and how the lead character overcomes those to become the best version of himself.

Kashyap creates a world that inhabits archaic gender stereotypes in Doctor G, but she also ensures that you realize its futility, instead of just laughing at those. Released in theaters, the film did not make huge numbers but later landed online where it found the audience.

Gayatri Pushkar

Alongwith her director husband Pushkar, Gayatri Pushkar remade her own 2017 film Vikram. The director duo also came up with two other widely appreciated films – Suzhal: The Vortex and Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie. The duo offers a unique perspective of Indian folk culture and stories through the movies.