GRANT'S DESI ACHIEVER
DIRECTOR MAKES THE CUT
Award-winning documentary maker Nisha Pahuja. Image credit: MRINAL DESAI.
By SHAGORIKA EASWAR
Nisha Pahuja’s documentary To Kill a Tiger picked up top awards at prestigious international film festivals.
It was also named to Canada’s Top Ten, an annual list of the country’s finest films selected by TIFF, and Pahuja was awarded the DOC Vanguard Award by the DOC Institute of Canada.
John Stackhouse wrote about her in Planet Canada, on how Canadian expats are shaping the future, and Mindy Kaling described her “as an incredibly powerful storyteller and her film is a triumph”.
To Kill a Tiger is a raw, moving documentary about a father’s uphill battle to find justice for his 13-year-old daughter who was dragged into the woods and raped by three men as the villagers and their leaders launch a sustained campaign to force the family to drop the charges. In a country where a rape is reported every 20 minutes and conviction rates are less than 30 per cent, a father’s decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of.
“They said you can’t kill a tiger alone,” he says. “I said I’d do it and show them how to kill a tiger by myself.”
Pahuja steers clear of gratuitous footage, nor is the doc all rah-rah with rousing music. It’s a fine balancing act. And an act of courage to go in and document the story of a rape victim in a potentially hostile environment.
“That’s why it was important we work with the community,” she says. “I was initially banned from the village, but now time has passed, the rift is starting to heal. For me, it’s really important to give back to the community. To the father Ranjit and the family, of course, but also to ensure that there’s an understanding in the village of how and why these things happen, to work with NGOs to prevent them, if possible.”
The visual language of the film was decided before they began filming says Pahuja. “You start to film a certain way, based on the subject. But I was open to changing, to evolving.”
And change they did. It had started off an entirely different film, a more direct exploration of Indian masculinity, but as the father’s story unfolded, she began to feel that the footage was pointing them in another direction.
Her efforts to decode the “why” behind the tragic rape, to understand how men and boys are created, specially in the Indian cultural context, sheds light on conflicting realities. The patriarchy which has the villagers, including women, insisting that getting the girl married to one of the rapists is the way to resolve the issue. And a father’s unflinching, constant love for his daughter.
“That’s why I love documentaries so much,” says Pahuja. “You’re not imposing your vision, you’re responding, refining as you go. You have a sense of what you’re seeking, but it’s an organic relationship. You spend a lot of time with the footage in the editing process, working with hundreds of hours of material to achieve the final product of a couple of hours. It requires discipline, and really helps to have great editors who help you make those choices! You’re really listening to what the story wants to be.”
She checked constantly with the girl and the family. Was the filming okay? Were they okay?
“Many times I said to the father, ‘Ranjit bhaiyya, don’t pursue the case for us or the NGO’. I wanted him to know the reasons for which he was doing this. The girl was also very strong.”
In the doc, the victim says, “If you do things with a true heart, things turn out okay.”
The entire process, from research to the initial work, through the pivot and the editing, took eight years.
It wasn’t always easy, but surprisingly, there weren’t too many of those ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ moments.
“Mainly because I think the team really believed in the material. They wanted to honour the story. We knew we had powerful material, the intimacy and closeness with the family.”
The documentary is co-produced by Notice Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). This is her second time working with NFB and Pahuja credits them with being wonderfully supportive. “They gave us the time and the space to make the doc. For the kinds of films I want to make, they’re a great partner. Their focus is on the film and the subject.”
Documentarians are often seen as agents of change, but effecting change is a bonus, not guaranteed. Pahuja has been making docs for over 20 years and is in touch with people she’s worked with in every film. Lasting friendships that have become a part of her life.
“With this one, I am particularly involved. I speak with the family regularly, there’s a bond. I feel a tremendous obligation to them for allowing me to tell their story and I believe their story can bring change.”
With docudramas also becoming increasingly popular, she’s often asked if that’s a route she’s considered.
“There’s something so very liberating about going out and finding a story,” says Nisha Pahuja. Image credit: MRINAL DESAI.
“Never say never!” she laughs. “But I love documentaries. I’m sure there’s spontaneity in movies, too, but there’s something so very liberating about going out and finding a story, as opposed to being on a set and working off of a script.”
She’d begun her creative journey wanting to write a novel, though.
“After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from the Uof T, I was all set to write the great Canadian masterpiece. I was in my 20s, and completely clueless!”
She got a call from Hussain Amarshi (Mongrel Media) that Geeta Sondhi was looking for a researcher for a doc she was making. Pahuja signed on and fell in love with the process.
“I found it fascinating. I guess because it combined creativity with social justice, both are key to who I am as a person.”
But a daughter who wanted to first be a writer and then a documentarian didn’t go down too well with her immigrant parents.
“Oh, no!” says Pahuja with a laugh. “A brother was a lawyer, another was an engineer, so I was to become the doctor! But I knew I had to take a path that was creative, I’d always done my own thing.”
Her parents didn’t get in the way.
“It was a case of, ‘It’s your life, if you know what you’re doing...’” she says.
But they went on to be incredibly proud of her work. Before he passed away, her father would google her and send her articles related to her work, share news clips in which her name was mentioned.
“It was so sweet. Mom’s proud, too, but with her, it’s more about if I’m happy and if I’m a good human being, then she’s happy.”
Her parents moved to Canada in 1972 from Delhi, because they had family here and had heard good things about Canada. They settled in Toronto and the early years were difficult. The isolation, the weather, it must have been a shock to the system, says Pahuja.
“There was racism, without a doubt. I have strong memories of threats to my father, my brothers. Of the police being called. But they were so busy surviving, making sure we’re going to be okay, that they dealt with whatever came their way. Not unusual at the time, it was a typical immigrant story.
“Also, as people got to know us, it settled down. There’d be an eruption and a few days later, everyone would have a rethink and the kids would become the best of friends. Interesting times!”
But anxiety takes time to dissipate.
“I don’t know if it ever leaves you. You get better at handling it. It doesn’t define you, but it marks you.”
Discussing her first documentary, Bollywood Bound, Pahuja had told Desi News that working on it taught her that being Indian could be “very beautiful and very heroic, just like in the movies”. Is the subject matter of To Kill a Tiger cause for any concerns about being called out for drawing attention to a negative aspect of a region?
“Yes and no,” says Pahuja. “The doc is not critical of the country or the culture, not in any way. It’s not sensational, not exaggerated. It’s about a man doing the right thing. It’s compassionate, non-judgemental. That’s why it’s important that it is released with care, with support from the women’s rights movement, so we can have that conversation about bringing about change, about how to raise sons. Our doc will be released in India through NGOs or other organizations, the roll-out will be very careful, very responsible.”
Unlike many other documentarians, Pahuja doesn’t have a day job.
“I just do this – it drives my husband crazy!”
Her husband is the equally celebrated cinematographer Mrinal Desai, who has worked on several award-winning movies including Court.
Asked if she envisions a scene a certain way and he shoots it differently, do they take their creative differences home with them, Pahuja says they each know what the other wants.
“We have a very quiet working relationship. He has a particular way of being while filming, very absorbed, patient. I’m also very particular about what I’m looking for and we’ll wait until we get the right shot, the right mood.”
She describes the opening scenes in To Kill A Tiger in which the girl is tying a beautiful rosette of ribbons in her braids.
“It shows her innocence, her meticulousness, and Mrinal caught both perfectly.”
Pahuja tells those who seek career advice from her that making docs is not easy.
“You have to love it, be obsessed with it, to stay with a subject for long periods of time. Besides the time commitment, and keeping the team motivated for the duration, it’s also a struggle financially. Very few people become wealthy making docs!
“You need patience, strength, belief in what you’re doing. And love and respect for your subject. You can’t control luck and timing. Know your priorities and what’s guiding you. Know yourself.
“All that said, a lot of women really excel in this field. And in Canada there’s a lot of government and cultural support for documentarians, a lot of avenues. We’re in a very good position.”
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