Subhash K Jha speaks with actor turned writer and director Rahul Ravindran on his film, The Girlfriend, and the powerful response and deep impact of the well reviewed drama.
The Girlfriend, is not just a film it has triggered a new surge of debates on the feminine voice in toxic relationships, did you expect this kind of response?
I was hoping for discussion and debate, Sir. And the interesting thing is that Rashmika read the script and she said, ‘I immediately want to make this film. This needs to urgently be made. And I’m making this film because I want this to be a big hug to all these girls out there who are going through these things. And I know how difficult it can be.’ And I was making this film, interestingly, so that the Vikrams can go back home, think and reflect and introspect. And that was as important for me as women finding strength from the film. And both these things seem to be happening. And we’re both , Rashmika and I, pretty overwhelmed by it.
Did you think The Girlfriend would go this far?
I knew that women would relate to the film. But what I didn’t anticipate is, that it would be so cathartic for so many of them. What I didn’t anticipate is that they would take it upon themselves and champion the film. And they’re doing the promotions for us at this point. And that it would make them feel so deeply heard and seen. And that it would give them a voice. Rashmika saw it coming, because she kept saying, I know the reaction I had when I read the script. And I know that that is going to be only amplified when women watch this film. And she kept telling me, I have no idea how you have so much empathy that you’re able to see it from our point of view. And how as a man you’re able to write these things. But I think even you don’t know what impact it’s going to have. So I think she saw it coming.
The Girlfriend has triggered off a chain reaction?
I didn’t expect the intensity of the reaction. And that’s been heartwarming. But also some of the women that are coming and opening up to us and telling us heartbreaking stories of what they’re going through. That’s been very, very heartbreaking and slightly disturbing. So, there’s a bit of both happening. And I’m yet to process all of it.
This is your third directorial, and by far the most relevant. what was your impetus into this thorny territory of gender inequality?
For me, the inspiration to make this film came from seeing a lot of, Vikram is the name of the male lead of the film. And for me, I’ve seen a lot of Vikrams. And I actually weirdly look at them with a bit of empathy. And I know that at that young age, when you’re 21, 22, 23. And if you’ve been raised in a certain kind of environment, you’re clearly a product of that environment. And at that age, you don’t have the necessary EQ or the life experiences to be able to grow and become a better person. For me, I know that these boys, if they’re given the other perspective, if I can make a film that has someone like them but is told from the point of view of the girl, it will hopefully force them to go back home, reflect and introspect. And that’s where the film came from for me. And at that point, Bhooma’s character, which is, you know, Bhooma is the character played by Rashmika Mandana. She started falling in place. And I started exploring how it is that women carry the burden of that silence, of being in a relationship like this. And it’s not just a romantic relationship, right? You’re affected by so many relationships that slowly but steadily silence you and erase your own identity and your sense of self-worth. And the idea was to then start exploring that through Bhooma’s character. And these were the seeds.
Were Rashmika Mandanna and Dheekshith Shetty your first choices or was it tough casting the male lead for obvious reasons?
I knew that it was going to be tricky casting the male lead because I knew, and I say this with a lot of empathy and respect, I knew that for a lot of, you know, male actors in the industry who’ve worked really hard and brick by brick built a market for themselves, they might find accepting this role tricky for the simple reason that, you know, if it creates a certain kind of perception. I was very confident that it wouldn’t. But if a male actor perceives that it might create a certain perception where it would put their market at risk, I completely understand. So, I knew that it would be very difficult for me to go get a male Telugu star who has a market. And at that point, we were like, you know what, it might just be better. A complete newcomer might be a bit of a mismatch in terms of being cast opposite Rashmika who’s now such a popular massive A-lister across the country, not just in Telugu. So we felt it would be good to go find somebody from another industry who’s done a few films as a lead actor.
That’s where Deekshith Shetty came in?
I had seen a few interviews of Deekshith Shetty. I hadn’t at that point seen any films of his. And the more I watched the boy speak and the more I looked at his eyes, I always look for eyes of an actor when I’m casting because I believe that you can change everything else about an actor, the way they dress, their gait, their body language, their accent. You can change everything else but you can’t change the eyes. And as I’m writing any script, I start imagining a specific set of eyes for each character that I’m writing. And one look at Deekshith and I felt he has the eyes I need for the role.
And Rashmika?
As far as Rashmika was concerned, again the same reason. I felt Rashmika, Bhooma is somebody who’s an introvert and who’s not even in touch with her own feelings and therefore finds it very difficult to express her feelings. And I knew that I needed an actor who had very transparent eyes. And I actually keep joking about this to Rashmika. I keep telling her, your eyes are so transparent that you’ll have a tough time hiding your mood and your feelings from people. One look into her eyes and you’ll know what she’s thinking or what she’s going through inside. And that’s exactly the kind of eyes that I needed for Bhooma because she can’t express herself so there’s not much being spoken through words. A lot of it is communicated through eyes and all the drama in the film happens in the eyes of the actors.And I needed somebody with very transparent eyes for Bhooma. Hence Rashmika. But it is also such a privilege that she said yes.
Why a privilege?
Because my greed as a filmmaker isn’t to make 200-300 crore films and those films making 1000 crores at the box office. Sure, I have some scripts that organically lend themselves to being bigger films. But I care more about telling the stories that I want to tell. And for me, my greed is that I want those stories to reach a wider audience. And it’s a massive help when an A-lister like Rashmika signs on and gets on board for a project like this because you know it’s going to reach more eyeballs. And that I’m very happy about. So, it was a privilege that she said yes.
Interestingly you play a feminist progressive professor, I am told you are quite the same in real life?
Professor Sudhir is a nice guy. He’s a really nice guy. And I have so many people who are coming up to me and telling me that they wish they have a Professor Sudhir in their life. I hope I am like him. I’d like to think I’m a bit like him because I did write him after all. But it’s a process. We all live and learn. We all keep growing. We all need to make an effort to keep growing. So yeah, I hope I’m like him. And I hope I can get better at being like him.
You have spoken recently on the need for female technicians and actors to be paid and treated on a par with men, isn’t that idea a bit Utopian like the ending of The Girlfriend?
My recent interview regarding pay parity was a lot more nuanced than that, Sir. I wasn’t making blanket statements like women and men need to be paid on par. I was actually trying to say that women and men need to be paid on par for the same work that demands the same effort and demands the same work hours. So yeah, it was a very nuanced discussion. One that maybe we should have in person. But yes, for sure, men and women doing the same job, involving the same amount of effort, involving the same amount of output definitely need to be paid the same. And if there is a discrepancy there, that’s something that definitely needs to be addressed.
How deeply are you influenced by your wife, singer Chinmayi Sripada’s, vocal gutsy stance on gender discrimination?
I believe in equality, not just gender equality, but equality across different divisive forces in society from a very young age. And that’s thanks to the influence that cinema has had on me and literature has had on me. So right from my early mid-twenties, my mind started getting shaped a certain way. And the reason I fell in love with my wife and married her is that she and I have very similar worldviews on a lot of these things. And I’m extremely proud of her. I’m the kind of guy who believes in gently cajoling people to think. She’s the kind of person who will stand up upright. I’m sort of like a Gandhi follower and she’s a Subhas Chandra Bose follower. And I think the world needs all kinds. So yeah, I’m extremely proud of her and I’m very proud of the work she’s doing and the impact she’s had on so many young girls in both the two states that we live in and elsewhere. And there’s so many young women when they meet me on the streets or when I’m out in a restaurant, they come up to me and the first thing they tell me is that they’re big fans of your wife.
Coincidentally your film The Girlfriend released on the same Friday as Haq another film that addresses the theme of gender parity, do you feel we need a lot more cinematic voices from the Shero?
It’s not just about gender but it’s about caste divides, it’s about creed divides, it’s about religious divides, it’s about divides across economic strata. I feel cinema is such a moving, powerful art form. It is the art form of the last 100 years. Because it’s an amalgamation of all art forms available. And it is by far the most popular art form. I’m not saying all films need to speak to audiences and be cathartic and be insightful. But at least certain films should because the medium has that potential. So for me, it’s very important that voices, authentic voices come from very diverse backgrounds to tell their own stories. And it’s lovely that on the same day as The Girlfriend, there’s another film that’s come out that speaks to women and that cares about the women, that cares about women and speaks to them. So for me, yes, it’s lovely. And like I said, not just the Shero, we need more diverse films from filmmakers and storytellers across backgrounds.We certainly need more stories that talk about Shero.
This is your fifteenth year in cinema,how do you look back on your journey so far?
I was very recently in an interview that someone pointed it out and I hadn’t realized until that point that it’s been fifteen years in cinema. All I wanted to be since 7th or 8th standard in school is to be a filmmaker. I ended up accidentally becoming an actor first and I had zero contacts in cinema. So I was like, I’ll take whatever I get so that I can at least get an entry in cinema. And in hindsight, I think that worked out even better for me that I debuted as a lead actor and then went on to become a filmmaker. But the dream and passion was always becoming a filmmaker. And when I look back in these fifteen years, I’ve managed to get there. I’ve managed to finally become a filmmaker. I’m now three films old and hopefully I’ll get to make a lot more films. So there’s a lot of satisfaction on that front.
Anything you would want changed from your journey so far?
Sure, when I look back, certain things could have gone better. I could have made certain better decisions. I could have maybe worked on myself, certain aspects of myself as an actor a little more. I don’t know. Sure, there are things that I have learned from , and I feel I still have to learn. But I’m overall very satisfied and happy because when I had my first Friday 15 years back and I had not a clue about the film industry and I didn’t know a single person here, I had no clue that fifteen years later I’d be giving an interview to an esteemed senior journalist like yourself and I would survive that long. So for me, when I look back, there is that satisfaction that I’ve had many, many more Fridays in my career than I anticipated or I was sure of having. I’m not the kind of guy that plans my career in that sense, sir. Okay, I’ve g,one and made a story like this now and I’ve gotten this kind of a reception from this audience. So I need to cater to them again. I’m not that kind of a person. I’ve never have been. For me, the biggest motivation is that I’m excited by a story and I want to go out and tell it. Maybe I should become better at calculating and carefully moving the pieces as far as my career is concerned. But that’s not what motivates me.
Your next? Perhaps The Boyfriend?
So, my next film is going to be drastically different. It’s in a completely different space. It’s slightly early to talk about it. Is there going to be the boyfriend spotlighting the other end? I will tell you this, sir. People being victims of toxic relationships or people being victims of incompatibility happens with both genders. I know so many men in my own friend circle who are stuck in extremely toxic relationships where they are at the receiving end. I actually do have a story that I’d love to make. My wife keeps telling me that I should make that too. Just hopefully make the men who are stuck in such relationships feel seen and heard too. My only concern with making The Boyfriend is that I worry that that film, especially if it comes from a filmmaker like me, would then be taken, amplified, blown out of context and sort of used as a cautionary tale. It would have repercussions far greater than or rather it would be taken out of context and used as an excuse to snatch agency back. And I worry about such repercussions. So I don’t know if it would be a responsible thing to do. I may or may not do it. But I think those stories should be told too. And if they can be told with a certain sensitivity and empathy, why not? And maybe at some point I’ll make one of those myself. And maybe at some point in society we will reach a point where I can make those films without the fear of that film becoming, you know, being used or weaponized to warn people almost as a cautionary tale against an entire gender.
