EXCLUSIVE | Actress-filmmaker Renuka Shahane: 'There are so many situations where casual misogyny and toxic behaviour is normalized'

Actor and filmmaker Renuka Shahane has made her third directorial feature that is titled Loop Line. It’s a short animated film in Marathi that will be screened at the New York Indian Film Festival on June 21. It’s a disturbing subject on the monotony of a married woman, the same discomforting subject that was tackled in films like The Great Indian Kitchen and its remake Mrs.

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the actress spoke about the idea of the story, her excitement as the film gears up for its screening, and cinema celebrating misogyny on celluloid in the name of heroism.

Edited excerpts from the interview

What is the excitement like because the film has made it to the New York Indian Film Festival?

I am extremely excited not only because it’s something I have done for the first time, but also because, coming from live action into animation, making an animation short has been a very, very exciting and learning experience for me. And then for it to be selected in film festivals that matter so much, for me as well as my team, I think it’s, an incredible honour.

What is the meaning of the title?

The film talks about the relentlessness of domestic duties that a housewife has to do. She’s almost on auto mode. And her life, I have compared, parallelly with the Mumbai local train that runs on a track right next to her house.

And it’s about the same thing that she’s constantly being overloaded by people and responsibilities. And, there is no scope for delay. She has to run day in and day out, and yet she’s not really regarded, with great admiration. So it’s basically a thankless job, and that’s why it’s called Loop Line. It keeps happening again and again. And that’s the central theme that a day in her life which is representative of, many, many, many days in her life or in the life of many millions of housewives who are in the same situation.

India has not properly utilized the animation format. So was this the reason you and your entire team chose the animated format for this?

I, as a writer, imagined the story that I was writing, was in animation. A, because it has a lot of imagination in it, and the housewife deals with the drudgery of her life and her loveless marriage by imagining things that she finds beautiful that takes her away from that drudgery, and also as an expression of her emotions. So when I was writing it itself, I felt that it takes to animation rather than live action.

And, there is a certain quality in the script which I wanted, which was of being involved with the characters. So animation gives that scope for the audience to be involved, but at the same time, dissociated because you’re not looking at your flesh and blood people. It was the demand of the script that I chose animation and, of course, because I love animation. And it’s something that I have loved watching through my childhood, and I feel that it is such a compelling format to tell stories.

What also excited me was that I would get to learn something new, to go into another direction. So all these were the points of view that I had. When I took it, I had already decided to make it an animation film before I took it to Paperboat Design Studios.

Where did the idea of the story come from?

This is a germ let me say, as a writer, the evolution of making, the three films that I have made till now. Like, my directorial debut was the Marathi film Rita, which was based on my mother’s novel. So it was like her perception. It was my mother’s novel that I was kind of adapting into a screenplay. The second was Tribhanga.

It was a gut level reflection of what I had observed around me perhaps, what I had imagined, and it was like me throughout. And Loop Line is something that I have not experienced ever. Like, it’s not my life, and yet I have observed many such lives. So in that sense, it’s an evolution for me because now I’m writing about things that, maybe don’t come from a lived experience, let’s say. So, you know and, of course, it’s about a theme that is very close to my heart because it’s about women’s lives, women’s journeys, women’s everyday lives.

So I think that, of course, has always been of interest to me. And, so it all came together in a succinct way in this story.

What does it take for women to finally speak up, to break that loop, to muster up the courage and walk away from any relationship that turns toxic or abusive?

What a lovely question that is. I think that in most films that you see and, you expect that women will finally take either a small or a big step to break out of this, you know, sort of toxic marriage or toxic situation of any kind. And, my Loop Line talks about those women who really don’t have that kind of power to do that. They don’t give themselves that option. And I know that the option that many people take of stepping out or doing something different or rebelling is extremely tough. It’s a very, very difficult, decision to make.

And yet, even living in a situation like this is also extremely difficult and requires a lot of strength. So I think we talk less about stories where women find ways to deal with their own situation and deal with the toxicity of their lives, in ways which might not, seem rebellious in terms of what society expects. But, at the same time, I feel that these little things that they are doing with their own selves, in their own minds, is a rebellion in a way, and that’s what keeps their sanity. It takes incredible amount of strength for women to kind of speak up.

You must be aware. All of us know that are on social media, there is a difference between the trolling that women face and the trolling that men face. Traditional societies would rather make women sit at home and and not open their mouths, basically. That is still going on in a very insidious way. So the women who speak up, they are really, really brave, and I feel it takes a lot of courage to, even stick with your lives, against incredible odds.

We have seen women characters in movies who have been submissive, who have given it to toxic people. So when you watch these movies, is there a sense of discomfort you feel?

Yes. That is the idea that out of that discomfort, you start thinking and you start wondering whether this is the right way of behaving. You’ve seen this happening enough in families, and one never actually steps in and says that, oh, why are you behaving like this with your wife, your sister, your maid, whatever, whichever woman character there is in your house. There are so many situations where casual misogyny and toxic behaviour is normalized.

There is no physical harm, isn’t there? But sometimes the mental scars are even worse, especially if they continue over a very long period of time. So I think it takes a lot of courage to speak up, to change your situation because, the rest of your life might not be that happy ending that you thought of.

So, it’s a difficult thing. And today, what has happened is, unfortunately, there is such an imbalance that there are a lot of empowered women who are, you know, kind of, breaking glass ceilings everywhere. And yet, the set of values or moral values that are attached to women have not changed that much. And, the traditional roles of men have also not changed. I mean, they are also not given a chance to do something different.