‘Rapata Ladies’ director Kiran Rao talks about the difficult editing process
Indian director Kiran Rao returns to directing after more than a decade with her latest Hindi film rapata ladies This work highlights the unfairness of patriarchal rules in society and how it affects women. Starring Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Bhaskar Jha and Sparsh Shrivastava, the film will hit theaters on Friday, March 1. In an exclusive interview, Rao reveals how the film’s lightness came about and what was the most difficult part to shoot. Please cut it off while editing the movie.
rapata ladies ” is a story about a newlywed man whose bride gets lost on her way home from a wedding. Jha and Shrivastava play the roles of men looking for a bride, while Goel and Ranta play the roles of young brides. Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan play supporting roles in a story that is as entertaining as it is essential. on the surface, rapata ladies is a comedy about a man who mistakes another woman for his bride thanks to her veil. What happens next is an unintended bride swap, the women lose their way to finding their true selves, and some of the men understand why women have equal rights to education. In the process, the film highlights various issues that highlight the importance of education for women and the futility of patriarchal rules.
Regarding the film’s journey from a serious social message to a comedy, director Rao says that in addressing the issues of how society works, he never demonizes anyone or anything, neither men nor society. says it was a conscious choice. “We wanted a sense of unity in this film. We wanted to join this conversation and offer solutions from within, rather than being prescriptive.”
Here are some parts that left an impression on me: rapata ladies That said, not only does the film avoid demonizing anyone, it also avoids symbolism of any kind. The men and traditionally inclined women in this film do not emerge as symbols of inclusivity. They are well-sculpted characters who speak about the reality and rationality of things. All the characters are loyal to the society they belong to, be it a policeman in Kishan or a strict shopkeeper in Kadam.
Director Rao said: “The idea was to represent people with different shades, people who could be different. We didn’t want our problems to be known to others. Some parts of this film were exaggerated and Some people may feel that it is, and I respect their opinion, but our attempt is to show what the characters have gone through rather than sum it all up in the main character’s soliloquy. That was it.”
When asked about the film’s screenwriters Biplab Goswami, Sneha Desai and Divyanidhi Sharma, Rao spoke about the entire story process. Kiran’s ex-husband and a film producer. rapata ladies Aamir Khan read Goswami’s original work in a screenplay contest. “He was writing a really amazing, brilliant story. The original story was incredibly spicy, but I felt it could be more of a comedy as well as a drama. There’s no humor in the original either. But we believed it would work as a comedy, so we wanted to develop some characters. Then we invited Desai (writer of Gujarati plays and TV shows), and she went on to do six… We spent eight months developing the script. She wrote great characters and situations, and after two or three drafts we arrived at the final draft.”
Sharma was then brought in. “We felt we needed to hire someone who could clean up the dialect and add some local humour. He brought a nice flavor to the writing. Initially, Manohar (Kishan’s character) was just an ordinary cop; , he (Sharma) brought a deliciousness to this character. He was able to bring together three of the best minds and, like a conductor, create a symphony with these three composers. I’m glad I was able to do it.”
Director Rao says of the difficult task of editing a film: “Editing is a long process and one of the most difficult parts of filmmaking. There is a really funny scene where we see Manohar formulate a hypothesis about what the accused girl must have been up to. It was really hard to forget that scene, where the cops enjoy snacks and tea and theorize why women are thieves. They sit behind bars inside a police station and take part in all the crimes. Sadly, this sequence didn’t fit into the overall plan and had to be cut. Parts that had to be sacrificed to keep the film light and crisp. , there were many more scenes and lines.”
Director Rao also thanked Khan and said, “This film started with him. I owe him my second film because he remembered me when he read this story.” . Otherwise, I would be so busy trying to get the script right on paper that I would overthink everything. That’s when he just dropped the story into my lap. He was also a very quiet producer, but he was always there when we needed him.”
(This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity).
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