The director talks about Wedding.con, her documentary series on Amazon Prime, why women fall for fraud, and how Indian cinema keeps sidelining female stories despite the OTT boom
Since the 1990s, filmmaker Tanuja Chandra has been breaking new ground with films like Dushman, Sangharsh, and Qarib Qarib Singlle. Her work ranges from hardcore action to socially relevant cinema, consistently placing women protagonists at the centre. She has carved a niche for herself in the female genre. Tanuja’s storytelling continues to evolve with the times while remaining deeply rooted in women's issues.
Wedding.con (2023), her gripping true crime documentary series currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, features five vulnerable women who fall victim to fraud while searching for suitable partners on matrimonial websites. The series raises awareness about a critical issue that receives far too little attention in mainstream media, making it essential viewing.
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Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha (2019) is a moving story about two widowed sisters, aged 86 and 93, who live life on their own terms, with their adopted family of domestic help, in their village home in North India. Both documentaries are relevant to contemporary times, where marriage and the status of single women are being redefined.
In an interview to The Federal, Tanuja talks about the inspirations and processes behind these documentaries, and reflects on how the filmmaking landscape has changed for women over the years. Excerpts from the interview:
How did the idea for Wedding.con take shape and how did you meet the five women featured in the film?
My producers at BBC Studios had been doing research for the project for a while before I was asked to direct the show. Once I joined the project, we went through all the work they had painstakingly done and together, narrowed down on the five women who would be our protagonists. Then, I spent quite a bit of time with the team and decided on a format and structure. I met the women and conducted mock interviews. We consulted with experts in the field of Mental Health, Women’s issues, Psychology, Policing, Law, Social Studies, to understand in depth what a victim of matrimonial fraud goes through, and the ways in which our culture not just allows this to happen but even enables it.
The docu series features five vulnerable women who fall victim to fraud while searching for suitable partners on matrimonial websites
My visionary showrunner, Neha Khurana, had a counsellor on set when we shot with our five, brave survivors because the pain and attendant shame of the fraud is something they haven’t been able to forget. Which is totally understandable. For me, they’re heroes to speak up and I was someone holding their hands and taking this difficult journey with them.
How do you think society treats single women? Do you think support systems have improved or challenges remain?
Marriage is the all-consuming goal of most Indian families and it becomes an issue of increasing anxiety as a young girl grows older. Even when she’s 25, it’s considered that she’s past the marriageable age, which is just too much pressure on a single woman as well as the family. Under this pressure, it’s only natural that a seemingly ‘qualified’ and ‘well-spoken’ man who seems to say all the right and decent things, who rejects the idea of dowry, who respects a working woman, will appear as a very attractive prospective groom. And yet, when it’s discovered that a woman became a victim of fraud, it’s she who again pays the price by feeling shame and guilt. The unfairness of it is glaring and awful.
As an expert said on our show, women find themselves in these frauds not because they’re stupid, but because they have money. And yet, it is the victim that derides herself for behaving stupidly by believing false promises. It’s shocking and tragic — after all, to want to help the man you’re thinking of marrying by offering financial support when he says he’s in trouble, cannot be considered a flaw! Why shame the woman?! The support simply isn’t there, not in cyber-policing, nor in courts of law, and not even in our society.
Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha is another path-breaking documentary about your aunts. What inspired the idea? What themes/relationships were you interested in exploring in the film?
This is a personal film which is very close to my heart. It was my mother, the writer Kamna Chandra, who first suggested that my buas (paternal aunts) would make for a wonderful subject! Since childhood, I had found them very interesting, full of stories and entertainment. And also very loving. My parents used to visit them in their home in the village to which they had retired, when finally, they had no responsibility toward anyone, and when I heard accounts of their life there, with an adopted family of help who cared for them, this became a very compelling story for me.
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I was able to gather a wonderful team along with my Producer, Anupama Mandloi, and we headed to their village in Uttar Pradesh. The themes that opened up to us were plenty and varied. The idea of a safe haven in old age, a retirement plan in the autumn of one’s life, but one that allows us to live exactly as we wish, to be close to nature, to laugh, bicker, gossip and be surrounded by the warmth of community — what could be more beautiful? I feel fortunate to have been able to make this film. It’s an archive of the kind of life and people fast disappearing from our society.
Has the film been well-received by the growing number of single women (unmarried, divorced and widowed)? Was that its intent?
To be honest, what we’ve discovered is that it resonates with everyone. The old, the young, women as well as men. I have a feeling this is simply because viewers are reminded of their own elders: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. They feel nostalgic, and many have even said that right after watching our film, they got in touch with their old family members whom they hadn’t spoken to for long. My buas and their motley gang have filled audiences with a fuzzy warmth and I couldn’t be happier! The film has gone far beyond any intentions I might have had as a filmmaker. It never ceases to surprise me how much love it receives. This year, we’ve already had several screenings in various cities and the response has been overwhelmingly affectionate.
Your films like Dushman and Sangharsh broke stereotypes. Would you describe yourself as a filmmaker ahead of your time? Did you feel any resistance back then?
When I started out, female-led films were almost unheard of. Producers weren’t interested in funding them. Luckily, I had Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt as producers who weren’t afraid of taking risks. I faced absolutely no resistance from them. But yes, the film had to have a male hero as well and even with that the budget would need to be moderate. After more than two decades, the number of films of the female genre haven’t increased to the degree they should have, though funders are a little more receptive to the idea. I have a feeling that if my early films had been made in the present times, they would be received with much more openness by audiences too.
Marriage is the all-consuming goal of most Indian families, says Tanuja Chandra
Do you think that there are more women directors and writers now than when you first started out? What changes do you think stand out most?
Yes, there are far more women directors today; back then we could be counted on one hand. That said, it’s important to note that they should’ve grown exponentially in all these years but that hasn’t happened. The percentage of women on film sets is still too small. We really should be wondering why this is so and we should all mindfully work toward changing this.
What are some of the challenges that still confront women in the film industry? Do you think the female genre is more mainstream now?
On broadcast and satellite television, it has certainly become mainstream, however, until our stories and characters become much more progressive and at the same time, more connected to reality, this will not take the genre forward or break new ground. In theatrical cinema, female-led films are few and far between and in OTT, there seemed to be an opportunity to make a change but it seems that an opportunity has been lost already. Complex, realistic, nuanced stories about women aren’t much sought after, sadly.
Do you think audiences have evolved in how they receive women-centric and unconventional films? Do you think OTT has overtaken the theatre experience or is it just another medium?
Doomsday predictions have happened many times over the decades and the theatre experience has survived through all the changes. All formats are welcome; the crucial thing is for storytelling to consistently grow, thrive, become more innovative, represent the complexities of culture and try to speak as truthfully as possible. There is room for various viewing experiences to do well. The relevant question is: Are we telling better and worthier stories?
