Film Screening And Interaction: JANANI'S JULIET

About the film:

The 53-minute-film, based on real-life couple Kausalya and Shankar and how Shankar was a victim of honour killing in 2016, Janani's Juliet explores caste politics and love through a contemporary version of Romeo and Juliet. Deeply disturbed by a spate of honour killings, Indianostrum, a Pondicherry based theatre group, sets out to introspect the implications of caste, class and gender. What emerges is a critical reflection and commentary on the contemporary world, where love struggles to survive.

Jack and Janani are worlds-apart. Jack lives in the Ambedkar colony, while Janani comes from the Vaishnav Nagar. Even the public spaces they visit together, such as movie theatres, despite offering them privacy continues to divide them as despite paying for a first-class ticket, Jack is forced to sit on the floor. Janani's character is deeply inspired by Kausalya in the play, enacting real-life incidents such as Kausalya's parents demanding she returns everything given to her, down to the clothes on her back. Despite being from the dominant caste, she faces severe patriarchal restrictions.

Janani's Juliet was one among the entries to the 92nd Academy Awards from India, after having won the Best Long Documentary Award at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kerala.

About the director:

Pankaj Rishi Kumar graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India with a specialisation in Film Editing. After editing numerous documentaries and TV serials, he made his first film Kumar Talkies. Subsequently, he has become a one-man crew, producing, directing, shooting and editing his own films, which have been screened at film festivals the world over. Pankaj has won grants from Hubert Bals, IFA, Jan Vrijman, AND (Korea), Banff, Majlis, Sarai and Pad.ma. An alumnus of the Asian Film Academy (Pusan) and Berlin Talents, Pankaj also curates and teaches.