Growing up, Suruchi Sharma balanced the constraints of tradition with a dreamer's spirit, finding joy in art. The traditions and the conservative setup she grew up with find a place in her short film, Gagan Gaman, where she invites viewers into a world of poignant emotions that resonate universally. Her home city, Jaipur, in the film, is a character that lends to the eeriness of the story. It moves around myths and mysteries and we see a woman struggling through it.
Suruchi is based in the Pink City and is the founder of Studio Ainak, a boutique film production house in Rajasthan. She also established Rewrite, a nurturing residential mentoring program for screenwriters, which has hosted distinguished writers such as Atika Chohan and Aastha Tiku. More about her short film below.
Gagan Gaman
I have been meaning to make a feature film for a long time but have been struggling with the structuring of the story. Once, I discussed this concern with Bikas Misra, who was a visiting mentor at Rewrite in 2021. He asked me to give it a rest and not push too hard. I think that was great advice. Thanks to my desperation to make fiction after a series of documentary works, my anxiousness was quite conspicuous. Ashok, my partner and fellow filmmaker, made another set of useful advice: wake up early and clear your working space. Thanks to these simple yet much-needed words of wisdom, I was able to make space for the newer ideas of Gagan Gaman. The story came to me in an instant as if it was waiting for this clearance of space to arrive. It was coming together of some old ideas and new thoughts, paired with experiences of that time. I kept myself free in its structure and chose not to “rewrite” it at all; it developed while in its pre-production. The structure of the story was simply a folktale, and the script was written in images one after the other.
On Myths
More than believing, I admire these myths. Such fertile ground for imagination! What I appreciate is their layered structuring and free-spiritedness. We are too caught in wanting to prove these stories as true or false. But what they ask from us is neither rejection, nor complete submission. Like beings, these ideas seek empathy and understanding. There is immense beauty in these stories. I brought Bemata to my story, inspired by story of Bhai Dooj. There is an annual ritual of narrating these stories in Rajasthan and other states like you see in the film. These stories become a way to guide women into certain rituals and beliefs. I love myths that inspire us towards beauty, love and courage. This is what I am trying to do with Gagan Gaman.
The City as a Character
This world is very much part of my everyday reality. After having worked in Mumbai for a few years, I was yearning to come back to my hometown - only for the desire to tell stories set in a local setting. I am glad to be telling of the world I most relate to, something that I can share about as an insider. Every aspect of the film is coming from life as I see it. The absurdity, the eeriness and magic realism which is in the film are something I enjoy identifying with on a regular basis; life is magical if one chooses to see it that way. It all depends on the 'Ainak' we choose for ourselves.
Gravitating Themes
I have made a series of films on the theme of 'Understanding Folk'. It was part of a personal probe and started with a college project during graduation. That was the first time I travelled to artists’ homes to hear their stories. This continued over the past few years, and I made films like Utsav(2016), Of Love & Artistry (2017) and Meen Raag (2021). This journey eventually led me to direct India’s first folk docu-series, Equals. The series was awarded Special Mention at the IDA Awards last year and was released on Jio Cinema early this year. All these explorations helped me create a deeper understanding of folk. We (myself and Supriya) are now developing a live musical experience with women musicians of Rajasthan titled Mai Jo Karti Wo Kyun Karti? The intention is to provide a free space for women musicians to share their stories and be themselves. It is an experimental multi-sensory performance piece that we wish to take around various spaces across India and beyond. Apart from culture, heritage and mythology, I have a keen interest in environmental issues. Celebration as a theme is also very important for me.
Coming Up
There is a lot of work ongoing. As a filmmaker, I am keen on beginning work on my feature film; I am very keen on making a longer version of Gagan Gaman. Apart from this, is a feature I have been meaning to make for some time, it's a story that revolves around the theme of finding one’s purpose in life and is set in the arid ecosystem of Rajasthan.
I am also most likely to direct a docu-series exploring the mythical aspects of my home state early next year. I have also picked up work as a producer this year and plan to build on it. I am excited to bring forth Dhood, a Rajasthani feature film starring Alka Amin and Yashpal Sharma, Chetak. A children’s drama set in Rajasthan is a film being mentored at Cinekid Script Lab in the Netherlands. These are films directed by Anand Singh Chohan and Bhuwan Somani respectively. There are also two feature-length documentaries, Desert’s Dilemma & Kunchok and His Many Moons, directed by my partner and filmmaker Ashok Meena. Apart from this, I often direct music videos and also run the screenwriter’s residency which is a big responsibility on its own. All of this brewing in a small corner of Rajasthan, Studio Ainak.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 19.11.2024