Debutante director Archana Phadke, whose documentary film About Love is doing the rounds of international film festivals, described her feature as a ‘tragic comedy’ that essentially captures the relationships in her family and looks at how love changes over time. Streaming on Mubi, the film is based on stories of the three generations of her family living together in Mumbai.
“I’ve been filming them for a long time and they are used to seeing me with my camera. So when I was making the film they didn’t take it seriously and thought it was just another hobby or I was filming something random. But I had an idea of the film from the very beginning so I didn’t have a problem. My family members were not inhibited in front of the camera and didn’t put on an act. They were honest and spontaneous, which helped me in the making of the film.”
One important takeaway from the film for Archana was that it helped her see her family members as individuals with their own dreams and hopes.
“We assign roles to our family members be it our mother, father, brother or grandparents, and rarely do we let that role change and see them as a person who has their own hopes and dreams. And I was able to achieve that through my film because while making it, I was able to see them not just as my family members but human beings with their own identity.”
Talking about the scenario of documentary filmmaking in India, and the struggles she faced, she said, “One of the biggest challenges I feel is producing a documentary film because every country in the world has its own docu fund and India is the only country that doesn’t have one. Plus, there is a notion that documentary films are boring. So my biggest challenge was wanting to break through into a market that was not accepting of documentaries. Exposing my family to the world was also a tough choice to make.”
Not just as a documentary director but Archana also had a successful stint as a docu producer as Placebo, a film produced by her won the National Film Award. She added that receiving a National Award acts as a confidence booster amid the struggles and helps with viewership and marketing.
Now, her only expectation from the film is that it reaches her people on a large scale.
“My film is already being distributed in the US on televisions and I feel sad that it is not distributed in India. The film is seen more abroad than in India so I wish it changes as it is meant for the Indian audience. Right now About Love is distributed on Mubi but it has a smaller audience than a television channel. But with Mubi I have been quite happy as it is been seen by a lot of people,” Archana concluded.
