Where's Sandra? (18 min) Paromita Vohra ------------------------------------------------ Watch the film here: (18 minutes) http://imaginingourselves.imow.org/pb/Story.aspx?id=1430&lang=1 ------------------------------------------------
Where's Sandra? is a film about a stereotypical figure of the Indian Catholic woman - Sandra from Bandra - Bandra being a largely Christian suburb of Bombay. At the most literal level, this film is about the Christian women of Bombay who created a certain space for women in general. They were the earliest women in Bombay to enter the workforce, which was part of the reason for the unease around them and for the sexual stereotyping that they received. But they also embodied a certain spirit - of fun, of pleasure and a certain chutzpah. This generation of women doesn't know that we owe something to them, for being out there first where we so easily are today. I searched for a way to explore the stereotype of Christians more gently - through the aspects of fantasy that exist in the idea of the sexy, supposedly available but actually unattainable Christian woman. I've tried to stay away from dismantling stereotypes in the film, tending instead to create my own notion of this figure by taking my own and others' ideas of Sandra, and weaving in Bollywood imagery and interviews with women actually named Sandra living in Bandra. Also, it seemed important to tell the history of this neighborhood not through the usual historio-cultural lens, not tell tales of buildings and the comings and goings of conquerors and settlers, but rather, to trace it through the lives of its women. And in speaking of these women and what lives and times they shaped, perhaps also understand something of the feminist/social history of the city of Bombay. This is not the sort of history that is recorded often - it is an invisible, everyday history of women from a minority community. At another level, I think (or hope, anyway) that women of my generation are less anxious about the feminist stories they can tell, about the ways in which they can tell them. In a time of so many stereotypes about feminism, more mischievous stories are needed and are being told with greater ease. And the way in which this story is told is an exercise of that sort. *** FILM CREDITS Producer: Celebrate Bandra Trust Director: Paromita Vohra Camera: Avijit Mukul Kishore Editing: Jabeen Merchant/Sankalp Meshram Sound: Anita Kushwaha Cast: Tuhinaa Vohra, Sonali Verma, Rachel Lopez For entire credit roll, please see added story on the right. [Thanks to Eddie Fernandes for the link.]
