Mast Mahila Mandali turns ordinary women into documentary-makers

Along with Gulati, Anjum Shaikh, Darshana Mayekar, Gauri Rane, Kavita Khomne, Rohini Kadam, Rehana Shaikh, Sheetal Navle, Kavita Ghuge, Nazneen, and Vaishali — all residents of Mumbai’s M East Ward comprising Govandi, Deonar, and Chembur — share the direction credit. Screened at the Regal Cinema and the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) recently, Mast Mahila Mandali received a warm response.

One of the prerequisites of making the film for the women was to have their labour be seen and acknowledged. (Express Photo)

The film revolves around several things – a friend’s imminent departure to Dubai, a game of kabaddi, spontaneous dance sequences, and women cooking and doing makeup. Above all, it captures them having fun. The women open up to each other and to the camera. They create reels, go on excursions, and share their desires. “With a basic smartphone (Xiaomi POCO X3 Pro), we made this film without following any formula of conventional filmmaking and storytelling,” says Gulati.

For two years, the team gathered every week at the Shell Colony Office, Kurla. During these meetings, Gulati would introduce them to various aspects of filmmaking — from framing to editing — and assign a production exercise, which they would complete by next week. Gulati also introduced the team to various such collaborative films, such as Please Mind the Gap by PSBT India and Nirnay by Pushpa Rawat. This process became an integral part of the film, which focuses on the inner lives of seemingly ordinary women.

For Kavita, who is the chairperson of the Stree Dattaguru Mahila Mandal, films used to be about glamour and stars. “I didn’t know what the word documentary meant. But I was ready to learn,” she says. Anjum, who leads the “Right to Pee” campaign in Mumbai’s M East and L Wards, had dreams of pursuing photography, but she never saw herself facing the camera. “When I saw myself on screen for the first time at the Shell Colony Office, I thought: ‘Wow! I can also act,” she recalls.

Ordinary women are often missing in the world of entertainment. In most mainstream films, the domestic chores of women, such as cooking and cleaning, are treated as invisible work. Mast Mahila Mandali tries to fix it. One of the prerequisites of making the film for the women was to have their labour be seen and acknowledged.

In the documentary, women turn their gaze towards themselves and their friendships. In one scene, Rehana dances without abandon in the kitchen while glimpses of Nazneen and Vaishali riding the scooter capture the film’s idea of women finding joy.

The film’s co-directors are affiliated with the Right to Pee campaign of CORO India, a Mumbai-based organisation for the empowerment of women, especially from marginalised communities. What began as a campaign for setting up free, hygienic, and secure public urinals exclusively for women became an exercise in which these co-directors challenge the traditional narrative about women. The film also touches upon contemporary realities related to religion, caste, gender, and other socio-political issues.
“We have co-created the film, which means we have co-authored it and also jointly own its copyright. In my knowledge, this model radically departs from the way community-based and participatory filmmaking has operated in India,” says Gulati.

The Mast Mahila Mandali team is hoping to have more community-based screenings across the city and other parts of the country. “We are hoping to share this film in the international film festival circuit, along with academic, educational, and cultural spaces. We also want to develop a resource book on the process so that this pedagogical model can be shared with other co-authored artistic projects,” says Gulati.