Janani’s Juliet, produced by Delhi-based PSBT, won the Best Long Documentary Award at the 12th Kerala Documentary and Short Film Festival in June
What would happen if Juliet belongs to the upper caste and Romeo does not? In 2017, a theatre group in Puducherry, called Indianostrum, decided to find an answer by adapting William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to contemporary India. As the artistes processed social realities, felt the grip of caste in love, and shaped the play, Chandala, Impure, an award-winning filmmaker, Pankaj Rishi Kumar, kept the camera rolling. The film, Janani’s Juliet, produced by Delhi-based PSBT, won the Best Long Documentary Award at the 12th Kerala Documentary and Short Film Festival in June. Chandala, Impure, too, has collected critical reviews, as well as a top honour at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards 2019.
“I had got to know Valavane Koumarane (director of Indianostrum) during the making of my previous film, Two Flags, and started documenting a lot of his work. When I heard that he was starting a new production, based on Romeo and Juliet, I wanted to film the process. It is not a simple matter to replace a family rivalry with a caste feud. I was keen to see how Valavane would negotiate this,” says Kumar. A graduate of FTII, Pune, Kumar was a well-known film editor in Bollywood, and has worked on Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen, among others, until he became disillusioned and turned to making documentaries.
Pankaj Rishi Kumar
His first film, Kumar Talkies, explores the role of a cinema hall started by his father in Kalpi, a small town in north India, in the lives of the local people. It won the National Award for Best Audiography in 1999. The next film was influenced by theatre. Titled Pather Chujaeri (The Play Is On…), the 2001 documentary deals with the Bhand performers of Kashmir who are sustaining a centuries-old tradition despite upheavals. “I was born and brought up in Delhi, where I did plays from school. We never took a script but wrote every play as a group,” he says. This devised method of working attracted him to Indianostrum, where members participate equally in the creative processes.
“I landed on June 10, 2017, in Puducherry, and, by that time, Indianostrum had figured out what Romeo would be like but had no clue how Juliet would be,” recalls Kumar. One scene in Janani’s Juliet shows actors quizzing the director, Valvane. “We hardly see Romeo in the play; it’s all about Juliet. In the death scene, he realises the meaning of being a Chandala but what about her? When does she realise the significance of being upper caste and the difference between them?” asks one performer.
To understand Juliet, Valavane travelled 12 hours from Puducherry to meet a 23-year-old woman called Kaushalya. In 2016, armed goons from Kaushalya’s powerful family had hacked her Dalit husband to death and critically injured her. “They wanted to kill me also. If there was a baby in my womb, the purity of their caste would be lost,” Kaushalya tells the actors, in one of the most powerful moments of the film. Once he met Kaushalya, the structure of Kumar’s film fell into place: he would channel the story of Romeo and Juliet with a real-life tragedy of Kaushalya and Shankar.
A still from Janani’s Juliet
Janani’s Juliet is layered with concerns, from conflicts in society to those in a theatre group during the making of a play. “I believe in layering my projects, adding one coat of meaning after another. This style, I believe, comes from my theatre days. A straightforward process of landing up and interviewing a theatre group about a play doesn’t interest me at all,” he says.
Questions of identity run strongly through Kumar’s films. Janani’s Juliet is the second film in a trilogy about Puducherry. Two Flags (2019) shows how the town’s legacy of being both French and Indian, comes across in regular events and mishaps, celebrations and sorrows.
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Towards the end of Janani’s Juliet, performers stare into the camera and define love. “Love is the basis of existence. For love, no one should die,” says one. “I have never believed that people are blinded when they fall in love,” adds another. How does Kumar define the greatest emotion? “It’s a very bizarre, spiritual level of comfort between two people,” he says.
Dipanita Nath is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. She is a versatile journalist with a deep interest in the intersection of culture, sustainability, and urban life.
Professional Background
Experience: Before joining The Indian Express, she worked with other major news organizations including Hindustan Times, The Times of India, and Mint.
Core Specializations: She is widely recognized for her coverage of the climate crisis, theatre and performing arts, heritage conservation, and the startup ecosystem (often through her "Pune Inc" series).
Storytelling Focus: Her work often unearths "hidden stories" of Pune—focusing on historical institutes, local traditions, and the personal journeys of social innovators.
Recent Notable Articles (December 2025)
Her recent reporting highlights Pune’s cultural pulse and the environmental challenges facing the city during the winter season:
1. Climate & Environment
"Pune shivers on coldest morning of the season; minimum temperature plunges to 6.9°C" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on the record-breaking cold wave in Pune and the IMD's forecast for the week.
"How a heritage tree-mapping event at Ganeshkhind Garden highlights rising interest in Pune’s green legacy" (Dec 20, 2025): Covering a citizen-led initiative where Gen Z and millennials gathered to document and protect ancient trees at a Biodiversity Heritage Site.
"Right to breathe: Landmark NGT order directs PMC to frame norms for pollution from construction sites" (Dec 8, 2025): Reporting on a significant legal victory for residents fighting dust and air pollution in urban neighborhoods like Baner.
2. "Hidden Stories" & Heritage
"Inside Pune library that’s nourished minds of entrepreneurs for 17 years" (Dec 21, 2025): A feature on the Venture Center Library, detailing how a collection of 3,500 specialized books helps tech startups navigate the product life cycle.
"Before he died, Ram Sutar gave Pune a lasting gift" (Dec 18, 2025): A tribute to the legendary sculptor Ram Sutar (creator of the Statue of Unity), focusing on his local works like the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue at Pune airport.
"The Pune institute where MA Jinnah was once chief guest" (Dec 6, 2025): An archival exploration of the College of Agriculture, established in 1907, and its historical role in India's freedom struggle.
3. Arts, Theatre & "Pune Inc"
"Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak were not rivals but close friends, says veteran filmmaker" (Dec 17, 2025): A deep-dive interview ahead of the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) exploring the camaraderie between legends of Indian cinema.
"Meet the Pune entrepreneur helping women build and scale businesses" (Dec 16, 2025): Part of her "Pune Inc" series, profiling Nikita Vora’s efforts to empower female-led startups.
"How women drone pilots in rural Maharashtra are cultivating a green habit" (Dec 12, 2025): Exploring how technology is being used by women in agriculture to reduce chemical use and labor.
Signature Style
Dipanita Nath is known for intellectual curiosity and a narrative-driven approach. Whether she is writing about a 110-year-old eatery or the intricacies of the climate crisis, she focuses on the human element and the historical context. Her columns are often a blend of reportage and cultural commentary, making them a staple for readers interested in the "soul" of Pune.
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Janani’s Juliet, produced by Delhi-based PSBT, won the Best Long Documentary Award at the 12th Kerala Documentary and Short Film Festival in June
Pankaj Rishi Kumar
A still from Janani’s Juliet