Jai Paro Devi

Paromita Vohra,acclaimed independent film maker and writer --also the writer of Khamosh Paanilooked quite unlike the vision I had of her.

“Why,you thought I will be slim and good looking?” she asked,the laughter crinkling up her warm eyes,but she didnt allow herself to give in to her own joke. The moment I set eyes on her,I was taken by her ‘presence’. Paromita Vohra,acclaimed independent film maker and writer –also the writer of Khamosh Paanilooked quite unlike the vision I had of her.

One of my stupid fetishes is to try and imagine peoples looks through their writings. I have read Paromita extensively and have loved her writings on cinema. She is fluid yet nuanced,she has a voice and she makes a lot of sense. Her feminist thoughts are interesting too,she isnt a fanatic feminist,but nor is she about to give up what she believes in. What I devour in her writing are the insights that creep up,especially when you are not looking for them. There are dozens of images of Paromita Vohra on the net,so why wouldnt I just click Images on the Net and see what she really looked like? But no.

So I thought she must be short,a bit tough to look at,she would be a bit plump and would have little tolerance for fashions little quirks. A woman with so much meaning in her observations couldnt be bothered with yellow polish like me! But Paromita or Paro Devi as her email address hilariously points out,is fun and funky and a perfect Unfashion heroine. I am fat,Punjabi and happy, she told me after we had,had a rather intimate conversation on the romantic angst of documentary filmmakers,the challenges and particularly about her wholesomeness. She is good looking in the way few people are also because her voice comes across in her sense of dress and looks.

Paro Devi isnt just a happy sort,she wears her optimism boldly on her sleeve. Lifes uncanny pleasures,intellectual and other intimacies struck with friends or strangers,long friendships to cherish,talented co- workers,people who give her time to create narratives,little thrills,big blessingsor what she called the community that helps an independent artist like her survive has given her an organic cheer. Her independence,which has helped her carve out a space for herself as an artist (I am an artist,she insists) has made her also respect the spaces that others invite her into.

Unafraid to express herself in words,she has an unafraid sense of dress and fashion that I just LOVED. Orange nail polish on fingertips of one hand,yellow on another. Her feet were clad in mellow ochre sneakers,but she threatened to show me green toenails! A jazzy pair of earrings,brown lipstick,a nose ring (not pin) and a funky bag to go with it.

Fashion looks best when a person makes it an accessory to her larger personality. Paromita does this to the hilt. People call me the item girl of documentary filmmaking,so one day I am going to make a documentary on Rakhi Sawant and myself, she said. Dont think this is a joke. Believe me,when this documentary does get made,we will find the resonance of numerous hidden meanings.

Paromita who is Mumbai based now,(she went to Miranda college earlier in Delhi) was in Delhi for the UFO festival to screen two documentaries. Partners in Crime (her 10th documentary that released last year) and Morality TV and The Loving Jehad that will be screened in Delhi today. Do see Unlimited Girls,one of her most talked about documentaries. Here is the link http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/452

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
fashion news

Jai Paro Devi

Paromita Vohra,acclaimed independent film maker and writer --also the writer of Khamosh Paanilooked quite unlike the vision I had of her.

Paromita Vohra,acclaimed independent film maker and writer --also the writer of Khamosh Paanilooked quite unlike the vision I had of her.