Foreign

by Komal Thakkar – George Washington University

I was born and raised in this country, but I am still an Indian girl growing up in an Indian household. While I am no stranger to watching films covering topics like abuse or HIV, I can’t say I wasn’t shocked when I saw them in the film Foreign. Written and directed by Rahul Nath, it is a mere twenty five minute short that touches on multiple issues not normally discussed in South Asian cinema. Although South Asian society is becoming much more open regarding certain sensitive topics, there is still a taboo associated with them especially amongst the elder generations. Although I am accustomed to the content of Western films, I am still slightly taken aback when I see certain issues being brought into the limelight in Indian cinema.

Foreign is the story of an Indian girl who marries a man, Vikram. She is sent to live with his family far away from her home in India and finds herself a victim in many ways. I won’t say anymore than that, but I did have an opportunity to speak with Rahul Nath. Here is what he had to say about his project:

How did you come up with the premise of the film?

Rahul: I wanted to make something really different for Indian cinema. Being from London, I’ve seen women marrying into families and being abused mentally and physically. No one says anything or stands up for these women being abused. It’s almost taken as a standard when they get married. These women are alone and can’t get any help. I wanted to create something with a different spin.

Although it’s a short, you manage to incorporate issues like HIV and homosexuality along with the abuse of women. Why did you decide to include all of this?

Rahul: In terms of bringing in HIV and homosexuality, it’s something that naturally progressed. I wanted to create something where the audience would be siding with the woman. When they see the stills and see the trailer, a lot of people think it’s about a woman who is in love with two men. I wanted to fool the audience. It wasn’t my aim to target HIV and homosexuality separately, but more to help the audience understand the woman’s position.

What was the production process like?

It was quite easy because I had a very good cameraman. Sound and lighting were easy because it was very minimal. The hardest thing was finding the location. Most of the film is shot in the house and the doctor’s office, but the locations were actually quite good and worked out well for us.

Casting was difficult. We saw over 70 girls for the role. It’s not like anyone was a bad actor, but no one was fitting the role as we wanted. When we saw Pooja who eventually got the role, she embraced the sensitivity and vulnerability of the character. Finding that match is so difficult.

My vision for the mother in law was someone who had lost her beauty and was trying to retain it by mistreating her beautiful daughter-in-law. What I liked about Shruti was that she was attractive and was this modern lady but still treated her daughter-in-law badly. It kind of worked even though it wasn’t how I envisioned it.

What was it like on set? You’re dealing with such sensitive topics, was it tense at all?

Most of it was pretty easy to film. By the time we had to film the dinner scene which was the ensemble scene, we had spent two days together. Everybody got to know each other, and everyone was comfortable. The hardest scene to shoot was the rape scene. I wanted it to be uncomfortable to watch, but I think it fit nicely into the movie. Had it been too brutal, it would have stood out like a sore thumb. Nothing in the film is too vulgar or too difficult to watch.

How do you think that people are going to react to this? What reaction do you want to evoke from audiences?

I wanted to show them a different side of Indian culture. I am Indian myself, and had I not been Indian there would have been a lot of backlash. The fact that I am coming from a point of view as a British Indian, I don’t know how the American audience is going to react. A certain portion of people will hate me, but I think my generation will support me. I have stood up and have written something real. Women are abused, and I’ve seen it myself. It’s evidently visual to everybody, but nobody steps forward to help them.

These days, men are having affairs with women and other men. It’s sort of a fusion of yesterday’s world and today’s world. There might be more backlash from the older Indian generation because of the homosexuality part. I think the modern day generation will understand. In today’s society, these are real issues. The Indian gay community might say it’s great that it shows how difficult it is for them to be together because of society. Caucasian people might say you’ve shown them in a villain aspect.

Is there anything else that you want to add that would benefit our readers to know before or after they watch the film?

It’s a film I wrote to get my message out about women. Nobody helps the girl in the film. She takes a stand herself, and she takes a stand in such a powerful way. Sometimes that’s the only way you can get your justice. It really is a justice based film. What else could she have done? Had she gone to the police, no one would have believed her. Where is the evidence when you’ve contracted HIV from your husband or that you’ve been raped by your husband? It’s really a case of what do you do to be seen or heard? I don’t want women to be in this position.

Foreign premiered on August 14^th at IndiaFest, and it will be screened at various festivals worldwide.  You can see the trailer below: