Three hours outside of the capital of India, is a village called Lahra. This film follows two widowed sisters, aged 86 and 93, who have retired to this village, whose days are spent with their adopted family of domestic help. Pulling along with their walkers (because of bad knees that turned inoperative a decade ago) the sisters do as they please, pay heed to no one and don’t bother with unsolicited advice. They don’t let their ailments unsettle them much and remain largely unfearful of death. With a rare acceptance of old-age and all that it brings, they spend their time gossiping, watching T.V., soaking in the sun and bonding with the help in a hearty sharing of community life.
And yet, from this light-heartedness, emerge lessons. Of courage and perseverance, of camaraderie and care-giving, of destiny and faith, and the most significant one: when we engage in conversations of death, we improve the quality of life.
About The Filmmakers: Tanuja Chandra and Anupama Mandloi
Director’s Bio: After receiving a B.A. degree in English Literature from St. Xavier’s
University, Mumbai, Tanuja Chandra completed studies toward a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Direction and Writing in Temple University, USA. She co-wrote the screenplay and dialogue for Mahesh Bhatt’s films, Zakhm and Tamanna, both of which won National awards, and co-wrote Yash Chopra’s Dil Toh Pagal Hai. She began independent film direction in 1998 with Dushman. She worked on a feature documentary ‘Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha’ which has premiered in several international film festivals like Chicago, Seattle, Amsterdam, Mumbai and many more.
Known for making films with female protagonists, Chandra was amongst a
handful of female directors when she first started out. Even though the number of
women directing films has increased in two decades, she continues to champion
stories of women, by women, for women and she hopes to be a part of this genre
of film making for a long time.
Producer’s Bio: Anupama Mandloi has been a veteran television professional and
storyteller with an overall perspective on content creation and business for almost three
decades. She has worked as a senior executive at some of the leading broadcast
companies like Sony, SAB and STAR in India. Before she opted to go solo, she was the MD of a production company, Fremantle India. She is currently working as an independent consultant for content companies looking to enter the media space in India and helping run writer rooms for specific web projects. Mandloi made her debut as a producer under her banner ‘A Boy and A Dog Productions’ with her independently produced, award-winning documentary, ‘Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha’. She is the co-founder of the Coral Woman Impact Project which highlights the need for marine conservation and coral rehabilitation.
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