Pushing Buttons Always - RICHA CHADHA

INTERVIEW

Richa

Pushing BUTTONS AWAYS

Chadha

Interview By Armin S. // Photography By Ashish Chawla

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Photographer: Ashish Chawla @ashishchawlaphotography Stylist: Bikanta Soubam Meitei @bikanta Hair & Make up: Neha Singh @nehasingh_makeup_artist Assistant: Nishant Gautam @nishantt.01 Retouching: Arun Keswal @arunkeswal Outfit @boraamritraj Shoes @stevemadden Earrings @dior @chanelofficial

INTERVIEW

There are very few conversations that leave me feeling like Iʼve learnt something. There are rare moments when I hear sheer honesty – not just about herself but opinions surrounding the realities of casting, representation, and cancel culture. A conversation over Zoom, as she spoke to me with a picturesque background that I honestly thought was a filter (but it wasnʼt), which lasted more than half an hour so, because I was completely engrossed. This time around, it wasnʼt so much about her journey as an actor but more so, what she brings to the table as an actor, and now as a producer through her company, Pushing Buttons. We talk about the first production, Girls will be Girls, and more.

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INTERVIEW

I am much more self-assured and aware of what my calibre brings to a project.”

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INTERVIEW

RICHA – THEN AND NOW

In 2008, when I started, I was fresh out of college. I was not sure if this was something I could possibly turn into a career. There was a lot of back and forth from my side – I would come to Bombay, work, go back to Delhi, do some plays, come back and do some TV commercials. Like any young person, I just wasn’t sure if I could do this full-time and if it could pay my bills. That’s why I think of Gangs as my start because I had shifted to Bombay. Even that was a good ten years ago. It was a huge learning experience. But I would think that I have come a long way. I used to be quite naïve, more so than other people. Bomby was not my city. It took a lot of getting used to for me. I am much more self-assured and aware of what my calibre brings to a project. I am also more cognizant of the fact that I want to tell certain kinds of stories, which was one of the key reasons why my partner and I decided to start this production company, Pushing Buttons. Being producers gives us much more agency as creators to be tell stories that we want to tell.

THE ACTORS IN ‘GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS’

The film is completely my friend, Shuchi Talati’s, baby. At least, for the first film we are doing, Ali nor I are acting in it. We would have to find a girl who is new. It is a mother-daughter relationship so we hope to find a girl who is new and for the mother, we hope to find an established actor, somebody incredible. We will hold auditions and see how that goes. Since we are new and we are learning, and our first film has not even gone on floors yet, but I think that because our intent is clean, and we want to go about it the right way, I think we’ll do well. Because Ali and I are already in the public eye as actors, I don’t think either one of us desires publicity through production. I see a lot of that happening. We are already getting a lot of attention so there is a purity to create good stories and narratives, and that is what is driving us.

BREAKING BOUNDARIES AS PRODUCERS – HIRING MORE FEMALES

Now, I’m in a phase that I can help with the production. I’ll give you some insight into the things we are planning. We are trying to hire a full female crew for Girls will be Girls. The theme is such that we want it to be very effective – we want to erase the concept of gender on set and see what happens with that. We are trying to set up an Incubation program so that certain departments that have few or no women – the Grip or camera department. We are trying to see if we can train some applicants for these jobs. We are shooting in Uttarakand, and it’ll be nice to have local women employed, who perhaps are supporting their households. A lot of work is in the pipeline in that way. These are things that we are trying to put some legwork into – we believe we are doing things the right way. If a certain business model doesn’t exist, we have to create it. It requires me to be patient in a very different way. As an actor, people answer your calls urgently. But as a producer, when you are trying to pull favours, and make things work, things are different.

THE CRITERIA FOR PROJECTS FOR PUSHING BUTTONS

I want to be clear that the narratives that we explore have something unique to say. They don’t have to be films with moral lessons in them necessarily or about activism or politics. But everything is political in a way. Having grown up in the business a little bit, it would be nice to have projects that push the envelope a bit, explore the hypocrisy within what we engage in, perhaps how we function based on things surrounding gender.

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INTERVIEW

The battles we fight are much larger than Twitter conversations.”

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INTERVIEW

‘MADAM CHIEF MINISTER’

That film was the reality of what is happening in our world today – the country still follows the caste system, some people still follow “untouchability” in certain ways. In that sense, we are very backwards – it doesn’t matter if you are holding the latest phone model in your hands when your head has gutter-level thinking. There are all of these imaginary divisions created by people. Earlier Muslims were demonized, now Sikhs, Christians – who knows who will be targeted next? It’s just about being human first and assessing everything with a calm head. I did Madam Chief Minister for almost no money. I did it with my full heart but I was criticized for it because of the casting because the actor was not from the Dalit background. That was not in my control.

REPRESENTATION

In an ideal scenario, we should have Dalit actors represented in Bollywood. What the ground reality is – that escapes even the well-meaning critics. So when I do a film like Madam Chief Minister or Section 375, the latter was about a very dubious law in the constitution. In order to put these issues at play, sometimes you have to put forth a very subversive point of view and I stand by my choices. I’m of the opinion that even if people don’t understand it today, even when you look back from ten years ago, everything has a purpose. One is trying, even with the fun things along the way. I’m also not of the opinion that the person with the most lived experience is the best choice – or we would not have Al Pacino in Scent of the Woman or Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice. What is an actor – who has to act it out. I’m not saying that if you have an African-American role, you cast a Caucasian for that – what I’m saying should not be conflated with that. I respect that movement. I’m happy to be cancelled for this – I get cancelled all the time and it makes little difference to me. The battles we fight are much larger than Twitter conversations. When you go mainstream with these stories, you make it more accessible to people when the narrative is more mainstream-ized. There is an unfair amount of hate and scrutiny on women, particularly on women who are considered woke – like we have the responsibility of changing the world all the time. It achieves very little on the ground.

A COFFEE DATE WITH BHOLI PUNJABAN

I think I would have to have a coffee date with Bholi Punjaban (Fukrey). She’s so colourful with her zebra print clothes and leopard print clothes and snakeskin shoes. She’s so confident. She has no concept of fear. She has never been told that she is a woman so she cannot do something. People do not give the creator of that character enough credit – there has never been a character like that before. She is the fleshiest, most juiciest character in the Fukrey franchise. I can’t wait for the third part.

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