A migrant worker and an aspiring actor, Thooya, shares her Mumbai apartment with Shweta, a call-centre employee. The film, Songs of Forgotten Trees, which won filmmaker Anuparna Roy the Best Director award at the Venice International Film Festival 2025, is a relationship of two women, blooming amidst the struggles of life. Actor Sumi Baghel (she plays Shweta) talks to us, and discusses her journey into films, her debut feature film, and the lessons it has left her with.
Please share a little about your journey into the world of cinema
I’m from Gurugram and I come from a lower middle-class family. My journey has been very interesting. My family didn’t really know how the world of cinema worked. I started with theatre during my college days, training under Mahesh Vashishtha. I worked with him for about three years while also doing part-time jobs to support myself. In Delhi, I collaborated with many well-known personalities such as actors Ravi Shah and Ashutosh Shelat.
Four years ago, I moved to Mumbai because I wanted to pursue films, and this was just after the lockdown. I was giving auditions, writing on the side to survive, and working in short films and advertisements. Those two to three years were a real struggle. Then I met Anuparna; we had earlier worked together on a short film called Run to the River, in which I played a small role. I’ve known her for about four years now. In 2022, when she came to Mumbai, she told me about this story, and I really liked it. I auditioned, and that’s how I got this part.
The film is titled 'Songs of Forgotten Trees'. What does the title say about the film itself?
For me, the title is one based on memories — especially those of Thooya, another character in the film. Her memories circle back to the hollong tree in her hometown; these childhood stories are then told to Shweta by Thooya. So, this sense of remembering is where the title comes from.
Please tell a bit about the character you play. How did you prepare for the role, and did it take you outside your comfort zone at any point?
I play Shweta, who is very different from me. Personally, I’m quite expressive and an extrovert, but Shweta is calm, composed, and inward-looking. She grew up in an orphanage and carries the weight of loneliness, having no family of her own. To prepare for this role, I spoke with a girl who had lived through a similar experience; this helped me understand Shweta’s perspective better. We also had 15-day workshops, and Anuparna guided me a lot. She was very clear about what she wanted from Shweta.
Independent films ask for a lot from their actors, without the luxury of big budgets. How did you find that experience?
In independent films, the story is always the real hero. If the director and writer bring a good narrative, then it’s the actors’ responsibility to bring it to life. Things looked smooth from the outside, but before the shoot I often felt unsettled because the preparation was so intense. It demanded a lot of mental and emotional work.
How was your experience working with Anuparna Roy, Naaz Shaikh and the team?
This was my first time working with a predominantly all-female team, and it was a wonderful experience. Naaz and I got along well even off-camera. So, it helped our on-screen chemistry, too. The workshops and rehearsals were very useful, and Anuparna was present throughout, guiding us.
This film was a huge learning process for me. I discovered my strengths, which emotions I could portray easily, and which ones needed more polishing. Being my first feature film and playing the lead, I also learned how tough the shooting process can be — scenes are filmed out of sequence, so it requires a lot of focus and adaptability.
What did this project teach you as an actor, and how do you see it fitting into the larger arc of your career?
Watching myself on the big screen for the first time at the Venice International Film Festival 2025 was very emotional. I was there with Anurag Kashyap, our producer Ranjan Singh, and the entire team. The audience gave us a standing ovation for nearly seven minutes, which was surreal. People were curious and full of questions, especially since the film has an open ending.
Even though it was such a big moment, it feels strangely normal when I have lived it. But I do feel this film has opened doors, and I hope to continue doing more projects like this.
The film portrays a queer relationship between two women. How do you view the importance of telling such stories on screen?
I believe more stories like this need to be told. We often see love stories between a boy and a girl, or typical family dramas. But films on queer relationships are equally important because they tell us more about our society, too. Documenting such stories on screen helps normalise them, and I feel we should see more of that in cinema.
This article is written by Pankil Jhajhria