Yosha — a musical documentary by fashion and wedding photographer Anija Jalan is a celebration of womanhood. The interconnected lives of various ordinary and extraordinary women fill the frames. They are in their natural elements, working, existing and living. Released as part of International Women’s Day, the documentary featuring real-life women and their big and small wins is a feast for the eyes, along with the melodic music.
Through Yosha, Anija wanted to reveal real-life achievers as an ode to women. Anija with her friend Chandni Mikku released the video on their YouTube channel. The song, or the documentary, begins with Nazreen C J popularly known as Nazreen Kukku. She dances to the rhythm of music though she is hearing-impaired.
Nazreen is also an artist and passionate about travel photography along with badminton and baking. The video unfolds through her eyes. It is a day in her life when she meets women from all walks of life. The video ends with a message from former health minister K K Shylaja. Nazreen meets with actress Lena, fashion entrepreneur Beena Kannan, deep-sea fisher Rekha Karthikeyan and many more on her day out. Anija who dreams of becoming a filmmaker was in charge of cinematography, editing and direction for the music video. Just like the cast, all the crew for the short are also women.
“I wanted to ensure maximum women participation in this project. Coincidentally, all the crew behind the camera were women. This inspired me to develop a concept solely around women,” says Anija, a former broadcast journalist.
Her friend Chandini has rendered the song with lyrics penned by Ramya Krishnan. “Video editing to cinematography, all were new for me. Since I dream of becoming a filmmaker, this project helped me understand the technical aspects. The post-production of the video was also done by an all-women crew. I believe we all need inspiration but to succeed, we need to empower ourselves,” concluded Anija.