Home Truths
A 2019 news report about a woman’s death in a ‘period hut’ in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district set off film student Yudhajit Basu on a quest. He wanted to find the reason behind the age-old practice of banishing menstruating women to dingy and unhygienic mud-huts far away from their homes on the outskirts of a village. The pursuit led him to make Nehemich. The Marathi short film will premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival on May 24, making the 30-year-old the second-youngest Indian filmmaker to showcase at the international event. The 23-minute production is among the 16 works selected (out of 2,000 entries) for the festival’s La Cinef programme, featuring film school productions from around the world. It is also the only Indian film in the segment this year.
Nehemich follows the story of a teenage girl from a nomadic tribe, who is isolated in a gaokar or a period hut during the Covid lockdown, and no one could leave their homes to provide her food and water. The challenges of inhabiting these structures are brought to life through ochre-hued frames that pan to the grim interiors—crumbling window-less walls, thatched roofs and unsanitary and littered floor. “These superstitions are ingrained in the minds of the people not just in Maharashtra, but all across India. It, therefore, made complete sense to make a film addressing the inhumane customs existing in our society today,” says Kolkata-born Basu.
Last monsoon, while he was still a student at Pune’s Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), he embarked on a road trip across rural Maharashtra, hoping to understand the superstitions surrounding menstruation. “But I found no answers,” says the engineer-turned-filmmaker, who shot the film in Bhor village (about 50km from Pune) and Patan, both in Satara district.
He adds, “I spoke to villagers, panchayat representatives and activists, but nobody could help me. What it did unravel though were disturbing details about the discriminatory customs that made menstruating women untouchables.”
The revelations, some of which make it to the film, were equal parts ghastly and ridiculous. Basu learnt that the villagers’ Marathi equivalent term, rather phrase, for menstruation, was mala kavlyani shivlay or ‘touched by a crow’. There was, however, no pointed justification to, “Why crow?” An obvious guess would perhaps be that the bird is considered inauspicious and dirty in several cultures across India. The villagers also believe that if a menstruating woman crossed a man’s path, he wouldn’t be able to procreate. “The experience of the menstruating women in isolated gaokars is almost like what the entire world went through by being shut inside houses during the pandemic. We were all untouchables,” says Basu.
Part of his diploma submission at FTII, Nehemich stars Sakshi Dighe and Bhakti Makarand Athawale. It also features a composition by renowned Israeli musician Oded Tzur. Basu co-wrote it with his friend Prithvijoy Ganguly, with whom he had previously worked on two Nepali short films––Khoji (The Search) shot near Darjeeling, and Quiro (The Mist) shot in Sikkim. Both are available on OTT platform MUBI.
Next in line for the young filmmaker is Bengali feature film, Kaktarua (Scarecrow). Currently in the pre-production stage, it is the story of a young girl searching for her street-theatre artiste and sculptor father, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.