Anjini Taneja Azhar was our 2023 Fall Short Film Fund Grand Prize Winner with her script WHO ARE YOU, NANU? She completed principal photography in May 2024 in India. The story follows 11-year-old Isha who, after her grandfather’s (Nanu’s) ceremonial cremation brings her to the Holy Ganges River in India, befriends the phantom of her Nanu’s rambunctious 8-year-old self and discovers the journey after death.
Tell us about shooting in India. What were some of the biggest challenges, benefits, and surprises?
Where do I begin? Shooting in India has changed my life. It has changed the lives of my cast and my crew. When we wrapped, there were enough tears to flood the Ganges. I have never felt such a sense of closeness with a group of 60 people! This experience has single-handedly taught me more in 4 weeks than in my 7 years of directing. We were shooting under the glaring sun in 115-degree weather (that’s 46 degrees Celsius). Much of our crew got heat stroke, including me, and in our final day in Varanasi I was directing from a chair with a wet cloth over my forehead, half delusional, with medication in my system. It’s funny, because the scene we shot during this madness is probably my favourite scene of the film now that I’ve perused the footage.
We were shooting scenes with seven-year-old and ten-year-old actors during sunrise, meaning we were shooting on 35mm film, with children, with heavy dialogue and emotion, in 45 minute windows. Yet that chaos was a reminder of why we make movies. It was a rush of love, passion, and instinct. By the end of it, my DOP Gary Long and I both agreed it was some of our best work. Our first day was brutal. We shot in two markets with the over crowdedness you often see in representations of India. We were not allowed to block off the whole street/market, so we shot with about 50-60 civilians just standing at the sides watching us, all blocked off by just two ADs. There’s a BTS photo of this actually that we’ve shared with Shore. On our third day, it was the hottest day of the shoot and we encountered a sandstorm at high noon. We worked through it nonetheless. When I think about my talent and my crew, who stepped off of features to work on this little film that could, I became emotional (I admit begrudgingly). I may be the luckiest director in the world. It’s funny this film is inspired by my grandfather, because his other granddaughter, my cousin who I often refer to as my sister, came on board to help. She flew to India with me and ended up co-producing the whole movie. No one on the team even realized she didn’t work in the industry. I know it sounds repetitive but I am so grateful.
I could go on forever about the surprises, from the wildlife cameos, to real cremating bodies surrounding us as we ate lunch or framed up, but what I’ll sum it up to is that we made a special film. We all felt it. We all came out as completely different people by the end of it, crew, cast, producers, and all.
How did you crew up for your project? Were your department heads hired out of Los Angeles, London and/or a major hub city and they brought their own team? Or did you hire most of your below-the-line crew locally in India?
Before I had anything I had my Los Angeles/USA team, my pre-production and development Producer Monique Efta, my cousin-turned-Producer Devika Taneja, 1st AC Milo (from London), my cinematographer who is responsible for some of the most beautiful footage I’ve seen, and my lead actress from Canada. Monique and Gary were the first people on board this film when it was a far-fetched idea two years ago. Next came my two executive producers Chima Egbuzie and Ruhee Patel, as well as my co-producer who is now actually another EP, Suchitra Pillai. That being said, most of my team was local to India. Suchi is based in Mumbai, and she single-handedly changed the course of this film. Not only did she play our mother in the film, ‘Indu,’ in a performance of a lifetime, but she is one of the sole reasons this film even happened. From helping find my line producer to helping find over 50% of the film’s financing, this film is partly in dedication to Suchi and her unshakeable belief in this story. Talk about a powerhouse EP.
It was such a privilege to work with our local crew in India. My line producer, Sudhir Sherigar, put blood, sweat, and tears into this movie. Sudhir and his team, Siddharth V. Chaudhary, Santanu Panda, Vindhya Malik, Darshan, Ajay ji, my AD team O’keef and Falguni, and more kept this movie afloat. My two production designers Bindiya and Arvind brought this movie to life. The film became textures, colours, and antiques thanks to them. They were my champions months before production and I found family in them. I truly believe we are all lifetime collaborators now. From my Gaffer, to Steadicam Op, PA’s, to the gracious boat and rickshaw drivers who kept us going from location to location, we had a heck of a team. It’s a huge privilege to work with artists from different countries and cultures, but I must admit the best part was being able to speak my language (Hindi) on set.
What was your casting process? Did you hold auditions or offer the main roles to talent you were already familiar with? You previously mentioned having a bit of a hard time casting the lead role of Aisha/Isha. How did that eventually come together?
My producer Suchitra found our ‘Little Nanu,’ in India for me. We saw his tape and just knew, he was such a talent. Finding ‘Aisha’ (now named ‘Isha’) was a whole different story. Casting such a specific role—so young and innocent yet mature and introspective was tough. It took months, and we were left Isha-less two weeks before production. I was having a full-blown panic attack, perusing the 84 self-tapes my casting director Erica Hart found me with my partner at 3AM. In the midst of the haystack, he pointed to a girl and said, ‘that’s your girl, I just know it.’ We watched her tape, and it was magic. I saw my film, and my Isha, all in one little girl’s audition tape. Her name is Jyothi Janath, and she absolutely was my girl. We did Zoom rehearsals and this ten year-old was taking notes on her script as I directed her. She’s Canadian Tamil, so she didn’t understand Hindi. The script required her to respond to Hindi dialogue in English. She learned Hindi phonetically and performed her scenes seamlessly. You’d never know she didn’t understand the language. It was incredible thing to watch. She’s whip smart.
Jyothi blew everyone away. Her talent, dedication, and unwavering patience under the scorching Varanasi sun had crew members whispering shock and pride into their walkies to one another. Our ‘Little Nanu,’ Kabir, was so full of spunk that at times I forgot he wasn’t actually the character.
My executive producer and long-time friend Suchitra is a well-respected actress in India. In Varanasi, fans would stop her for photos in between takes! I was so lucky to have such a force of nature play ‘Indu.’ It’s a director’s dream to work with an actor who loves the film so much that she discussed the intention behind every line of dialogue and every emotional choice. She even found my Isha’s on-screen father ‘Faisal,’—Shaurya, a cool, collected comedian who handles drama and depth so well.
How many days did you shoot for? Were you able to stay on schedule? Did you get everything you hoped to capture?
We shot for four days in Varanasi and one day in Mumbai. We had about four prep days beforehand in Varanasi and one prep/build day for the studio shoot in Mumbai. There were a lot of compromises to be made from external forces such as crowd-control and weather, but our footage turned out incredible. I do think we captured everything I hoped for, if not more. I know I had a one-of-a-kind crew on this one because we stayed on schedule.
Did you film on location, in studio, or both? Can you talk a bit about how you found your locations and obtained permission to shoot there?
Our Varanasi shoot was all on-location and our Mumbai shoot was all in-studio. In Varanasi, we were outside along the Ganges River on the ghats and markets every day. Our final location off the river was an interior that was built in the 1600s and historically preserved. Our art department team dressed it, painted it, and completely transformed it. In Mumbai, we had a studio shoot so everything was far more controlled. My production designers Bindiya and Arvind were the first crew members we had on board after my DOP. They became mentors, family, and a cornerstone in this film. Bindiya even gave me character notes based on her knowledge of living in India which ultimately made the film better. We had an instant connection. We talked about the moon for months and they accomplished the impossible. How do you build the moon and an earthquake-stricken house to scale on a soundstage within a short film budget? That’s exactly what they did. The moon was beyond my wildest dreams. When Jyothi walked on set, I saw her eyes light up: she was ready to play. This is the magic of a movie set and the creative vision of a production design team you trust.
The permit process was a grueling system of paperwork, making the right people happy, and visiting over eighteen police departments by my line producing team Sudhir, Vindhya, Siddharth, and Santanu. They were out for nearly 24 hours a day making sure we had every permission on the planet to shoot this movie on-location without a hitch. We had permission from national, state, and local governments/police. There was a crazy crowd; transportation was a huge difficulty because it’s election season in India, meaning there were candidates campaigning around. Our Indian team had Plan A, B, and C all in place to tackle this. The biggest hiccup was the airport. Originally, our plan was to scan our film stock in London as it was far more cost-effective. Election season meant an insane amount of security at the airport and very little grace. Despite having the necessary paperwork, the airport security gave me a hard time for over three hours about carrying the film stock and having it hand-checked rather than x-rayed. I ended up being forced to leave the film cans in Mumbai and getting them scanned there.
Talk to us about shooting on film – and 35mm nonetheless! Why did you choose to go that route? What were some of the biggest challenges and benefits of shooting on film?
The obvious biggest challenge of shooting on 35mm film was being economic. You only have so much film, in Varanasi you can’t just order more if you run out, and you cannot waste a roll on needless interruptions. The crew had to have a certain discipline to move with speed and efficiency: the perfect system. I had to ensure my actors were prepped and rehearsed as much as possible before rolling. You don’t have 5+ takes like you would on digital. You get it right in rehearsals, and get maybe two takes for variation, one for safety. Everyone had to be the best. Not only this, but the monitor! Oh, the monitor. When shooting on film, you cannot see a crisp, high-res picture on your monitor as you would digital. In fact, you can hardly see detail and the movie looks abysmal. You only use the monitor to check framing/ blocking/ etc., and you’re watching your actors with the naked eye for performances. It’s all about trust: trusting your team, your instincts, your actors. Sure, this is a challenge, but to me this is also a benefit. This is what filmmaking is all about. Art comes from instinct. It comes from first thought and feeling. It’s a product of the heart and the gut. Film is a product of collaboration and relationships.
I’ll say the obvious: 35mm film is gorgeous. The texture, colours, the emotion amidst the subtle grain. Our film just finished its scanning and processing journey and the footage is stunning. The footage is a testament to why the choice was made and obstacles were dealt with. There was no better medium to capture this story and the history of our locations. We were able to shoot on 35mm stock thanks to our co-production house and EPs, Mike Morrisroe, Mia Vyzis, and the team at Trifilm Studios. They made sure we had all the resources we needed to shoot on film, telling us that even ‘one beautiful frame’ meant that it was all worth it. They have a passion for movies and storytelling—they knew the difference 35mm would make for this short.
I’ve grown so much as a director and if possible, I would like to continue shooting on 35mm, dare I say, for the rest of my life.
We love hearing serendipitous stories. Did anything happen during production that was initially a “problem” or obstacle that ended up being the best possible thing for the project?
There was one major hurdle we overcame, and it was crucial to the validity of the film. The way the script was written, the opening scene where our lead’s grandfather was being cremated had the man’s body on top of the pyres for this visceral visual. Although this isn’t typically how it’s done, after watching a documentary by Ron Fricke, I saw that bodies were sometimes laid out that way. Once on set, my producing team in India shared just how uncommon that was. It wouldn’t play in the film. They said it would be jarring to those familiar with cremation traditions because the bodies simply aren’t displayed out in the open; they are always covered in wood. This changed the scene drastically. I was grappling between leaning into the fictionalization that movie magic allows or adhering to cultural tradition. As a director telling this story, it’s so pivotal to respect the culture of where you are shooting. In the end, I didn’t want to misconstrue something so sacred. We changed the setup from the script to respect the traditions whilst finding a compromise that allowed us to shoot the way we wanted. It was an ongoing debate within production, but I realize now this absolutely saved the film.
How is post-production coming together?
We’ve actually just begun the post-production process. It’s taken nearly three weeks to scan, process, and transport the film back to the US so we’re finally at a place to get it into a cutting room. Ideally this film will be locked and completed on all fronts of post-production by end of September.
What are your aspirations for the short once it’s completed?
It has been a lifelong dream of mine to surround myself with global cinema. For this reason, Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Busan International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival are the dream. I believe in dreaming big, so in the spirit of bucket lists I really want to find a way to share this film with Dev Patel, maybe to EP the film. I’ve been a huge fan for years and I personally believe he is one of the most prominent game changers for South Asians in cinema.
This film speaks to who I am as a director right now. I hope it helps me find representation to move into the feature space. It’s not my first short film, and the lessons I’ve learned as a filmmaker on this project has made me feel ready to move forward.
Mostly, over everything, I just want people to see this film. I really hope we can get distribution that allows people to watch the movie and I hope it strikes a chord with them. The thought is terrifying, as I’d be sharing a piece of my soul to the world to judge, but that’s the game, right? I’d be grateful to have the privilege.
Do you have any advice for filmmakers embarking on their first short film?
Go big or go home. Not when it comes to toys or gear or anything. There’s no reason you need to be ‘realistic’ when it comes to a vision, however. I hate that word, truly. It’s the antithesis to creativity. I think it’s wise to take a risk when it comes to vision rather than try to create what someone tells you is ‘realistic’ and land at mediocrity. If you try and fail, you’ve tried, and that risk is what art is about. I think approaching a short like a feature is the key when it comes to this. Start early, think about where the movie could go. We got into discussions with British Airways about a partnership we landed for the film that may include non-exclusive distribution. We did this before production began. Think of your colours, lighting, visuals like a feature. Shorts are where you get to play and explore who you are as a visual storyteller. Yes, there is compromise because finances are limited, but why should you scale down to a vision that doesn’t represent you? There’s a balance to be struck—and that takes courage and not playing it safe. Reach for the stars so you land on the moon. It’s important to dream big. Dreams are the best friends of artists.
Be patient and kind—kindness is a currency in this business. No one owes you anything. Fight for your vision but remember we make movies! It’s a privilege and quite frankly the coolest job in the world. We are all paving our way. Always move out of a place of love and passion.
Feel free to mention anything else about the shoot that we may have missed.
I’ve name-dropped a lot in this interview, but I genuinely feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards every single person who made this possible. I want to thank my family who supported me every step of the way, especially my grandfather (my Nanu) whose incredible life inspired this story. This film is an ode to my family.
I really want to thank my production team, my team in India, my DOP who has been in this for the long haul, and my primary executive producers who believe in me still despite my madness: Mike, Mia, Andrea, Rob, Barbara, Matt, and the team at Trifilm Studios, Ness Wadia, Suchitra Pillai, and Jacques Laffite, and last but not least, Shore Scripts.
