Nisha Pahuja’s documentary feature The World Before Her has won international acclaim, following its theatrical release in Canada and US. It will be released in Bangalore this Friday. The film won the World Documentary Competition Award at Tribeca Film Festival.
Describing the film as “first and foremost Indian film”, Nisha speaks of what inspired her to make it, over phone: “Initially the film was about the Miss India contest. I then read up on it and noticed there was a lot of opposition from feminists and Hindutva groups for completely different reasons. Feminists believe beauty pageants commodify women’s bodies, whereas Hindutva groups say it goes against their culture.” This realisation led Nisha to embark on further research that explores binary worlds: girls participating in beauty contests and those taking part in VHP’s Durga Vahini. The film centres on Ruhi Singh, a small-town girl, who participates in a beauty pageant and Prachi Trivedi, a young, militant leader of Durga Vahini, who Nisha describes as extremely charismatic. The two worlds may seem different, but Nisha says, “You realise they aren’t different at all. Most Indian women fall somewhere between these two worlds.” Nisha is the first filmmaker to be allowed into a Durga Vahini camp. “It was important to establish a relationship of mutual respect and trust because they were inviting me into their world.” Even though Nisha does not share the same political beliefs as Durga Vahini, she was careful not to judge them. “It was necessary to see where they come from. It was important for me not to make a sensationalist film or editorialise the content,” says Nisha, a freelance filmmaker, writer, producer and researcher, born in India and raised in Toronto.
The film also features former Miss India Pooja Chopra. “I had no clue about her experience. She revealed it to me when I interviewed her. Her father didn’t want her.”
