Filmmaker Akriti Singh wants the market to be more open to stories helmed by women

As a female filmmaker, Akriti Singh agrees that it is still an uphill task to find backers for female-led projects and that is why many are opting to take full charge of their own films. And for the same reason, Singh had turned herself into a one-man army for her directorial debut Toofaan Mail.

“I would say that I have invested my entire life to make this film. The way I was able to breakthrough was that I learnt a lot of things on my own. I have written the film, acted in it, directed, edited. I have even learnt colour correction for the film and I am doing it on my own,” shares Singh.

Talking about the benefits of being hands-on, the actor-filmmaker says a tutorial online really helps. “It is also a lot of hard work. But when you are passionate about filmmaking it does not matter. I think it will help in my next projects. Even if I get other people work. I know what I have to instruct them to do,” she says.

The 35-year-old’s directorial, Toofaan Mail was named best film (youth choice) at the UK Asian Film Festival. It will now be screened at IFFI this year. The film is based on a true incident from 1970s, where a woman arrived at the New Delhi railway station, claiming to be the Queen of Awadh, seeking to meet Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Talking about how open the market is for female helmed female stories, Singh says, “I think we are so used to listening stories from a male perspective and very few stories written by women. When we listen and hear stories by women, we feel different. We feel that this is not the kind of story that we are used to. The female perspective is very fresh and new.”

Before wrapping up, Singh adds, “We need to have a more open mind and we need to have a shift in our perspective to be able to comprehend and understand women stories.”