Interview | Director Raghuvir Joshi on crafting a 'universal story' in debut film Sahela

In a conversation with Raghuvir Joshi, the debut director of the poignant Indo-Australian drama Sahela, I explore the intricacies of this film that intertwines the delicate threads of love and self-discovery. The film unravels the poignant journey of Vir Oza and Nitya Behl, a young couple in Western Sydney, as they navigate the fractures in their seemingly perfect marriage when Vir's revelation about his sexuality disrupts their world.

Edited excerpts:

Q. Raghuvir, first of all, congratulations. I loved Sahela, and found it a remarkably moving film. I was taken aback to learn that it was your directorial debut. So to kick off our conversation, could you share what initially drew you to this story and the themes you aimed to convey through Sahela? 

A. Sahela is inspired by my lived experience, of having discovered my sexuality after my marriage. But it's not autobiographical, but it's kind of autofictional, where the core of the story is from the DNA of my lived experience of discovering, as I said, discovering my sexuality after my marriage. And the journey... back in 2017 or 18, I directed a short film, which is called Yaman, which became the proof of concept for the feature film. And then, the producer of my short was also the producer of my feature film. His name is Tayyab Madni from Pictureworks Australia, he's a Sydney-based producer. And then along with Ellanar Pictures and the support of Dev Patel as an executive producer on this film, we kind of began the journey of the feature film. 

We set it up in Australia and Sydney because the immigrant layer to the story was very fascinating to me and I had a very close lens and a close insight through Tayyab who is an immigrant himself. He also came up with the idea of setting it up in the migrant community of Australia because the South Asian diaspora in Australia is never represented in international films. UK and US mostly are. And then when you throw in the sexuality into the mix of things, the stakes really rise for the characters. 

In the last couple of years, through the pandemic, we wrote the film with my co-writers, Atika Chauhan from Mumbai, and then we had two Aussie writers. So, yeah, so it was a nice milieu of these people.

Q. So as a first-time feature director, what were some of the challenges you faced in bringing Sahela to life? And how did you overcome them? 

A. In a medium like film, every process is a challenge, right? Writing itself was a challenge because I had to distance myself from my own experience and see it objectively. And that really helps when you start collaborating with your writers, with your actors, with your HODs. Then there is the challenge of mounting an independent film, because there is no star cast; it is not a very commercial subject.

So it was overcoming one challenge after the other. And then the production process was incredible. We shot 52 locations in 30 days within the small resources we had. I was really surrounded by great HODs. My sound designer is Wayne Pashley, who's an Oscar nominee for Elvis. My DOP is Michael McDermott, who shot Hounds of Love and he had a couple of other films in Venice. The editor is Scott Gray, who did Top of the Lake. He also did this amazing indie film in Australia called Somersault. 

I did surround myself with people smarter than me, which always helps (laughs). I was also very lucky to have a great cast, such incredible actors as Antonio Aakeel and Anula Navlekar. And the veterans of the industry, Sheba Chadda, Vipin (Sharma), Harish (Patel). I got the support that I needed as one should as a debut director. 

Q. Antonio, I learned, is a Brit actually. His Australian accent was pretty flawless...

I'll pass on this message to him! He'll be very happy to hear that. Because the actors had to go through a massive process as well. Of course, there was the accent and the dialect training and the sitar training, which they'd never had in their life before. A lot of intimacy sessions as well — we had an intimacy coach. They worked really hard. As I said, I love the process of collaboration. I love the process of making as much as I love telling the story. Because there is so much personal growth while you're making the film. This is why, even when it's so hard to make a film, I always want to go back to the process again and do it better and get better at my craft because the potential for growth in this medium is immense. 

Q. Sahela touches on the theme of expectations and sacrifice by parents and I think many Indian and Indian origin youngsters can relate. So you love your parents, but you also want to express your true self and your sexuality. What I liked about the film was that it did not demonise the parents, despite their dated beliefs about homosexuality. What was the thought process behind this decision?

A. If you really be honest with your own story and if you are just an honest viewer of life, nobody is black and white and everybody is grey. Especially with families and parents... they are operating from a place of love and concern. It's just that there is such a massive bridge to cross when it comes to conversations about sexuality. And if you allow that conversation, and if the kids allow the parents some leeway... because they won't understand it in the beginning.

But if you give them that time and space to figure it out along take them on the journey with you, then it becomes a little more easier. It's definitely hard and it's frustrating when you're at that point in your life where you can't get through to your parents. But if they are allowing you the safe space to talk about it, then you should also allow them that time to come around. And they always do. And everyone's operating from their own history or their own baggage. 

Q. So when Veer decides to disclose his sexuality to Nitya, it leads to a sort of a shift in the relationship. So it's cathartic for Veer, but not so much for Nitya. She's shocked. So could you elaborate on how you approach directing the scenes that depicted this transformation? Although they were sad, but I enjoyed them as a fan of filmmaking. 

A. So, you know, initially, so that's why if you see the first 20 odd minutes of the film is actually just setting up their mundane lives. You set up the domesticity of their lives because. They both are operating from their gender roles, right? She has to be the best wife the best daughter-in-law and the best daughter. And that's why when at the point when he comes out, he has no safety net. If he had got that promotion, if he had got the house, he probably wouldn't have to confront his true real self. But the fact that he couldn't meet his gender roles. He couldn't be the man he wanted to be. He had to really learn who he really is. 

And I guess it is probably harder for the person who is trying to pull the plug on a relationship. Veer is the cause and Nitya is the effect of the story. So, yes, she's bearing the brunt of his decisions. But he is also going through his own transformation. It's as hard for him because there is love. So it is hard because there's no other third person; he's not emotionally attached to anybody else. It's just a discovery and a revelation. To capture the dilemma of both of them was most challenging and thus most exciting. 

Q. So in Sahela, there's also a clash between Indian cultural values and queer acceptance. So how do you see this theme resonating with India? Because in India, legislation is progressive but there are lingering conservative values, particularly in the older generations. 

A. We've done four festival rounds. We started with Adelaide, which was our world premiere — Adelaide Film Festival. Then we did Sydney. Then we did MAMI. And then I just came back from London for the London Film Festival. And what I did realise after these four screenings, we have touched upon four different audiences. One is the white audience. One is South Asians in India. Then there's a South Asian diaspora, which we hit in London as well as Sydney, and the queer audience across all these demographics. And it is landing and resonating with all these people. And that's what makes me realise that it's a universal story. And because it is about love and loss and family, as much as it is about sexuality,

It's striking a chord with different people for different reasons. Sometimes the South Asian diaspora can be a little more conservative because they're trying to hold on to an identity. In fact, there's a line in which Nitya tells Veer that something to the effect of how India has moved ahead, but her mom is still stuck in her ways. Also, as you said there is a lingering conservatism around because I think we still are a few years behind where we need to be, we still need to talk about sexuality, and we still need narratives about queer people, queer art, whatever it is, let there be a larger conversation.

I'm like, let there be any kind of conversation, let there be any kind of film, let there be like a massive commercial film or an indie film or an abstract film or something very accessible. It's all okay. As long as there is more conversation around it, we can probably propel our collective consciousness towards talking about it more.