Mumbai, Veteran writer-director Sooni Taraporevala says she was introduced to the high-energy dance form of waacking through actor Mekhola Bose and during their discussions, she realised that she could use it as an anchor to tell a story about a group of women.
Her curiosity about Waacking, which involves dancers doing sharp, fast, and expressive arm movements and dramatic poses, resulted in the Prime Video series “Waack Girls”.
Taraporevala, known for penning Mira Nair’s acclaimed films like “Salaam Bombay!”, “Mississippi Masala” and “The Namesake”, has created and directed the series.
Bose, granddaughter of cinema legend Soumitra Chatterjee, is a professional waacker and was spotted by Taraporevala when she was casting for her 2020 Netflix movie “Yeh Ballet”.
“I saw her when I was casting for ‘Yeh Ballet. I loved what she was doing but I didn’t know what it was called. Later, after the shoot, we had lunch together. She was visiting from Kolkata and we spoke. I asked her about it. That’s when I found out about Waacking.
“I asked her a lot of questions about Waacking and her crew, etc. And that’s when I first thought of the idea of making something based around Waacking,” Taraporevala told PTI in an interview.
When she took a deep dive into the subject, the filmmaker became aware about the history of the dance form.
Waacking originated in the gay clubs of the 1970s in California, US, and became a mode of expression for Black, Latino, and Asian men. The dance form reached its peak during the 70s and then slowly dwindled from the clubs as disco fell from the mainstream and the AIDS epidemic hit the world – taking a lot of originators along with it.
“It interested me as a storyteller. I’ve written, for Mira, a film called ‘My Own Country’, which is about the first time AIDS appeared in America. And it’s based on a book by Dr. Abraham Verghese who was treating these AIDS patients when nobody knew what AIDS was.
“And that tragedy of AIDS and people dying is also part of waacking. And that interested me to explore that level beneath the dance form. And there’s nothing wrong with a dance form just being a dance form, but for me as a storyteller, it helped me have this other layer under it. And that has worked itself into the story,” Taraporevala said.
“Waack Girl” is set in Kolkata and follows six young women who are unapologetically themselves as they create a dance group in a city and a country that knows little about their chosen dance style, waacking.
The series captures their adventures both on and off the dance floor as they confront personal battles, family expectations, and societal norms.
Bose stars as Ishani, the leader of the titular dance group, alongside Anasua Chowdhury, Chrisann Pereira, Priyam Saha, Ruby Sah and Achintya Bose.
“My co-writers, Iyanah Bativala and Ronny , and I wanted to have six girls who were very unique in themselves but also as a group… tired of seeing women who all look like clones of each other. So all the young women in the show are very distinctive looking and have distinctive personalities,” Taraporevala said.
Working with a young cast and crew felt like a good idea and the filmmaker said she fully embraced it.
“My crew was very young. My cast was very young. And that’s the way to do it. And they all brought their A-game to it. And I’m so grateful,” she said.
As a filmmaker, Taraporevala tries to emulate what Hollywood filmmaker Woody Allen once said about working with his cast.
“Woody Allen, who is now discredited, said that his process is that ‘I get the best person for the job and then I let them do their job’. My guiding principle when I started ‘Little Zizou’ was that quote of his,” she said, referring to the 2009 movie, which marked her directorial debut.
“It was my script. And I had liberty to allow the actors to improvise because I knew what the story was and I knew what I could do with it. And I enjoy collaborating with the crew as well as the cast. That’s the process that works the best for me,” she added.
As a storyteller, Taraporevala said she doesn’t aim to stand apart from the rest of the crew.
“I don’t like being called madam or ma’am. I hope to be one with the cast and crew. And I think people really appreciate that. They like being appreciated and they bring their best work to a process like that,” she added.
Though she is grateful to Prime Video for backing a story like “Waack Girls”, the filmmaker said it is still a struggle for storytellers like her to get their stories made.
“Mira, I was just talking to her on the phone yesterday, and she said it never stops. Struggle never ends. When you’re in Indie cinema, it’s always a struggle,” Taraporevala said.
At the core of the struggle is the ecosystem in India that worships film stars and their fans as well as “a certain way of telling a story”, she added.
“It’s always gonna be a struggle if you step outside of that and want to gain an audience. That’s what it is. I mean, ‘All We Imagine As Light’, which has won so many amazing awards, took Payal Kapadia four years to make it,” she said.
Also starring Barun Chanda, Lillete Dubey and the late Nitesh Pandey in pivotal roles, “Waack Girls” is produced by Matter Entertainment, Chalkboard Entertainment, and Jigri Dost Productions. The series will start streaming on Prime Video from Friday.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
