BENGALURU: Like many others, Dr Pooja Pandey Tripathi found no end to the taboo and stigma surrounding menstruation. Whether it’s exercising during a period, or starting a physio session, plans often revolve around a woman’s menstrual cycle. Which is why the physiotherapist and theatreperson decided to express her thoughts in an artistic manner. The result was Welcome Red, a 8.5-minute film, which has now been selected for Kaaryat International Film Festival of India, Jaipur (KIFFI).
Her second directional venture, Welcome Red is written by her sister Aarti Pandey, and directed by Tripathi and Aditya Kumar. “Many assume that menstruation is a hush-hush matter only in the rural set-up. But even in the urban setting, it is something that cannot be discussed openly,” says Tripathi.
She has also won the best actress award for this at one of the festivals. “Menstruation is a perfectly normal, biological process, and yet, there is no end to the stigma and taboo that surrounds it. The short film does its bit to further the dialogue around the same issue,” she adds.
The film with five actors is set in an office during a high-stakes situation when a group of professionals is trying to meet a tough deadline. In the middle of it, one of the only two women in the group gets her period, and an uncomfortable, but important conversation ensues. At the end of it await important lessons and takeaways, both for the group as well as the viewer.
Tripathi preferred the festival route, which she felt would reach a larger audience. Having been screened at festivalslike Africa Film For Impact Festival, Siliguri International Short Film Festival, and Pink City International Short Film Festival among others, they feel that the message has reached the masses. Done on a tight budget of `20,000, the biggest issue turned out to be finances. “If we had a larger budget, it could have been better,” she says.
Her biggest reward was when her father, a practising medical doctor, called to acknowledge the idea behind the film. “When I first got my period, I had no clue about what was happening to my body and approached my father as he’s a doctor. But he redirected me to my mother, uncomfortable to talk about the issue. So, when he called to say that this issue needs to be normalised, I really felt that it was a job well done,” she says.