Sister act

AT PARTIES, you can see them enjoying. While at work, they are demanding and perfectionists. Meet Lakshmi and Saraswati. The sisters' television serial, 'Savithri' (about a rape victim out to teach her tormentors a lesson) touched every woman's heart as it depicted woman power - something every ordinary woman would like to exercise but often cannot. Thus, the young directors had their fingers on the pulse of their target audience.

The purpose of meeting them at their Alwarpet office was not to talk about their serial, but to find out how as women, they balance the multifarious roles.

"We come from a family of creative people. All our uncles and aunts are associated with various arts. My mother has always been involved in my father's film production. In fact, she was one of the earliest women to take up this work. During shootings, she would be at the location at 6.30 a.m. making sure that the unit members had their breakfast and she would work till late in the night. After school, we used to go to our father's office and wait for our parents to finish work. Gradually, we started doing voice-overs for commercials in many languages".

One thing led to another. The sisters started working with their father on his projects. Finally, he gave his daughters a project to be handled by them entirely - a documentary film for the Indian Oil Corporation. The father was impressed and more work came their way.

The first time a concept for a serial came up when Sun TV was launched and one of their productions was re-telecast. Seeing the tremendous response, Lakshmi and Saraswathi were inspired to do a 13-part serial, "Arthamulla uravugal". They scripted and directed the serial, embarking on a path they are now tredding with confidence.

They draw inspiration from real life incidents and experience, for instance, the character of Kausi mami in 'Savithri' was based on the mami working in their house.

Lakshmi and Saraswati have also done a two-minute film "Women of India" followed by "Minsara Poove" for Vijay TV.

How did 'Savithri' happen?

"We watched a lot of television before starting work on our serial. We found that most serials had themes based on the mother-in-law-daughter-in-law relationship or working women. That is when we came across this news item about a girl being gang- raped.

While the case was going on and generated lot of curiosity, we wondered what would happen to the girl after the verdict is pronounced. So, we decided to build on that".

They got lot of letters from women asking what Savithri would do next and whether she will succeed in her mission.

"What we were trying to tell women through the serial was - don't shed tears, develop courage to fight humiliation and atrocities. We did a lot of homework by reading about rape cases, particularly of a woman in Rajasthan who was gang-raped, but continues to live bravely in the same village with her husband's support. That is when we felt that Savithri too needed the support of a man and so we introduced Chaitanya's character".

After 'Savithri' what?

"Besides serials, we want to make a film," say the sisters. According to them, a good film should have the right mix of all the elements - drama, music, comedy, action etc. Their all-time favourites are 'Masoom', 'Mouna Raagam', 'Badshah', 'Nayakan', 'Thevar Magan' and 'Astitva'. Lakshmi and Saraswati want to make movies "for people to see and enjoy and not to win only awards."

The two have been able to juggle between home and shootings because of the support of their husbands and parents.

Their children are their best critics. "We will always try to make serials which can be watched by the entire family. As young mothers, we feel it is important that we spend enough time with the children and instill in them the same values with which we grew up," they declare.

CHITRA MAHESH

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Section  : Entertainment