I Want To Flip Male-Driven Narratives With Women

VICTORIA, the quietly powerful debut by Angamaly-native Sivaranjini J, is set almost entirely within the four walls of a modest beauty parlour in her hometown.

- VIVEK SANTHOSH

Through its all-women ensemble and mostly single-location structure, the film becomes a delicate, immersive portrait of everyday intimacies: women talking, working, laughing, arguing, in a space carved out entirely for themselves. After a warmly received premiere at the 29^th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), the film reaches global audiences at the ongoing 27^th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), standing as the only Indian entry in the Asian New Talent competition.

Developed under the Kerala State Film Development Corporation's (KSFDC) Women's Empowerment scheme, Victoria was written and directed by Sivaranjini as she was pursuing her PhD at IIT Bombay. A graduate of NID Ahmedabad with a background in editing, she brings to the film a deep attentiveness to texture, space, and unsaid emotions. In this interview, she reflects on the film's festival rejections, unexpected breakthroughs, what it means to create without the burden of industry expectations, and more.

Excerpts: Victoria has now been selected for a prestigious platform like the SIFF. How does it feel to make that transition from the IFFK to such a major global stage?

Honestly, we didn't expect it. After our premiere at IFFK, we were told that most international festivals prefer world premieres, and nearly all the rejections we got were because of that. We tried reaching out to curators, but the answer was mostly the same. Even in Shanghai, most of the films in this competition are having their world premieres, so I didn't think we stood a chance. That's why the selection came as such a lovely surprise. For a small, government-backed film with no big names, made by a team of first-timers, it really means the world to us.

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