I wanted to record tales of ordinary characters from UP: Tanuja Chandra

Filmmaker and scriptwriter Tanuja Chandra co-wrote the screenplay and dialogues for Mahesh Bhatt’s Tamanna (1997) and Zakhm (1998). She also co-wrote Yash Chopra’s Dil Toh Pagal Hai (1997). 

Chandra made her directorial debut with the TV series Zameen Aasmaan, starring Tanvi Azmi. In 1996, she directed another television serial, along with Shabnam Sukhdev, called Mumkin. 

Chandra is known for her women-oriented films like Dushman (1998) and Sangharsh (1999). Her other films include Sur – The Melody of Life (2002), Film Star (2005), Hope and a Little Sugar (English, 2006). She also directed Zindaggi Rocks (2006), starring Sushmita Sen. She has also made a short film, Silvat. Her next film, a romantic comedy with Irrfan Khan, is all for release later this year.  

It is the story of a young girl named Noor who falls for another man while waiting for her husband who works in the Middle East and has not visited her in five years. The film features Kartik Aaryan of the Pyaar Ka Punchnama fame. 

Chandra’s book Bijnis Woman: Stories of Uttar Pradesh I Heard from My Parents, Mausis and Buas (Penguin Random House, 2017) brings together quirky, strange, funny and intriguing tales from small-town Uttar Pradesh that have been “passed orally from one generation to the next”. The collection bristles with wild tales from Bareilly, Lucknow, Hapur, Badaun, Sapnawat and Pilibhit — and others big and small places in Uttar Pradesh. The tales range from a lazy daughter-in-law, the court clerk who loved eating chaat, two cousins inseparable even in death to a blind teacher who fell in love with a woman with beautiful eyes. Chandra says that there is something about UP which makes people live out their lives dramatically. “I find some of the male characters unbelievably strange and some of the female one, very inspiring. I also find it so compelling that these people consistently felt strong and big emotions — whether negative or positive,” says Chandra. Excerpts from an interview: 

SHIREEN QUADRI: This book will reverberate with many readers, especially those from north India. Most of us have heard of some similar tales. It’s bittersweet and nostalgic. Could you share the genesis of these 

stories?

TANUJA CHANDRA: All of us enjoy nostalgic trips. For me, when I heard these stories, it was these unusual characters and their quirks, their longings, their failures that touched me. There was something heartbreaking about them and their all too human traits like anger, greed, lust, ambition, love and hate. Often I would laugh as I listened to these tales, but they also stayed in my heart. And when I revisited the stories for the book, I remembered how much I had enjoyed listening to them. I wanted very much to create a record about these characters from Uttar Pradesh, and their tales because the world pays attention only to extraordinary people, not ordinary ones. And I’m so glad I was able to do this.

SHIREEN QUADRI: Tell us something about your family members from whom you heard these stories?

TANUJA CHANDRA: My family is filled with eminent laughers! We laugh a lot and love to tell stories. My Nani was a hilarious woman who kept her daughters entertained by her qissas, and they in turn entertained me! My mother, Kamna Chandra, who is a writer of some amazing films like Prem Rog and Chandni, herself is a superior narrator of stories. She’s a rare combination of humour and intense emotions. On my father’s side there are oddball, interesting people with peculiar traits. All this makes for some great fun as well as some interesting story-writing!

SHIREEN QUADRI: Out of the 14 stories, I have found some favourites. Which of these stories are close to your heart and why?

TANUJA CHANDRA: It’s tough for me to choose favourites! Each has, like its protagonist, something that brings about a fuzzy affection in my heart, even as I giggle about the crazy events in their lives. I find some of the male characters unbelievably strange and some of the female one, very inspiring. I also find it so compelling that these people consistently felt strong and big emotions — whether negative or positive. There is something about UP which makes people live out their lives dramatically, and that’s really fascinating to behold.

SHIREEN QUADRI: The blurb mentions that the book is “a masaledaar mix of fact and fiction....” And yet all these stories seem so credible, within the realm of possibility. What dimension does fiction add to these stories?

TANUJA CHANDRA: Well, we all know that the oral tradition of storytelling allows for multiple narrators to expand facts! Now, to me, this isn’t necessarily making fiction out of non-fiction, because each narrator’s own life, their feelings, their world-view — these are as much a part of the stories as what the protagonists did. How I look at something changes the way that object appears. To my mind, the credibility you speak of comes from the depth of the narrator’s own feelings towards his subject, the truthfulness of the narrator’s own fascination and warmth. Which is why I’ve tried very hard to brush these tales with affection and empathy because that’s the truth of my feelings towards them. I have compassion towards even the most annoying and selfish of these characters, and I hope I’ve been able to bring that out.

SHIREEN QUADRI: Atta Chakki, Don Life, The Tea Stall , Doodhiya, and the title story, Bijnis Woman, clearly define the plight of women in rural  states of India. The society that reeks of patriarchy, a culture that doesn’t allow woman to flourish or live life freely. What was your  overriding impulse behind their selection? As a woman, what was your reaction when you first listened to them? Personally, what kind of affect did these stories have on you?

TANUJA CHANDRA: I’ve always had an abiding love for stories about women. And since the world has always been patriarchal, enough attention just hasn’t been paid to tales with female protagonists. My aim has always been to highlight women’s stories. When I heard the ones that feature in my book I was moved, inspired, frustrated and overwhelmed with affection, all at once. I’m a contemporary, educated, progressive, urban woman and yet, I so deeply understand the issues these women grappled with. I related to their pain and longings. It made me wonder if women from decades ago and women today were living in circumstances as different as we imagine. Till there is absolute equality of men, women, and minority groups, one can’t claim we’re living in a fair and just world. We’re still far, far from that.

SHIREEN QUADRI: The Guru and The Fortune Teller are stories of people buffeted by betrayals from their own. These stories are gripping and the details are explicit. How integral are these to their milieu?

TANUJA CHANDRA: The details of a milieu are crucial to a story. The depth of its vision comes from these details. I did research and I also got help from my family who described a time gone by. People lived differently then, they thought differently. What was common to present times, however, was the desire for love, respect, and fulfillment.

SHIREEN QUADRI: The Young Zamindar and Amrita is an amazing story. The character of feisty Amrita and her act of riding a horse all night and breaking through the sturdy gate of the Zamindar’s house is very impressive. What was her real story?

TANUJA CHANDRA: As far as I know and as far as the narrator maintains, what’s written is her true story. But we’ll never really know for sure, will we!