Filmmaker Tanuja Chandra says it is her "calling" to tell stories about women whether it is through movies such as "Dushman" and "Sangharsh" or her latest docu-series "Wedding.con".
The series, currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, digs deep into the pressure that single women go through to get married and how they often fall prey to online scamsters in this process.
The filmmaker, who also co-wrote "Zakhm" with Mahesh Bhatt, said when she started in the movies, there were very few women telling stories about women.
"It is my calling to make stories about women. When I started, there were just a handful of female directors and very few stories were made about women. Since then, my endeavour has been to tell more and more stories about women because I feel it is extremely fresh," Chandra told PTI.
The director, who also made Irrfan and Parvathy Thiruvothu-starrer "Qarib Qarib Singlle", said there are many stories to be told in the "female genre".
"This is a zone that has not been explored by the world and therefore, there are countless fresh stories to be told. It is not something that we have heard enough of. We haven't heard close to enough about it. I'm an absolute lover and advocate of what I call the female genre," she said.
"Wedding.con" chronicles the stories of five women whose search for the perfect life partner takes a distressing turn as they fall victim to financial and emotional exploitation by conmen.
Chandra, who earlier directed the documentary "Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha" about her elderly aunts, said she was approached to direct the docu-series by BBC Studios two years ago and she felt shocked to find out about such frauds.
"I had no idea which I feel very stupid and ignorant about because I also operate very much in the digital world. I'm on Instagram, on social media and all that. Of course, I don't have experience of dating sites or even of matrimonial sites.
"When they brought it to me, I felt fortunate that such a subject came to me because for me, female stories have always been my abiding passion... And these five women very courageously agreed to speak to us, and opened their hearts out to us," she said.
Chandra said her approach was to build a relationship based on trust with the five women. And at no point, she felt judgemental towards her subjects.
"I was like 'I am on the side of these women.' There is nothing wrong that they have done. Making a mistake is not a crime, misjudging people is not a crime," she added.
She revealed that the researchers and the producers of the docu-series met countless women who fell prey to the online scamsters but were unwilling to speak in front of the camera because of "shame".
"Out of the five, three women didn't show their faces because they feel the world will look at them and say how foolish of them. And this is how the law approaches them. Now, unfortunately, the victim is supposed to defend herself as opposed to the world saying how can we help you catch the criminal because this is a pure crime.
"I feel the framing of questions and understanding is largely prejudiced against women. They have been in the darkness for centuries and that path towards equality is a very difficult road, where you have very little support and that was my most important point in this series," she added.
She stressed that "Wedding.con" is not limited to uncovering scams that happen online as the docu-series also speaks about the culture that makes it a fertile ground for such crimes to happen.
"In our society, marriage is the ultimate goal, that your life is incomplete without it. A 25-26 year old woman may choose not to be married for a while but she simply isn't given that option by her family, society, or her extended family... So the pressure of marriage is what these criminals are very much operating with.
"In our series, it's like the crime was committed by these criminals very much with the support of society. Society isn't less complicit in this because first you push the girl towards marriage, and when she makes a mistake, you say 'Oh how could you do this?' You can't have it both ways."
The filmmaker said while anyone can get conned regardless of their gender, women fall prey to such crimes more.
"Yes this happens to men as well and my absolute empathy is with them. (But) I chose to make it about women. If in an equal, where women and men are treated equally, that question to me and that objection in my eyes would be absolutely valid.
"In an unequal world, where women are not equal to men, I say that it is very important to give priority to the women... So I chose this to be a female-driven story."
The series, according to Chandra, is a first of its kind in India and she hopes that it opens the space for more such stories to be explored in future.
