Everyday Democracy

It’s not every day that one gets to make a film in the same series as writers Margaret Atwood, Elif Shafak and Lola Shoneyin. But Aditi Mittal did. Asked by the Financial Times to make a film on how women experience democracy, she chose to write a piece which looked at how the freedom to be, to see, and be seen informed her. The result: a funny short film where a camera follows Mittal walking and taking a bus in Mumbai, dressed in a sleeveless top. Quite appropriately called In That Top (although I prefer the Hindi title, Badtameez Kameez), the film explores the idea of a functioning democracy, which doesn’t begin and end with elections. Instead it looks at the in-between moments in how freedom plays out in ordinary lives. The film has Mittal in a double role, one as herself, and the other as her fictional father, the kind who thinks ginger can cure cancer. It also has a catchy song, ‘Khambo’, which is all about the four pillars of democracy sung by Gudiya Pawar, of Much Ado About Nothing and Raitila Rajasthan. “There’s a personal democracy and a public democracy, and I wanted to see the interplay of the two in a year where half the world will be voting,” says Mittal. The writing is satirical and the shoot is a beautiful walk through the nicest parts of Mumbai with some not so nice fellows on the bus. A sample of the text: “We are the world’s largest democracy, for the people, of the people, by the people,” says the father, as he instructs his daughter to cover up.” Her answer: “That’s because we also have the largest number of people in the world, Pa.” Touché.

The Star System

Movie stars, cricketers, digital content creators. This is the new world of entertainment, says Vijay Subramaniam, founder and Group CEO, of Collective Artists Network, and there is no hierarchy here. Authenticity will be the biggest quality content creators need to have, says Subramaniam. “It will create a community for the creator, which will then become platform agnostic and will follow the creator wherever he or she goes,” he adds. The idea is not of aggregating numbers but of creating an engaged community which trusts and follows the social media star— although currently YouTube and Instagram are the top choices for social media creators. He says it is no surprise that the government has just initiated the national creator awards to support digital storytellers, knowing the power of this economy to create jobs for young people. The awards, in 20 distinct categories, are meant to acknowledge individuals who are fostering positive social change, driving innovation, and shaping India’s cultural narrative within the digital realm. There’s also Tulsi village in Chhattisgarh which has turned into a YouTube hotspot with every household engaged in creating ‘family-friendly’ content. There will be as many jobs to create content as there are consumers for it. “It’s a business where the entry costs are low and bandwidth is growing. All you need is a smart phone, after all. But you also need patience and perseverance to build communities,” adds Subramaniam. India is set to have the largest base of social media content creators globally with the figure crossing 100 million this year, according to influencer marketing platform Zefmo. The organised influencer marketing sector is set to reach ₹3,000 crore.

Scene and Heard

Ambika Mod is the new British-Indian star in England, who is being much feted for her role in the TV adaptation of David Nicholls’ novel, One Day. Starring Mod and Leo Woodall, the 14-part series on Netflix has caught the imagination of young people. The last time Mod was prominently featured on screen, she portrayed a junior doctor in the medical drama and critical darling, This is Going to Hurt in 2022. Now, her fame is at another level. To start with there was an interview on The Graham Norton Show where she narrates a story about her inability to sleep with her eyes closed, eliciting horrified reactions both from Norton and her famous couchmates— among them Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Sheen. She’s been on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour as well, where she talked of growing up not seeing a brown woman as a romantic lead in a Western series. Mod’s calm confidence and poker face will carry her far, especially in a universe where South Asian women are getting lead parts. Mod made her start in live comedy, performing for years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, before seeing some success in 2019.

About The Author

Kaveree Bamzai

Kaveree Bamzai is an author and a contributing writer with Open

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