Radhika Madan hopes her film Sanaa sparks conversation around women breaking from the patriarchal misogynist society

Actor Radhika Madan is feeling overwhelmed with her film, Sanaa, travelling to multiple film festivals, with the latest being the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. And she hopes that her project sparks conversation around women breaking from the patriarchal misogynist society.

Her film premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival recently. “The response at the fest was really overwhelming. A lot of tears, a lot of hugs and a lot of appreciation. We also realised that the emotion that we’re trying to tackle is universal. It doesn’t matter from which part of the world you are, you will connect to the film on some level and we could see that at the screening and it’s been really special,” Madan tells us.

The 27-year-old adds, “Walking the first black carpet for me was really special. Seeing people there greet you with so much warmth and appreciation reinstates your faith in the way you approach films. Sanaa was all hard for me. I gave it my all and to see it being received with so much love makes me go for more projects like this with all my heart”.

The film is a relationship drama about a headstrong and ambitious woman, and the actor admits that portraying such women onscreen holds a special place in her heart.

“Representation of a headstrong and ambitious woman like this is important but for me, it is the true representation, not the caricature representation of a headstrong and ambitious woman. It is important to show its humanness, of what goes behind that image. That is what we’ve tried to show in Sanaa,” she says.

The actor further continues, “We’ve tried to target a lot of things. How do you survive in this patriarchal misogynist society? How do you not lose a part of yourself? What all do you or lose in order to achieve that? So we’re targeting a lot many layers. I hope people will be able to connect with our narrative and introspect, both men and women. Our aim is to just start a conversation and we hope that we’re able to do it by the end of it”.

In fact, the Shiddat actor feels the audience have been very welcoming towards such diverse representation of women onscreen. “I think there has a been substantial change and a welcome change in that aspect. Society is always in flux and so are the people that make it so it is only right that our movies also reflect that change. Today’s audiences are not only appreciating that but in fact demanding it. Sanaa, in that manner, will be a welcome addition,” she wraps up.