Meet The SHEROES: Vaishnavi Sundar

What problem are you trying to solve? What opportunity are you taking up?

I am attempting to try and address the gender disparity in the film industry.

What do you do to solve this problem?

I built an online community called Women Making Films with an offline collaboration model. Through the community, I intend to bring together women under one virtual roof and create opportunities for them to work with each other, and a model that would become free of gender based exclusion.

What inspires you every day to do what you do?

I look around me and it is obvious that we live in an unequal world. There is oppression in the name of gender, caste, race and sexual orientation - all of which is supposed to be a private affair, is brought to public speculation because of power politics. And over the years, women like Fatma Begum, Ishrat Sultana, Kanan Devi, Rajkumari Dubey, M V Rajamma, B R VIjalakshmi, Prema Karanth, Suprabha Devi, Renee Smith, Rosy and so many more, have struggled doubly to make a mark for themselves in this highly sexist industry and that is my inspiration. I want to carry their legacy and try to create opportunities for the coming generations of filmmakers.

What was your childhood ambition, and how did you share it with family and friends?

I had oscillating and perpetually shifting ambitions and I clearly remember, I never wanted to be one thing at any given point - it was always an athlete who is a cop and a jewellery designer, or a dancer who is a detective and lyricist, or a traffic police who is a cook and ...you get the drift. I don’t remember engaging in such role playing games because I was very outdoorsy and aloof most of the times - so I would play kick a stone for hours on end, get tired and run back home. But I have always been on the volleyball ground or at the tracks, working out and practising. I have embarrassing photographs to prove that I have worn colorful costumes and danced on all public events in school.

Your schooling, college: was it targeted towards what you hoped to be... did you become what you 'studied' to be, or did you change course and chart a different path?

I grew up in a suburban city and largely without a mentor. Schooling and college were simply done to check the list. Until my under graduation, I had not even stepped out of my little town and I did not enjoy school at all. Except a few teachers, I quite despised everyone because of their lack of empathy and textbook style of teaching. So for the longest time, I had no idea what I wanted to be to hope that education would help me achieve it. My under graduation and post graduation too were an obligatory checklist tick to set me up in the rat race. When I completed MBA in 2008, India thoroughly dwindled all possible job opportunities due to recession. I think somewhere afterwards, more out of lack of options, I dabbled with various jobs until I quit everything and chose to become an entrepreneur, a filmmaker and set up my own production company called Lime Soda Films.

How and when did you chose your field/hobby?

It was just about four years ago when I decided to quit a globe-trotting job that had tremendous opportunities. When I did, I did not have anything figured out in my head. Added to that, my personal life was pushing me to the brink of depression, with its abuse and patriarchal overdose. Somewhere in my head, some chord seemed to have snapped, and I wanted an avenue to express my anguish. Since I have been juggling with jobs and theatre / film, I always found it to be a fantastic platform for artistic expression. Though you could call it a decision taken at the spur of the moment, I quit my job and took to theatre, filmmaking and writing, full time. It is not a hobby, it never was - it is my job and over the years, a responsibility too.

What were the personal hurdles you had to cross - i.e the reaction of friends and family?

Am happy you said reaction and not validation or permission. My family reacted in the most admirable way possible - not only were they thrilled that I decided to pursue filmmaking, they were vocally proclaiming that I’d make them filmstars! It is absolutely not the reaction that I expected, but I don’t want to trade this with anything else. There were no hurdles, I just quit and turned a new leaf.

What do you see changing for women professionals in India? How would you encourage young women to consider entrepreneurship as a viable profession? Please share your top 5 tips.

Things are changing for women, yes - but the rate of change leaves a lot to be desired. I observe that girls seem quite focused and clear on what they aspire to be, at a very young age these days. Which is good and bad because rigidity in career choices makes us fear failing. So my friendly suggestion would be to

1. Be flexible and open to trying a variety of options

2. Keep putting yourself out of your comfort zone

3. Never fear failing, in fact allow yourself to fail a lot

4. Try and learn from the shortcomings and remember that it is okay to fail again

5. Entrepreneurship is a magical state of being that comes with more responsibilities than perks - but if it is for you, you’d know it instantly and you will know how to keep up - and if it doesn’t work out, have a plan B.
    

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

2026 unless I am dead or blind.

What do you do for fun?

I do a lot of things in general and I get bored of all of them very soon - so for fun, I paint, write poetries, cover a song from a favourite film, do a movie or a book marathon, or just set off to some place with no agenda.