Kajri, Raj Babbar’s niece to direct British film

After her short film Pardaa went to the 44^th Student Academy Awards by Oscars in 2017, Kajri, niece of actor and politician Raj Babbar, is foraying into feature film direction with a British venture. The 23-year-old is collaborating with British producers Jacqui Miller Charlton MBE, actor and producer Craig Conway (Doomsday fame) and Clare Cahill for the film The Burning Bride.A period drama set in the 1940s, the film is the journey of a 15-year0-old Indian girl who marries a British officer, and travels to England.Excerpts of an interaction with Kajri.
Why this particular subject for the choice of a film?
It is a global story. It unites the two worlds of East and West through the eyes of a young teenager. I want to show England the true reality about the aftermath of the British Empire. On the other hand, I want Indians to know that how the British Empire was run and benefited by just a few upper class Britishers. While the reality in England was totally opposite of what we perceive it to be.
Your first film, Pardaa was a women centric subject, so is this one. You seem to be choosing social commentary especially themed on the women of India. Are you a feminist, or it's just that Indian women, and their travails make for good subjects to tell interesting stories?
It’s actually both. I was groomed to be a feminist by my family and my education. It is very important for me that I present really strong female leads in my films. Women as a gender are very complex. They can be strong and at the same time naïve. In that context, they make for pretty interesting characters. In fact, my graduation film Khoj, was also a story inspired by true life events, over the growing issue of wife abandonment and dowry. It is the official selection for the Shorts Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival 2018.
You have planned 18 months of research into the project. Will that long a time period be necessary?
The research has begun. It’s been a while now, but since it’s a period film, the preproduction is heavy and intense. The film is the journey of a young Indian girl who gets married to a British Officer and travels to the Northeast of England in the 1940s.
The star cast, will it be Indian or British? Any names in your mind for the lead roles?
As of now, none at all. We need to show a prominent age gap between the lead couple. We are thinking of casting a big British actor for the officer. Once that is fixed, the search for our girl will begin.
You are also collaborating with Raj Babbar’s daughter and your cousin, Juuhi. How did that come about?
The Indian part of the film is being looked upon by the Babbar production house, which is also being relaunched with this film. It was a mutual decision among the family elders that this relaunch should be led by the younger generation. That’s when Juuhi didi travelled to England for the Newcastle International Film Festival for the launch of the film.
Where all do you plan to shoot in India?
It will be majorly shot in the city of Newcastle. Since the film highlights the British standpoint post India got independence, 20 percent of the film will be shot in India. As of now, it seems it will be either Rajasthan or Haryana. I need to recreate a small princely state of the 1940s, and need locations which still retain some architecture of that period.