Shailaja Padindala’s Naanu Ladies bags Best LGBTQI+ theme film at Tasveer South Asian Film Festival

Shailaja Padindala’s debut feature directorial, Naanu Ladies, is a lesbian love story that she hopes will redefine family values. Written based on some of Shailaja’s personal experiences, the Kannada film Naanu Ladies has the openly queer filmmaker play one of the protagonists.

In an earlier conversation with us, Shailaja had said, “Naanu Ladies is a story that is heavily inspired by my own life experiences, which I have attempted to present in a humorous fashion. I have written, directed and even acted as one of the protagonists. In Indian cinema, more often than not, queer subjects are not treated with the sensitivity they require and border on homophobia or derogatory comedy. There is just so much misrepresentation of the community on reel. In south India, though, there have been attempts like Naanu Avanalla Avalu. Super Deluxe and Awe, for instance, that have not only tried do justice to the community, but also with mainstream actors like Sanchari Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi and Nitya Menen acknowledging queerness. As a queer filmmaker, it is my responsibility to showcase stories from the community in the right light and sensitize society about the importance of inclusivity and treating everyone as equal.”

Going by the response to the film’s screening at the recently-concluded 16thTasveer South Asian Film Festival in Seattle, it would seem that Shailaja’s attempt is being celebrated. Naanu Ladies was the recipient of the Best LGBTQI+ theme at the fest, which, obviously has the filmmaker-actor thrilled. “I am happy that the film won in this category, and believe that if more films like this are recognized it will give queer filmmakers the courage to tell their stories. The award is a celebration of my story,” she says. The film, meanwhile, is likely to get a theatrical release, sometime in February, says Shailaja, adding that the immediate plan is to send it to a few more film festivals. "The film is currently about two-and-a-half-hours long, which I need to cut to 90-minutes to submit it to international fests. So, that is going on," she says.