Much before filmmaking became a part of Sandhya Gokhale’s life, she had been a practising lawyer and advocate. In those five decades, her mind absorbed countless instances of women being disrespected, humiliated, or denied recognition for their calibre. “These were rarely loud, visible acts of violence; they were subtle, almost invisible forms of injustice. Yet their wounds remained alive and their scars permanent. Unconsciously, I built a special house for all these women,” says the 62-year-old. Her forthcoming play, Silhouettes, which will premier at Royal Opera House, Mumbai on 19 September, is Gokhale’s homage to those who were buried under the layers of patriarchy.
The idea has its roots in that moment when as a 23-year-old she was reading about Lou Andreas-Salomé in the library at Princeton University, US. “History seemed to remember her primarily as the woman loved by Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud and Rainer Maria Rilke. That was the measure of the space given to this remarkable woman,” elaborates Gokhale. She recounts another example—of Camille Claudel, a brilliant sculptor, whose work Auguste Rodin extensively used. However, when she began asserting herself, she was declared mad and confined to an asylum for 30 years. “Salomé, Camille and many others came to inhabit that special house in my mind. I called it Silhouettes,” she recalls.
Challenging the Norm
The contemporary play revolves around three women, two men and their present-day lives. It examines the conditioning we have internalised without questioning. “Taking a husband’s name after marriage, continuing with his surname even after divorce, washing a man’s feet or bending to touch them… may appear insignificant, but such gestures are planted in us from childhood, making women themselves accept the idea of living in reflected light. My play will provoke all of us to rethink,” she says.
Silhouettes is the first solo directorial venture for Gokhale, who has earlier co-directed the play Kusur (2020) with her husband, actor-director Amol Palekar. She has also written screenplays for eight films, including Paheli (2005). Her writing has always aligned with her social activism, particularly around women’s rights, with Gokhale’s screenplays having explored subjects as varied as Alzheimer’s, sexuality and the denouncement of religion. “What connects them is a desire to provoke thought. I am drawn to questions that remain outside mainstream discourse,” she states.
She finds the process of theatre more compact and intimate than filmmaking, though both are deeply collaborative. In her view, certain situations possess a theatrical intensity that can be more powerful on stage than on screen. The 90-minute English play features an ensemble cast of Divya Seth, Sarah Hashmi, Niiya Kumar, Karan Parab and features Palekar in a special appearance as a presenter.
Having worked with Palekar for over 25 years, Gokhale finds many things bind them together creatively, including progressive sensibilities and a shared aesthetic. “To have someone whose judgement you trust completely, both as an artist and as a person, is very special,” she says.
Deepali Dhingra is a Delhi-based art and culture writer.