Saibal Chatterjee
The future is female: the legend emblazoned in black on the white T-shirt sported by Huma Qureshi, the lead actor of Leila, a Netflix series spearheaded by Canadian-Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta, isn’t a mere statement of intent. It is an act of defiance and hope fully embedded in the internal creative logic of the show adapted from the Prayaag Akbar novel of the same name.
The veteran director, who has helmed two of the six episodes of Leila, besides serving as the creative executive producer of the series, walks into the room minutes later wearing the same T-shirt. There is instant banter between the two women. “I do not like anybody stealing my thunder,” Qureshi says in jest.
There is, of course, nothing in Leila, which is set in a dystopian near future, which could be construed as light-hearted. Its narrative is located in a world that is as dark as hell, a nightmarish landscape in which humanity is on its last legs. Adapted for the screen by Mumbai screenwriter Urmi Juvekar (Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Shanghai),the series hinges on the female gaze even as its focus is squarely on widespread oppression unleashed on the population in the form of secured gated communities, labour camps, re-education centres for errant women and severe water rationing.
Authored by a man, the story sees the world through the eyes of a woman separated from her daughter in a highly polarised environment in which people are segregated in accordance with their class, caste and religion. With three female professionals — Mehta, Qureshi and Juvekar — turning the disturbing tale into a gripping web-series, Leila passes the Bechdel test with a lot to spare. But that is only one part of its appeal: the crafting (marked notably by superb cinematography and crisp editing), the acting and the immersive production design all contribute to making this a phenomenally riveting and consistently thought-provoking piece of storytelling.
“So much has happened around her, but it is important that the central character does not lose her humanity,” Qureshi says about the defining quality of the protagonist Shalini, a Hindu woman who has her Muslim husband bludgeoned to death and her infant daughter taken away from her. “You see the grimness of this world through her eyes, so if she loses grip over herself, will there be any hope left?”
Leila tells a story about deep societal divides that have torn the land apart in the late 2040s, a period in which a rising leader lords over a flock that swears by “progress, prosperity and purity”. The emphasis is on the last-mentioned goal. The pursuit of homogeneity has driven a huge wedge between the haves and the have-nots, and between people with pristine genes and those of mixed blood.
“Shalini’s quest for Leila (it plays out over a period of 16 years) is a metaphor for the woman looking for herself and maintaining her dignity,” explains Qureshi. Besides Mehta, Shanker Raman (Gurgaon) and Pawan Kumar (Lucia) have directed two episodes each of Leila.
How was it playing a single character under three different directors? “It was a difficult process,” replies Qureshi. “It isn’t easy reimagining a character each time the director changes. So, what was important for me that with all three directors — all of them were very nice and competent — was to ensure the growth of the character without going too far away from where you started. Maintaining consistency was a challenge.”
Mehta, who describes Leila as a small and accessible book, says: “What attracted me to it is the challenge of Shalini to keep her humanity because she represents humanity, not just Indian, but all humanity. This story is not about religion but about the disintegration of humanity.”
Reacting to criticism from certain quarters that Leila fans Hinduphobia, Mehta retorts: “Have these people seen the series? You’ve said it, it is a phobia. A phobia is never based on reality. I am in any case sceptical of all phobias.”
Mehta was brought on board as a director on hire to make the pilot and the second episode of Leila. Also being made the creative executive producer “made it worth the while”, she says. “Just to be able to direct would not have been satisfying enough. I needed to set the tone of the whole series. I also insisted on choosing the actors — that would give me the freedom to work with the actors I wanted.”
Besides Huma Qureshi, the cast of Leila includes Seema Biswas, Rahul Khanna, Siddharth, Arif Zakaria, Sanjay Suri, Adarsh Gaurav and Neha Mahajan. It began streaming on Netflix on June 14.