An Interview with Neelakshi Yadav
by Susanna Demelas
Neelakshi Yadav is a filmmaker and creator of BFI Future Festival featured documentary Life is a Highway. The film features interviews with rickshaw drivers across Delhi, India and draws attention to the difficulties which these drivers face in their daily lives. In this interview, Neelakshi talks to us about her creative process when making this documentary, as well as her future plans for 2021.
Congratulations on your film Life is a Highway, being part of BFI Future Film Festival! What does it mean for you to be part of this festival?
It’s an honour, I must say! This has been the most extraordinary experience for me. I could have never imagined that my film would have made it all the way across the continent and be included in such a prestigious event, alongside all the other wonderfully talented filmmakers. To watch all the films that were a part of this year’s program was a most joyful experience, as I got to learn so much from my fellow filmmakers. Each film was so brilliant and gave me a lot of motivation to push myself harder and create better work. One of the benefits of an international film festival is the introduction to different styles of filmmaking, storytelling and different cultures that I may not come across on a day-to-day basis. It was a truly nourishing experience.
What inspired you to make this film?
Throughout my college days, I would often take an auto while traveling from the metro stations to my college and home. During these short rides, I had plentiful opportunities to interact with autowalas, as they would often open up to me and talk about their families and profession. On one such occasion, I met an autowala who told me that all his three children were graduates with bachelor’s degrees and one of them was a teacher. I was so surprised on hearing this, as I would have never expected children of an autowala to have received such education. This incident changed my perspective of autowalas and made me respect them even more. It was after this interaction that I had an idea of making something that would cover the lives of autowalas.
Still from Life is a Highway
What did the process of creating this film look like - how did you go about interviewing the rickshaw drivers, for example?
After finalising the concept and interview topics, shooting commenced by interviewing Mr. Deepak Kumar, an autowala whom I had known since my college days. I had his phone number as I would often call him up and he would pick and drop me, to and from, from my university. Kumar invited to his home where the first interview was conducted. Over the course of the next few days, different autowalas were randomly approached in a few select areas across Delhi and asked a variety of questions related to their experiences with driving auto-rickshaws. Soon enough, the documentary started taking shape after getting an assortment of responses regarding similar issues.
Still from Life is a Highway
This film draws attention to the difficulties that rickshaw drivers face in India in their day to day life. Is drawing attention to issues that often go under-the-radar something which is important to you, in your filmmaking?
As a creative individual, I believe that a piece of work that doesn’t stir alternate thinking, or doesn’t serve as a catalyst for change isn’t complete in itself. To me, creativity by definition stands for problem solving and something that triggers one to evolve. Even if I aim to create a fiction piece, instead of something that’s documentary style, it will be something that would revolve around the subtleties of living and highlight that which we don’t realise often. At least, that’s my aim as a filmmaker.
Still from Life is a Highway
Finally, do you have any creative plans for 2021 that you’d like us to know about?
It has been a fruitful year with two of my other movies also getting nominated in three different international film festivals. Going forward, I plan to expand my portfolio in the coming year. There are a few subjects towards which I feel drawn to and am currently researching, in order to gauge their potential in being converted into visual arts. My prayer is that this year should turn out better than the last, with better opportunities for growth and discovery, for all fellow filmmakers, like myself.
Where to find Neelakshi -
Her site - https://www.neelakshiyadav.com/
