Homecoming film for the Goan girl

Suvrata Nasnodkar will be making her directorial debut with ‘Little Joe, Kaha Ho?’. the film is being produced by Purple Pebble Pictures, a production house co-owned by Priyanka and Madhu Chopra. In a chat with Café, the young filmmaker talks about her dream of reliving her childhood in Goa through this film

Published on:

06 Mar 2017, 7:23 pm

Once a Goan, always a Goan. This adage certainly

holds true for Suvrata Nasnodkar. After leaving Goa nearly

a decade ago, Suvrata is coming home, that too, in a

rather grand way. Suvrata will be writing and directing her

first film, ‘Little Joe, Kaha Ho?’ that will be shot in Goa.

Daughter of Avinash Vithal Nasnodkar, an ex-legal

officer with the Education Department of Goa and now

a practising lawyer, and Sunita Nasnodkar, Joint Director

of the SCERT, Goa, Suvrata was born and brought up in

Porvorim. Until her Class X exams, Suvrata was undecided

about her future career. “At home, we were not fascinated

by movies; I only used to watch movies that were aired

on television. The breakthrough came after I completed

my board exams and my father took the family to watch

‘Mission Kashmir’, directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. I came

home from the theatre with so many questions and for

the first time, I dwelt upon the term ‘director’. We were

given computers through the Cyberage scheme and I

Googled ‘director’ and ‘screenplay’ to find out what they

mean,” says Suvrata, who went on to learn more about

films through the works of Mira Nair and Rajkumar Hirani.

After completing her Class XI and XII in Arts stream

at Dhempe Higher Secondary School, Miramar, Suvrata

joined Whistling Woods International Institute, Mumbai

to study filmmaking; she was part of the Institute’s

first batch. “It was a completely different world. Every

day there was something new to learn and a quest for

creativity. The day I graduated was also the day I joined

director Prakash Jha as an assistant director. Working

with him gave me great exposure; he put his trust in me

by giving me responsibilities which helped me grow

in my profession,” says Suvrata, who has worked as an

assistant director with Jha for three films – ‘Aarakshan’,

‘Chakravyuh’ and ‘Satyagraha’.

While assisting, she also started writing and thought

it was time to come out with her own films under her

company, Backyard Movies. “I want to use the fabric of

cinema not just to make money but to add quality to life.

Being a director makes me happy as I have a buffet of

creativity. I’ve always been interested in children’s films as

a genre; children are the most innocent of creations and I

have had the most beautiful upbringing in Goa. It is those

memories that have driven me to make the film in Goa.

I’ve wanted to come home for the longest time,” she says.

Suvrata is currently based in Mumbai.

Since Priyanka Chopra is in the US for the television

series ‘Quantico’, Suvrata approached her mother,

Madhu, with the film. “‘Little Joe, Kaha Ho?’ was

shortlisted by Madhu Chopra and I met Priyanka last

December. She loves Goa and stressed that Goa should

not be stereotyped; she told me that being Goan, I

should be the lens to Goa and our culture. The stakes are

high and it will be a feature film. I would love to explore

more dimensions of Priyanka in the film. She is a creative

woman and she is giving women, especially women

technicians, the opportunity to bring out a different

cinema on a global level,” informs Suvrata.

‘Little Joe, Kaha Ho?’ is a story of friendship and a

tribute to the genre of cartoonists like R K Laxman and

Mario Miranda. “The story revolves around two kids who

become friends; it is conceived in the interiors of Goa.

It is about celebrating childhood and will even make

elders nostalgic about their childhood. It is my ode to my

childhood in Goa.”

Speaking about how it is to be a strong woman in the

Hindi film industry, the 29-year-old explains how things

are different. “I am proud to be a woman as avenues have

opened up for women and all you have to do is go out

there to prove yourself. Everybody in the industry ivery

welcoming and since I have been a part of the industry

for a while now, it is easier for me,” she adds.

To conclude, Suvrata says, “I am enjoying the trip

right now but the reality will set in once the film goes on

the floors. I have to do my homework well.”