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THE STORY

Awaaz Oonchi Karo (directly translates to "Raise Your Voice") follows our protagonist Jugnu. She's your classic type “A” perfectionist who finds herself falling through the cracks when overwhelmed with work and family pressure. She has a strong desire to keep the peace with everyone in her life, but doesn’t realize how much that has affected her over time.

Since moving away and starting a new job, 25 year old Jugnu's rare trip to Cerritos is a lot more than just a visit back home. Overwhelmed with work, she takes on the task of planning her neighbor Saleem uncle's retirement party to prove to family that she still cares.

A stressful day spent trying to balance both the party and her boss's nagging calls gets progressively worse until Jugnu finally crashes into another man's car, bringing tensions to an all time high. When the man begins to blame Jugnu for the creash, something clicks for her. In one gigantic outburst of anger, Jugnu unloads years worth of pent up emotions at the man, her boss and family.

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WHY THIS STORY AND WHY NOW?

This story has been a long time in the making, but one I had personally been too afraid to write. In the summer of 2021 Noor Mukaddam, a Pakistani woman, was killed in Islamabad by a man she refused to marry. This happened amidst an increasing number of cases of femicide in Pakistan that summer. Noor’s murderer came from a “respectable” family, someone who appeared in public as someone who would never be capable of committing murder. Reading the stories and talking to traumatized friends in Pakistan while I was away from home, I felt numb and powerless. I kept thinking about my own personal experiences or my friends' experiences with men who were dangerous but never “dangerous enough” for anyone to take us seriously. Any of us could have been Noor on an unlucky day.

All of seemingly small acts of aggression towards women add up, but no one seems to notice until it is too late to do something about it. Sometimes it feels like South Asian women/nonbinary people bear the weight of the world on their shoulders and I have always wondered what it would feel like to have control. To be the one in the conversation who is angry and unhinged. To express unbridled rage at all that we face. This script is an exploration of that feeling. Jugnu is someone who is just starting to gain agency over her emotions, while Rukhe is someone who never had the opportunity to break the cycle, and discourages Jugnu’s behavior with the intention of protecting her. Both of their perspectives are crucial to the film.

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THE WORLD OF AWAAZ OONCHI KARO

I am inspired by movies which tackle the complex dynamics that exist within South Asian families. To the family in Awaaz Oonchi Karo, something "trivial" like getting the right ladoo for her uncle means everything, while Jugnu's catharsis means little to nothing. For the older women in the family, humor or biting comments tend to be a coping mechanism to mask how they actually feel. It is easier for men to exert their dominance—though when they’re forced to question it themselves, they crumble. Each character is forced to reckon with their deepest selves.

Jugnu's world is tense, and I want the audience to feel the same pressure that continues to crush Jugnu. The short starts with her running late, dealing with two phone calls back to back, while navigating through traffic.The amount she has to deal with only continues to build until she can’t take it anymore.

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SET IN CERRITOS CALIFORNIA

I didn’t grow up in the US and wasn’t familiar with Cerritos until I moved to Los Angeles. My best friend grew up there, and so I associate the area with our friendship and the conversations we’ve had about the project. It also happens to have a huge South Asian population, and reminds me of home each time I visit. It was fitting for Jugnu’s arc to reclaim her space surrounded by community—which also might have contributed to limiting her ability to do so before.

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WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT 

Unfortunately, making a short film is NOT as cheap as it may sound. We are planning to raise at least $9700 and need your help to make this story and to make it right. Your money will go towards paying cast/crew fairly for the hard work they put into the project, as well as location, camera equipment and marketing for the film! 

We are well into production, and are in the final rounds of casting and location scouting! Our team is ready to shoot this project in early July of 2023. 

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WHY SHOULD YOU SUPPORT THIS PROJECT

I've been thrilled to see so much South Asian and Muslim representation in mainstream media over the last few years. But I also keep wondering, where are the women—both on and off the screen? For far too long, South Asian women and non-cis male-identifying folks have been denied their coming of age moments on the screen. 

I'm making this story because while I personally haven't gotten to have my big show stopping moment of anger, writing it and exploring the emotion was incredibly cathartic for me. I'm hoping that those who watch the short film are able to see themselves in Jugnu, Rukhe or the other characters, even if they aren't in the same stage of their respective journeys. 

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A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY STORYTELLING JOURNEY

I always wanted to tell stories via film but wasn’t really sure how to. When I moved to the US for college, I took up a minor in Cinematic Arts and got experience in writing lots, from short films to scripts for television to video podcasting episodes. One thing that was missing was being in writing spaces where I felt represented, where I didn’t have to go to extravagant lengths to explain something culturally specific. Joining the Rickshaw Film Foundation as a member of their writing programs gave me that space and the confidence to be able to develop this script.

My favorite part about writing/directing thus far has been finding a community of creative folks who have such a deep passion for storytelling. I am constantly inspired by how much people continue to push for diverse, complex and frankly just really good stories. My hope for Awaaz Oonchi Karo more than anything is for it to resonate with some part of you. I have personally grown with this script and am very grateful for this opportunity to share this journey with any contributors.

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TEAM

The crew (pictured, myself and co-producer Samhitha are trying to get everyone to dye their hair red, we'll get there) have been meeting every week to make this project happen. I am learning more than ever that story telling is best done when in community. To have found a group of people who resonate with this story and are just as excited about bringing it to life as I am is one of the greatest feelings.

All of us young are emerging filmmakers (you can read more about each of us on the "The Team" page) with many stories left to tell. This AAPI month, I hope this is one of the multiple projects you can support! We are a team largely made up of women and non-binary folks of color and your support would help greatly.

Even if you cannot contribute financially, you can help by sharing the campaign, sharing our instagram, or even telling someone who might resonate/feel seen/ be interested with the project. You can also email us if you are able to support with donating meals for set, camera/lighting equipment, rapid covid tests or anything else. Anything and everything helps, your support is very much appreciated! Thank you so much for making it to the end, we cannot wait to create this project :)

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