Director explores the complexities of love and fidelity in her latest film Love Sitara, shedding light on relationships in a matriarchal context
Rajeev Siddhartha and Sobhita Dhulipala in Love Sitara
It takes courage to say the truth, but for writer-director Vandana Kataria, the truth is like black or white; there can be no grey in between. “I can face the worst truth, but the tiniest lie can break me,” says the director. When the idea to make Love Sitara first germinated; she claims the core thought was to focus on love and fidelity, but as the script progressed, it began encompassing all forms of love.
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Vandana Kataria
“The genesis of [this script] happened many years ago when I was in Washington. I didn’t know how to write; I had to teach myself. In that sense, it has been a long journey. But the germ of the idea began when I started noticing marriages falling apart in my generation. My first reaction was that it would mostly be because of infidelity,” shares the director. Having grown up in the ’80s and ’90s and on Bollywood love stories, she too, like many, was sold on the idea of till death do us apart. “I felt that love bubble burst. I wish parents had told us a little bit about marriage instead. That was where it began. I came to the conclusion that marriage is about infidelity, siblings feel rivalry, and between parent and child authority always plays out. Friendship is the only one where it is about camaraderie and support. So, I tried to explore these aspects in the relationships,” said the director about her recently released ZEE5 film, also starring Sobhita Dhulipala.
Though based in Kerala, Kataria doesn’t believe that Love Sitara is a pan-India film. She asserts that the idea to base the story in the south was to depict a matriarchal society. “Matriarchy is only in Kerala or Meghalaya. Had I written a story in Shillong, no one would have watched it. [I was told] that to get half the country to watch Malayalam is going to be tough, which is why we told it to the Hindi audience in Hindi. I’m a north Indian, married into a Malayali family,” she explained. When countered that with the OTT boom, people have crossed the language barrier, she points out that it is still limited to a certain kind of films. “I think Hindi-speaking audiences are still a little [hesitant], especially to read subtitles.”
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