Nimrat Kaur’s next screen outing is a web-series titled The Test Case. Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, the series shows women in combat roles in India. Both Nimrat and Nagesh were in the Capital recently to talk about the series and how it is important for the viewers. While the National Award winning film director stressed on how we should not be questioning women on their career choices, Nimrat also talked about girl child education.
According to both Nagesh and Nimrat, the purpose of making The Test Case will be fulfilled the day a woman gets into combating role in the Indian army by being inspired from Captain Shikha Sharma. Here’s what they talked about as they interacted with InUth:
How do you both personally endorse this idea of having women as combat officers?
Nagesh: The purpose of art in any form is to start a conversation. A million people have said this and I, too, believe this from the bottom of my heart that when you watch something, you go and you actually question the way you are, the things that you do. Art is doing a great job in opening the doors of ‘why not’ instead of ‘why’. This, especially, is something which is very exciting because just as recently, in February last year, the President made the announcement. We are at the forefront of something that hasn’t been done before. There are no role models to draw from.
When you play such a character, you cannot take any reference from because there are no real life characters. So, how difficult or easy it gets there?
Nimrat: That’s the charm of doing something like this that you don’t really have a reference per se. I don’t know if you really need a reference also. You just need to imagine the world of a girl and at the end of it, I am a girl who may be in another life could have chosen this path.
When you both say that this web-series will leave people with certain questions. Apart from this question that ‘women can be combat officers,’ what are the other things that you are mean?
Nagesh: I think the most important question that people need to ask is ‘why the hell are we asking these questions.’ I have never understood this concept of women are equipped to do this better, men are equipped to do that better. I think you should ask the women that first — ‘Do you want to go into combat roles?’ And if the answer is yes, I think you should just let them be into combat roles. Things like abortions, women in combat positions — as the women, let them make the bloody decision. Leave the men out of it.
This (women in combat roles) is, of course, an issue that you are dealing with in the web series, what are the other issues that you feel strongly for?
Nimrat: I don’t know if it’s a character but I strongly feel that the girl child needs to be educated in this country. I feel awful that education doesn’t reach a girl child as easily as it should. Every child should be educated. Life begins there. The possibility of exploring life, just knowing what your rights are, and doing justice to yourself as a human being starts with education.
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