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There was a huge crowd that had spilled out onto the pavement outside Regal Cinema on Tuesday evening. Which superstar was inside? Was a mega film festival taking place? Nothing of that sort. On the contrary, it was the preview screening of a feature documentary which none of us had heard about — Mast Mahila Mandali (Cool Ladies Club), and the audience was 1,200 strong.

The documentary has been co-created by ten women from working-class neighbourhoods in Mumbai’s M East Ward, shot on basic smartphones. The film was made as part of a two-year-long workshop by CORO’s Right to Pee Campaign. Over the course of the screening, we realised that a majority of these women had felt trapped in their marriages and been subjected to physical abuse. However, that wasn't the theme of the docu; rather, it was the joy and abandon with which these women spend their lives. I shall delve into that a bit later.

Right before the screening, two of these women came on stage to give a short speech, the unpretentious kind. There was an innocence when Rohini Kadam and Anjum Shaikh addressed the crowd. They weren’t wearing costumes designed by some ace designer with whom they had collaborated on Instagram. The vibe was unlike the trailer launches of today, which are difficult to differentiate from one another. Rather, it reminded me of the old film mahurat videos on YouTube from the 90s.

The first scene one notices in the documentary is when a woman is handing out letters and electricity bills to each house, all chock-a-block, small places. Then there’s the woman in charge of the public toilet, Indian style mind you, not like the ones whose advertisements we see on TV where you ‘suddenly feel like a CEO after taking a shower.’ The normal reality of their life slowly seeps into you.

Move Over Bollywood Housewives. This Is The Real Cool Ladies Club

The second point that struck me was how happy they were, laughing, and not the kind which seems put on at all, that’s something which is reserved for our social circles. Their lives revolved around sitting on the floor and chatting and arguing and giggling. Otherwise, nowadays you would be made to believe that life is all about downing tequila shots and making silly pout faces.

The location for the entire film shoot was inside and outside their homes based in a chawl, maybe that’s why they formed such a close-knit bond, something which actor Jackie Shroff, who used to live in one, has also spoken about before. And when they’re arguing, it doesn’t fall to the level of the wahiyaat Bigg Boss brawls.

There’s Nazneen, who’s regretting that during the heavy rainy season she has no one who can take her on a bike ride while she tightly holds on to him. Later on, we also get to know how during her first marriage she was beaten almost daily.

Move Over Bollywood Housewives. This Is The Real Cool Ladies Club

Standing on a terrace talking about how after marriage everything just stopped for her, another woman tells us how before her father died she was someone who enjoyed life, shared everything with her father, all of which stopped after his passing. She’s 46 today, and if given a chance to pursue her unfulfilled dream of joining the military, she would go straight for it. But for now, she says she was like ‘a princess who had to go live in a slum’.

There’s the hilarious journalist who wants to know the right questions to ask if ‘a murder takes place in a toilet.’ And then there’s the overweight housewife who shows us that ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ isn’t a song to be danced to only by a curvaceous Tamannaah Bhatia, but anyone for whom it acts as a stress reliever, no matter what her husband says. The loudest cheer during the entire film came for her while she danced in the kitchen while making dal tadka.

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Lines that stuck out

1. Don’t get married and have a husband. But get a boyfriend.

2. I would make my baby sleep by giving him an empty milk bottle. Sometimes it had black tea or sugary water.

3. I’ll beg. I’ll collect slippers at the dargah. But I won’t get beaten by a man in my marriage again.

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Mast Mahila Mandali (Cool Ladies Club) is a collective act of self-expression, where the women are behind the camera and in front of it, taking charge of how they want to be seen, crafting an intimate portrayal of love, labour, friendship, and the radical act of claiming joy in everyday life

Dr. Shilpi Gulati, National Award-winning filmmaker and faculty at the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, is the Chief Facilitator, Co-director, Editor of the film.

The process was guided by Dr. Sujata Khandekar, Founder Director of CORO India, and led by Supriya Jan, Lead Grassroots Knowledge Building at CORO India.