Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, whose last directorial release was the Kangana Ranaut-starrer sports drama Panga, has returned with a slice-of-life short film — Ghar Ki Murgi. The 18-minute film, which premiered on Sony LIV on International Women’s Day on March 8, and was made to represent India for the BRICS Film Festival, is written by Ashwiny’s husband and Chhichhore maker Nitesh Tiwari. It revolves around the everyday drudgery in the life of homemaker Seema Batra (Sakshi Tanwar), who puts her entire family’s well-being above her own.

The Telegraph caught up with Ashwiny for a chat.

What prompted you to make a short film?

The BRICS Economic Forum happens every year and last year they decided that along with the discussions, we also need to talk about stories from each of the countries. China spearheaded this and Jia Zhangke, a famous award-winning producer and director from China, gave this topic ‘Half the Sky’ - which is about women who need to have equal opportunities. One director from each country was chosen and I was representing India. Nitesh came up with this idea; a story on housewives has never been told before. We always overlook the contribution of a homemaker in our country, we think that if you’re going to work you’re superior than a homemaker. She does as much work, therefore the idea.

Is the character inspired from someone you know in real life?

Not really. I think this is a reality check of almost 85 per cent households in our country. It’s a ‘thank you’ to all these women who work day in and day out without asking for anything in return. All they ask for is a little love and someone to ask them at the end of the day how they are, have they slept enough, have they eaten.

How was Sakshi Tanwar to work with?

Sakshi is a dear friend and I think she’s an amazing actor. I feel she’s very under-utilised. There was quite a bit of her in Dangal (also directed by Nitesh) but we’ve still not seen her enough in feature films and performance-oriented things. Ekta (Kapoor, who gave Sakshi her first big break with Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii) has really found a gem. I think it’s a director’s job to find and give really good actors like Sakshi more work.

Nitesh wrote and you directed Ghar Ki Murgi. What can you tell us about the collaborative process?

I think both of us have been working for a very long time together. We are two different directors but our goals of what kind of stories we want to say has always been very similar. We are very good as a team. We work on each other’s strengths and it’s important that beyond husband and wife, we are good collaborators. We work on those strengths — his strength is writing and my strength is direction and art. We collaborate on that... we started working together before we even got married. It’s been 17 years now (laughs).

How difficult is it to say what you want to say in less than 20 minutes?

I’ve told stories for about 16 years in less than one-minute. So, for me to transit to 20 minutes or a two-hours movie is shifting my brains. The way you tell a story in 60 seconds, 30 minutes or two hours is just how you say it... your objectivity of the story. Every story needs a beginning, middle and end, without that no story is complete. The short film has to be complete in itself, I’ve seen a lot of short films that’s not complete, it’s just half. It’s like you’ve told a one-liner idea into a short film. That cannot be the case because a short film has its own beauty.

How was the experience of it getting showcased at BRICS Film Festival and The Shanghai International Film Festival?

I was quite honoured because it was under Jia Zhangke, he showcased the whole anthology at Shanghai International Film Festival. You’ve an international audience looking at you and noticing that there are women directors from India. That was nice. Later it went to the Pingyao International Film Festival (China) too. You kind of realise that the culture and the thinking is the same almost everywhere. It’s universal. That’s why it’s called BRICS, all the nations come together because they feel that the economic backgrounds and what they believe in, their thinking, their culture... it is almost similar.

The film released on Sony LIV on March 8. What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

I feel that every day should be Women’s Day and you cannot categorise one special day as that. You have to respect and love women every day. But I’m glad we have days like these because it re-emphasises the fact that, ‘hey if you’ve forgotten the woman in your life, just please respect and love her enough’.

Your films always have a strong female character and everything else sort of revolves around them. Is that a conscious choice?

No, it just happens. I don’t think it’s deliberately done. Bareilly Ki Barfi actually revolves around Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana. The story is from the point-of-view of Kriti Sanon but it still has two very strong male characters. But it happens automatically... you’re drawn towards giving new identities to women characters. It’s also the need of the hour.

What are you working on next?

I’m creatively producing a film called Siachen Warriors for one of my directors. I’m co-producing a beautiful rom-com slice-of-life with Ekta Kapoor and I’m also directing it. Also, it’ll take a little time but I’m writing a film on the life story of NR Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy. I’m very excited about it.