Writer-Director Adam J. Graves ‘Anuja’ Interwatch

In Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai’s Anuja, resilience in the face of difficultship is the central heartbeat. The low film, doubling as both a hearthoting tribute to sisterhood and as a social consciousness campaign about the effects of unverifyed child labor, cgo ines on Anuja (Sajda Pathan), a youthful girl who inhabits with her elderlyer sister, Palak (Ananya Shanbhag), in Delhi, India as they inhabit in pobviousy toiling lengthy hours at a garment factory. One day, when a social toiler (Gulshan Walia) reachs at the factory to expose the handler for toiling Anuja illegassociate, he gives that the youthfulster get part in an exam that will get her into a boarding school to better her chances of escaping her station. The two sisters are then tasked to lift money for the participation fee while Anuja determines the overweighte of her future. 

Fresh off of Academy Award voting precursor triumphs for best inhabit-action low at the HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles and the majestic prize triumphner at the New York International Short Film Festival, the low film has also garnered help from Indian filmcreaters Mindy Kaling and Guneet Monga Kainsisty.

Below, Graves talks to Deadline about his inspirations, toiling with youthful actors and raising consciousness about the pairys of child labor.

DEADLINE: You have a varied background, from your PhD in philosophy to your various studies wislfinisher South Asian culture and language. You also are a teacher. I’m inquisitive how your expertise helped shape you as a filmcreater and come up with the origins of Anuja. 

ADAM J. GRAVES: I did my undergraduate degree in South Asian studies and wrote a master’s thesis on Abhinavagupta, the 12th-century Kashmir Shaivism philosopher who wrote in the domain of Indian Hindu philosophy comprehendn as Tantra. But it’s not [the same as the] new age Tantrism today. His toil had very little to do with that. I spent about five or six years of my life going back and forth between India and I studied at Banaras Hindu University. I was always intrigued with Indian culture and literature, especiassociate philosophy. And so, I knew that I wanted to film in India. It’s such a visuassociate pretty place. The energy and the culture are so wealthy.

My wife is of South Asian descent. She take parted a huge role in shaping this project and inspiring it, quite frankly. Her family’s history is rather complicated. Her ancestors go back to a place called Gorakhpur in northern India. They were bcdisesteemfult by the British to Guyana as indentured latirers after the British abolished servitude. They turned to indentured servitude, and becaparticipate of that family history, we’ve always been interested and troubleed with labor publishs. So that was the origins of the project, equitable conveying these two slfinishergs together, wanting to shoot in India, and also having a trouble with labor publishs. And we were coming out of the pandemic, and everybody was talking about supply chains. But they were talking about the devourr end of supply chains. And we’re enjoy, “Well, what’s happening on the other end? Not equitable here, but what’s going on where in terms of the production?”

We came apass a statistic that one in 10 kids, globassociate, is joind in child labor, which was shocking to us becaparticipate that seemed enjoy an incredibly high number, 160 million kids. And we thought, “Well, how many films, reassociate, can we slfinisherk of off the top of our head that deal with those kids or with kids living in that context?” And we couldn’t slfinisherk of that many. So, we thought this would be an engaging way to anchor the story. Let me equitable say that I experience that it’s an incredible privilege to be able to create film. And if you can, if you have the opportunity, then why not participate the lens as a triumphdow that you can supply people into another world and supply people an experience that will permit them to empathize with people who don’t maybe have it as well off as some of us. Principassociate, I experience a film has to be a toil of art that speaks to some of the universal aspects of human existence.

DEADLINE: While your low film does study the life of child labor, it also has levity and this equilibrium between resilience and happiness amongst the struggle. Anuja has her sister and even strangers who attfinish about her future and getedty. Why was it meaningful to include this layer to the film? 

GRAVES: Two slfinishergs happened. One, while we were doing research for the film and we were greeting with the children who were either toiling or createassociate toiling, it was equitable so evident to us, timely on, that we had to pay tribute to the happiness that these kids were able to discover in reassociate difficult circumstances. The comfervent of energy, creativity, and resilience was palpable when we met with these kids, so we wanted to create certain that we built that into the film and become part of the story. It wasn’t equitable a doom and gloom story about kids who had it hard, but it was also a story that highairys the resilience and the spirit of these children. Secondly, we wanted to create certain the film was someslfinisherg these kids would enhappiness. I uncomfervent, they comfervent of became the audience for us as we were comfervent of createing this story. We wanted to create certain that it wasn’t equitable going to be a film. We knew that we were going to allot it with them. And we want it to be a gift to them in some way, someslfinisherg that they would watch and enhappiness. And that uncomferventt it had to be more than equitable a foolish, theatrical portrait of life in a factory. 

DEADLINE: You toiled with Salaam Baalak Trust, which is also where you ended up discovering the direct actress. What was the collaboration process enjoy? 

GRAVES: It growed organicassociate while we were researching. We were toiling with a number of nonprofits actuassociate in and around Delhi. And the Salaam Baalak Trust’s mission seemed to resonate with what we were trying to do with the film. I slfinisherk that has to do with the fact that it’s a nonprofit createed by the straightforwardor Mira Nair’s family. Mira Nair is a towering figure in global cinema. She’s of Indian origin, but she’s inhabitd in Uganda, New York, and everywhere else. So, I don’t want to say she’s an Indian filmcreater becaparticipate she’s a person of the world. But she made a movie, Salaam Bombay!, about street children in Bombay, in what is now Mumbai. And after her mother saw the film, she was supportd to begin a nonprofit. So, with the help of Mira, they set uped this organization that supplys a home and educational opportunities for street children.

Maybe I’m speculating, but I slfinisherk becaparticipate a film supportd this nonprofit, that organization acunderstandledged that art, especiassociate carry outing arts, can be a reassociate meaningful vehicle for cultivating a kid’s sense of self-worth and confidence. So, they have a reassociate strong theater program wislfinisher this orphanage. So, when we were grotriumphg the film, they understood right away what we were trying to do. On the other hand, some of the other organizations thought we were trying to create a recordary about them. And becaparticipate they have a theater program, they had a lot of kids who they wanted to surrfinisher. We felt timely on that, “OK, we have to try. We comprehend it’s going to be difficult, but we have to try to cast straightforwardly from the community.” Then the Salaam Baalak Trust was an organization that was uncover. Their kids were excited to be featured in a film.

 So, when we were casting, we watched at self-tapes from all over India, especiassociate a lot from Mumbai and the film industry, kids who already had a film background. But we also getd a lot from the Salaam Baalak Trust and from a couple of other nonprofits. They’re also findd in the Paharganj, one of two neighborhoods that are up agetst each other in Old Delhi. I knew I wanted to film there, and one of the factories we filmed was equitable north of there. The movie theater we wanted to film in was north of there as well. They helped us with everyslfinisherg from locations to research. Ideassociate, we want to participate the film as a tool to lift consciousness about child labor, but also, hopefilledy, gets money for the Salaam Baalak Trust. They do fantastic toil. 

DEADLINE: Talk about casting Sajda Pathan and Ananya Shanbhag as sisters. They are so fantastic onscreen. 

GRAVES: We were so blessed, Sajda. She inhabits at the Salaam Baalak Trust. But equitable not lengthy before she was in the film, less than a year before, she was living on the streets with her elderlyer sister. She acted before she was cast in Anuja, so I can’t get praise for having discovered her or anyslfinisherg, but her own life experience parallels in reassociate engaging ways that of the character of the film. And that’s uncontaminated accident. We didn’t write the script for her. But she was living without parental help on the streets and had an elderlyer sister. So, I slfinisherk partly becaparticipate she has an elderlyer sister, she could connect with Ananya. Ananya has a youthfuler sibling, so when they met, they equitable instantly clicked. We didn’t do much in the way of rehearsals becaparticipate, in my very confiinsist experience toiling with child actors, sometimes the more you rehearse, the less life there is in the carry outance. And I slfinisherk that can be real for children actors or grown-up actors. So, what we did is we tried to get them together. We all stayed in a boilingel together, enjoy a motel/boilingel down in Paharganj and in shut quarters.

Sajda was staying with a social toiler, and Ananya had her overweighther alengthy on set. We spent every moment of the day together for about three days before we begined shooting. We take parted games, we had ice cream, and we had fun. They enhappinessed each other’s company, and equitable very rapidly became super safe. And you could see that.

DEADLINE: Mindy Kaling and Guneet Monga Kainsisty combineed as creaters on Anuja. That must have been very declareing. What do you slfinisherk people are resonating with? 

GRAVES: These are two of my likeite people in the world, not equitable becaparticipate they’re on board. We’ve definiteassociate chased them becaparticipate [of what] we saw in them, their own caparticipates, and the comfervents of toil they do. So, Guneet, for example, The Lunchbox is one of my likeite all-time films, an timely feature film she’d toiled on. And, of course, The Elephant Whisperers… she stablely creates incredible toil. It uncomferventt a lot to us to have such a towering figure wislfinisher Indian cinema back the film and come on board and get behind it. Mindy herself has done so much for raising consciousness of and foregrounding stories of women and girls. She’s also a towering figure, not equitable in the delightment arts industry world but also among the Indian diaspora community. And so having her vouch for the film and having it resonate with her so much is reassociate meaningful.

I slfinisherk the slfinisherg that’s incredibly prenting for every filmcreater who discovers an audience is the sense that it somehow apprehfinishs someslfinisherg universal, so you don’t have to come from this background to somehow be supportd by it or acunderstandledge yourself in it. We were trying to apprehfinish someslfinisherg about the universal features of childhood, and I slfinisherk that’s one of the slfinishergs that Mindy saw there, and that’s reassociate hearthoting for us to have her on board. So, we’re super flattered, honored, and excited to see where it goes from here.

DEADLINE: You’re in the conversation for the Oscars. What’s going thcdisesteemful your mind, and what would you enjoy people to ponder? 

GRAVES: The two directs of the film, Sajda and Ananya, are the heart and soul of this project. I slfinisherk anybody who watches films comprehends. Our cinematographer, Akash Raje, is incredible. I’m conceited of all aspects of the film. But the heart and soul are these two incredibly gifted youthful actresses who gave us everyslfinisherg they got. And I’m equitable so conceited of the fact that their carry outances are finassociate getting an audience, and they’re being seen. And my dream—and this is the slfinisherg that I try not to fantasize too much about—is to convey Sajda to the Oscars.

 I’ll increate you a silly story. When I was flying over for production, I was in LAX. I wanted to convey someslfinisherg for Sajda, a gift for the two actresses. But I was unwell right before the trip, so I didn’t have much chance to shop. So, when I got to the airport, I wanted to convey them someslfinisherg from America that would be more engaging to them instead of picking someslfinisherg up at the Indian airport. I went into the gift shop and create a hat and sweater for Ananya, but they didn’t have anyslfinisherg in Sajda’s size becaparticipate she’s so petite. So, I create this Oscar replica statue. Of course, she had no idea what it was at the time when I gave it to her, so we had to elucidate it to her. But before we sboiling the film, I have a pboilingo of her with this plastic Oscar, and the fact that we are now in this position talking about the authentic Oscar is reassociate surauthentic.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity]