Together they rue how the ecosystem of independent cinema in India is all but non-existent. Yet, the talented trio behind the Busan-bound Hindi-Nepalese film Khoriya intend to stick behind their vision and individual voices. In a no-holds barred exclusive conversation with us, director Vishwendra Singh, actress-turned-producer Niharika Singh and internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia do not mince words…The idea to make Khoriya, which literally takes off from the word khor, meaning cage, came when Vishwendra decided to make a documentary on the omnipresent yet invisible Nepalese migrants in India. But since Nepalese do not have a high degree of trust in what they call ‘mainland Indians’ people from Delhi and Mumbai, Vishwendra turned towards fiction to tell their story. Niharika, who acted in Ashim’s festival favourite Miss Lovely, came on board as a producer for she had seen independent makers struggle up close and personal. She wanted to help young directors but to begin with it had to be someone they already knew. And who better than Vishwendra, who had been in their team for long! All three had worked together in the popular Netflix web series Class too.When you have known each other for many years at a professional level, Vishwendra admits that the line between personal and professional life often gets blurred. As executive producer, Ashim’s job was to align the film creatively with global sensibilities, make it more accessible to audiences, and ensure that what Vishwendra wanted to say came across effectively.Whether the film is about migrants looking for a home or a city that refuses to let certain sections feel at home, Vishwendra admits, “It’s a bit of both.” At another level the film mirrors the battle between aspiration and survival which in a way is a story of all of us. Yet, Vishwendra feels, “Everything depends on where you fall in the social hierarchy and these specific migrants are often lost for they don’t have power/control over their lives.”Ashim asserts, “We are all migrants, yet not very tolerant of them. Nepalese in India are like Mexicans in America.” Being a Punjabi, would Ashim ever care to tell the story of Punjabis’ quest to migrate to greener pastures? Honestly, he is more keen on individual Punjabi stories. At one point, he had even contemplated making one on the life of Bindy Johal, an Indo-Canadian gangster from Vancouver. He asserts, “Mainstream Hindi cinema is running out of ideas and pilfering from art-house Indie cinema. Since audiences are no longer buying a 55-year-old superstar playing a college student, they copy, paste from indie films but it’s all wall papering and not authentic.”Though his Class won rave reviews, he is equally harsh while rating OTT platforms. He professes, “In web series, the director is no more than a manager, merely carrying forth someone else’s vision. Trying to do your own thing in such an ecosystem can be very tiring and becomes a battle.” Precisely why, he would not direct another season of Class and stick to indie films. An international co-production is in the pipeline about which he can’t divulge much.With Khoriya all set to be screened at Windows on Asian Cinema Section at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival, he observes, “Festival tag elevates a director’s status and ensures there is less struggle while making the second film. Besides, it ensures audiences for the film, almost equivalent to a mainstream movie, if it does a good festival circuit.”For someone who pinpoints glaring flaws in the current ecosphere of entertainment, he is strangely optimistic. “From a time when you could barely finish a sentence while pitching your idea to when you can actually finish an indie film, whatever may be the odds in terms of finance and distribution, things have improved.”If his contribution in keeping indie scene alive can’t be undermined, Niharika is determined to follow the same path. While facing the camera early on, she realised producers are not interested in cinema, ‘only in numbers and box-office figures.’ Hence this winner of Miss India Earth beauty pageant would only act if she is the producer on the project. In Khoriya, essentially revolving around two Nepali brothers, she does wish the heroine’s part was longer. She winces, “I aspire for that in every film but I guess there is a male gaze which can’t completely get into woman’s skin. Hope Vishy’s (Vishwendra) next has bigger room for women characters.” And, she is there to ensure next happens not only for him but all those who believe in what Charlotte Brontë said, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”