Meet Kanika Batra who's crowdfunding to make a beautiful father-daughter film

Bengaluru-based actress and scriptwriter Kanika Batra has made an English-Hindi feature film based on a concept which would appeal to everyone. Her 120-minute film talks about the importance of living in the now, shown through the relationship between a 29-year-old daughter and a 64-year-old father. But instead of approaching a producer after writing the script, Kanika (and her friends) decided to take the crowdfunding route to raise money to make the film. Their target amount is Rs 30 lakh and they have raised Rs 28,20,310 so far from 157 people. With 19 days left to go to get their target of Rs 30 lakhs, the Project Papa group hopes to successfully hit the target and start work on the film. Kanika Batra who will also direct the film, speaks exclusively to dna about this endeavour.

What is Project Papa about?

Project Papa is going to be a light, fun, entertaining English- Hindi feature film, about a father and a daughter. In the film, the 29-year-old daughter is at the threshold of her career and stressed out and overworked. She believes that happiness is a thing of the future. Her 64-year-old father, at the end of his career, with a lot less to look forward to, believes that happiness is a thing of the past. The movie explores how they both come to realise the importance of living in the NOW. 

How did you come up with the idea of Project Papa?

A year ago, when I made up my mind to do something creative, I also realised that my dad was getting older, and I really wanted to do something with him, and spend more time with him.  Around the same time, I had friends who were coping with the regret of not having said or done the things they wanted to do with their fathers, under the assumption that tomorrow would come. I felt strongly that there was a message that was worth a movie- if there’s something you want to say to him, #TellHimNow, and also the concept of being ‘happy in the now’, being the most important takeaways. For me, it was three birds with one stone - make my dad’s dream of acting in a movie a reality at 60 plus years; pursue something creative and share this important message with the world.

I was further convinced that this is a story that needs to be told, after the impact that my first short film, Call Dad Now had. As part of my research, I interviewed 35 different fathers and daughters, and asked them about their relationship. What unfolded was absolutely magical, and people from all over the world wrote in to us about how the video impacted them to actually pick up the phone and call their dads. That was my biggest motivation and my biggest driving factor. 

Why is the relationship between a father and daughter more special than say, a mom and a daughter’s?

I don’t really see it that way to begin with. (Smiles) I think every individual has that one person in their life that they're really connected to. It could be a father, a mother, a best friend- anybody. The essence of the film, is to highlight the urgency and importance of saying and doing things that you want to do in the NOW, because tomorrow might not come. At this juncture of my life, the father-daughter relationship signifies this message most deeply for me, and I think it is one that is very often ignored, especially in India, where most father-daughter relationships begin to lose continuity after she is married, educated, or moves out. But there is an undying and strong bond between a daughter and father even as she turns into an adult that I wanted to talk about. 

Why have you gone the crowdfunding route instead of getting a producer?

There were a couple of interested investors, but in order to maintain the integrity of the story, and to gather and engage our audience, even before the film was made, we decided to go to the crowd. This is what I think crowdfunding is - imagine you and 4 of your closest friends- the 5 of you, are sitting in the living room and have a great idea that you want to give life to. Option A - you can keep searching for the one producer who can not only fund your idea, but also believes in it, and gives you creative liberty. Option B - you share your idea with the world, and let them join the ride. You’ve now given people an opportunity to become a part of something they would have never otherwise had the chance to. So we invited people into our living room, and into our circle of five. (Smiles)

Tell us about the English-Hindi track 'Ek Pal’ in the film.

This was definitely divine intervention! On one of the days when I had the intense desire to  give up, I was frustrated and in the gym. The Hindi words of the song just came to me, and I started recording both the lyrics, and the melody on my phone, as I was driving back from the gym. When I got home, I had to playback the recording, and even Google some of the words. I’m not extremely fluent in Hindi, so I had to make sure the meaning of the lyrics made sense. And they did. That’s how Ek Pal was then handed over to Jeet Singh, who did his magic, and the song came to life. It turned out to be such a fun and great song that we decided to involve our backers in it and make it their song too! And the lyrics echo the message of the movie so well. So my very dear friends Kenny, Kenishaa and Jeet all came together, to become a part of Ek Pal. 

What do you hope to achieve with the film?

A good, heartfelt, fun experience for the audience, and absolutely everyone else who is involved. And if that could change a few relationships along the way for the better, then that’s a total bonus.