It’s always the male gaze that a woman has to deal with when she travels solo: Roopa Rao

When she made the much-acclaimed Gantumoote, director Roopa Rao was clear that the story had to encapsulate the life’s journey of her protagonists. While fans of the film are still hung over its after-effects, Roopa recently announced her next directorial, Gochara, along with a line that reads Gantumoote 2, which is struck out. “While I want people to know that this is not the sequel to Gantumoote, I also wish to convey that it has a link to the film. But that’s for them to discover when they watch the film,” says Roopa.

‘My next film explores a woman's solo travel'Roopa tells us that the idea of Gochara came to her out of her own existential questions. “All my trips are usually solo and I, too, have faced questions on how I would manage when I step out alone. Today, they’re on the verge of acceptance, but there will always be this one question: “Is there anyone you know who will meet you at the destination?” Only when they know that I will be met by a friend or acquaintance, that they are at peace. That’s when I thought of this story of a woman who travels alone and her journey, which unfolds both internally and externally,” observes Roopa.
‘It’s not the woman who is travelling that has a problem; it’s the men who see her travelling’I always have lengthy conversations with women whom I meet on my travels and they all seem to deal with the same problem. It’s not the woman who is travelling that has a problem; it’s the men who see her travelling. Their perception of this woman and her travelling solo is what contributes to the story of Gochara. My protagonist travels the length and breadth of India, so her experiences are going to be rather rich. I just want every woman who watches this film to feel liberated in her own way. And perhaps, liberate men from their thinking, too