Today we’d like to introduce you to Shruti Tewari.
Hi Shruti, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started acting in Bay Area theatre productions in the early 2000s and transitioned to film after doing a one-woman show based on Cocteau’s “Human Voice” in Berkeley. My first film was a Bollywood production that went on to be a blockbuster in 2009. After that, I did many meaningful roles in independent films and on stage; and decided to transition to writing my own stories, given the lack of challenging roles for women who looked or sounded like me. Since 2017, I have written several shorts, three features and a pilot. I have also directed and produced three short films over this time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As an immigrant, I have lived a life of multiple transitions and constant change. Perhaps that is what I looked for in my artistic career and that is what has kept me from finding the smooth roads along my journey. I have purposely chosen to switch lanes countless times, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, from stage to film, from acting to writing and directing – and in doing so, I have willingly opted for and embraced the bumpy road. The struggles were, and continue to be, innumerable. Immigrant stories and characters are still fraught with stereotypes and used as the premise for banal humor. Our authentic representations continue to struggle to find appropriate production funding or backing and it is a tedious journey towards reclaiming our depictions to accurately represent our lived experiences.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have been a SAG-AFTRA actor in the American film market for over a decade now and have been a part of several projects that went to the biggest stages including Cannes. While working on a big Bollywood blockbuster opened doors for me in film, the type of roles being offered quickly shrank to irksome stereotypes of my ethnicity and gender, making the roles as alien to me as I was to the industry. This was my motivation to reclaim our narratives and infuse some authenticity into the portrayals of immigrant women, of women from the South Asian diaspora and especially women whose choices and voices have been suppressed due to their cultural preconditioning. My motivational mantra is – “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” which translated into my world became – if I don’t tell the stories of Indian American immigrant women, having been one for the better part of my life, who will? And that’s what keeps me going.
I am especially proud of all my scripts that have placed in numerous screenplay competitions ranging from Austin Film Festival to Big Break. I have also completed the Sundance Collab directors and producers programs to develop my first feature, “Flares,” the screenplay for which is an award winner at the Alliance of Women Filmmakers Scriptwriting Competition and a finalist at WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab and Big Apple Film Festival. In 2021, my episodic pilot was a finalist at Female Voices Rock and second rounder at Austin Film Festival screenwriting competitions. My short screenplay, “Stain Resistant,” a finalist from Female Voices Rock Film Festival and quarter-finalist from Atlanta Film Festival screenwriting competitions, was developed this year through the Women of Color Filmmakers Lab. I was awarded a YBCA Artist Power Convenings grant and a Bravemaker Pitch Fest grant to partially fund this proof of concept for my feature.
I am also proud to have been the writer, director and producer of three short films thus far. My first film, “Trail Past Prejudice,” inspired by rising violence against immigrants in the US, played at over a dozen film festivals worldwide and won the Silver Remi Award at WorldFest Houston. My second film, “Mum,” premiered at Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival in 2021 and won an Award of Merit at the Best Shorts Film festival among other recognitions. My short film, “Stain Resistant,” premiered at the DC South Asian Film Festival in November this year. What sets me apart is my penchant for depicting nuances through metaphorical storytelling.
As a fiction writer, I am excited to be halfway through my first novel set in Silicon Valley and New Delhi and also to have finished a full-length play, “Kho Kho – a game of loss.” On the non-fiction front, I am proud to share that my essay, “Unburdened of Unmade Choices,” was published in an anthology, “Midlife on Fire: Risky Business. Real Stories. Women Writers.” I am looking forward to the publication of another essay, “Exploring the Inifinite” in an anthology featuring female filmmakers, an excerpt from which was published in American Kahani earlier this year.
What were you like growing up?
From an early age, I was a student of Bharatnatyam, a classical Indian dance form that helped me hone in on the right “Bhava” (expression) from my very first stage performance. I thrived in my extra-curricular, winning many debates, performing on Indian television and radio and sharpening my imagination through Hindi and English literature. Back then, as I do today, I loved dissecting the lyrics of popular songs and looking for alternate interpretations to expand the impact of words. This has helped refine my own poetry and I remain grateful to the many poets and writers who have influenced my thought process and approach to writing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shrutitewari.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shruti_tewari/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShrutiTewariOfficial/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/shrutitewari
Image Credits
Cynthia Smalley Stain Resistant Film
