Aastha Tiku calls out industry's perception that women and comedy don't go together

A still from the film. Pics/By Special Arrangement, Youtube

After writing Vidya Balan-starrer Sherni (2021), Aastha Tiku has taken a different route with her directorial debut, Dreamboat. The short film is an unusual story featuring a talking crow, a pillow, and a girl with a boyfriend - elements that came to Tiku in a dream. "I had a dream about certain symbols. I woke up and recorded it in my journal. The next few months were spent working on it. So, Dreamboat is right out of my subconscious," she said.

Aastha Tiku

The surreal comedy is presented by Sherni director Amit Masurkar. For Tiku, making a comedy also meant confronting the industry's bias where women are still not given enough room to explore the genre. "The idea that a woman can be funny is still something we are coming to understand," she noted, before adding that the problem also lies in how humour involving women is traditionally written in Indian cinema.

Vidya Balan in 'Sherni'

"There are always sexual connotations when women and humour are involved, especially in more misogynistic films. The joke is always on the woman. This film is born out of that angst. It comes from the place that women are really funny too."

As she told her story, Tiku found support in Masurkar, from whom she has learnt to remain true to her characters and the world. She added, "One of the biggest things I've learnt from him is that you need not compromise on your storytelling to please an imagined audience."