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 Watch the film here: (18 minutes)
 http://imaginingourselves.imow.org/pb/Story.aspx?id=1430&lang=1
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 Where's Sandra? is a film about a stereotypical figure of the Indian
 Catholic woman - Sandra from Bandra - Bandra being a largely Christian
 suburb of Bombay.

 At the most literal level, this film is about the Christian women of
 Bombay who created a certain space for women in general. They were the
 earliest women in Bombay to enter the workforce, which was part of the
 reason for the unease around them and for the sexual stereotyping that
 they received.

 But they also embodied a certain spirit - of fun, of pleasure and a
 certain chutzpah. This generation of women doesn't know that we owe
 something to them, for being out there first where we so easily are
 today.

 I searched for a way to explore the stereotype of Christians more
 gently - through the aspects of fantasy that exist in the idea of the
 sexy, supposedly available but actually unattainable Christian woman.
 I've tried to stay away from dismantling stereotypes in the film,
 tending instead to create my own notion of this figure by taking my
 own and others' ideas of Sandra, and weaving in Bollywood imagery and
 interviews with women actually named Sandra living in Bandra.

 Also, it seemed important to tell the history of this neighborhood not
 through the usual historio-cultural lens, not tell tales of buildings
 and the comings and goings of conquerors and settlers, but rather, to
 trace it through the lives of its women. And in speaking of these
 women and what lives and times they shaped, perhaps also understand
 something of the feminist/social history of the city of Bombay.

 This is not the sort of history that is recorded often - it is an
 invisible, everyday history of women from a minority community.

 At another level, I think (or hope, anyway) that women of my
 generation are less anxious about the feminist stories they can tell,
 about the ways in which they can tell them. In a time of so many
 stereotypes about feminism, more mischievous stories are needed and
 are being told with greater ease. And the way in which this story is
 told is an exercise of that sort.

 ***

 FILM CREDITS

 Producer: Celebrate Bandra Trust
 Director: Paromita Vohra
 Camera: Avijit Mukul Kishore
 Editing: Jabeen Merchant/Sankalp Meshram
 Sound: Anita Kushwaha
 Cast: Tuhinaa Vohra, Sonali Verma, Rachel Lopez

 For entire credit roll, please see added story on the right.