Shilpa Mankikar - An exclusive inspirational cover story

           SHILPA MANKIKAR is an American professional film maker based in New York. She is a popular film director and also a social activist. Throughout out her career she has interviewed many popular celebrities and influencers from the Ex- US President Bill Clinton, Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz to popular author Maya Angelou. Shilpa mankikar is a dynamic woman with outstanding potential who can be one among the most influential women across the globe.

         Shilpa Mankikar was raised in The Bronx, New York and New Jersey along with her sweet sister, Being a Non resident of India, Shilpa was a brilliant student and also a hard worker. As the result of her good grades She entered into Oberlin College and pursued B.A. (Bachelors) major in Art History, Minors: Politics, Japanese/ East Asian Studies.

  She was able to enter the top most universities of U.S. - "Columbia University" and pursued M.F.A (master of fine arts. Writing,  directing, Producing).

A snapshot of Shilpa with her sister donning a Sari.

BAFD: As being an NRI how were you able to learn and follow Indian tradition and culture?

          My parents met and fell in love in Bombay, but they went to Germany after getting married. I was born in Germany.  Then right after I was born, we moved to the Bronx in New York. I grew up there and mostly New Jersey.  So I have been a  "Non-Resident Indian" my whole life.  I have one younger sister.  We grew up in a big desi community with all religions, and regions.  We were "American" at school in a diverse community, and "Indian" at home.  Or "Indian" at school and "soooo American!" at home.  

                       

My parents always took us to Indian concerts like Zakir Hussain.  We may have learned more traditional things - than our own cousins in India - like bharat natyam dancing and Vedanta class.  I would go to India every few years to visit family or for weddings.  Then a large part of our family immigrated to the US two by two, over almost 15 years.  Our home was always the first stop.  Many family members lived with us for a year or until they got their further education, or started a business.

       I was always used to having a big family around, and many different personalities. That organized chaos has helped me feel "at home" on Film Sets.  My paternal grandparents especially moved.  Then my maternal grandmother would come and stay for a few months.  But she was very independent, and found America boring. (lol) So she went back to Pune where had her cousins, friends, and vipassana. So that's how I learned to speak Konkani and Marathi at home.   Then I had to learn Hindi later when I started going to India as an adult.

 At Rudyard Kipling's house Naulakha in Veramont, USA., Where he wrote jungle book.

BAFD: What were you like in high school and what inspired you to be in to film making?

                     
       I was an Honors student and studied hard to get good grades, so I could get admission to the top universities.  I was into the Arts - I acted in all the school plays and took photography and painting classes.  I started out with small roles in the chorus, and then played the lead characters by 11th & 12th grade.  We had plays like Fiddler on the Roof, Once Upon a Mattress, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

One of the Shilpa's school play.

   I started writing and directing plays but never took it seriously like a possible Career.  Growing up near Manhattan, some of my classmates used to go for Auditions for TV shows or Broadway shows.  I thought They were more serious about it than I was.  I would wait for the Manhattan bus with kids like Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire).  I used to compete in Classical Piano competitions at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.  I also liked independent music bands like Sonic Youth and Nirvana, and there was a movement of strong women rappers and ethnic pride like Queen Latifah.  

  So, there were lots of pop culture messages to be proud of who you are and your heritage.  I watched Hollywood horror movies and romantic comedies with my friends, but started watching foreign or independent films at home likeMy Father's Castle, My Beautiful Laundrette, Paris is Burning, Mississippi Masala, whatever was available.

With popular Indian actress and Director NANDITHA DAS. 

BAFD: How were you able turn your passion into profession?

        I started working as a Production Assistant on American film sets in New York in the summer vacations during college.  I also started taking film classes - including Chinese Cinema.  They had a more heightened, operatic quality like Bollywood films.  But they were getting released here in art house theaters, which Indian films weren't.  My desi friends group in college used to perform Indo-Western dances.  There was a big sub-culture of hip-hop and Bollywood remix music parties in clubs.   

There was a lot of British Asian pop culture coming out.  Gurinder Chadha released Bhaji on the Beach.  I watched that, and really thought -- wow, I can do this.  A friend and I taught an "Asian American Cinema" class senior year.

 With the popular Indian actor, Director and Playback Singer KAMAL HASSAN. 

  My senior year of college, I went to a party called "Mutiny" which was a fundraiser for a documentary about Asians in British Music.  It brought together a lot of parts of my life into a cool space.  They were all talking about combining South Asian music with Western music. 

I ordered some of the albums, waited many months in a corn field in Ohio where my college was located.  Finally the CD's arrived from London, and it  changed my life.  We started doing dances with those songs mixed by our friends who were electronic music composers or dj's.  Oberlin has a famous Music Conservatory, so we were surrounded by musicians.   Then after graduating, I worked on the movie - transcribing interviews and assistant editing.   

Deeply focused while on set.

PHOTO CREDIT: Marina Piedade

    

After college, I worked in Film Production for a few years on several freelance projects.  I was able to work for women directors like Adrienne Shelley. Her feature film had a 60% female crew and I thought that was Normal. Only later did I learn statistics that Women are only 7% Directors in the whole industry, and even less in jobs like Cinematography.  So I try to promote women on my Set when I'm hiring.  Then I worked for Spike Lee's Post-Production.  Then I worked on a project Desi: South Asians in New York for PBS - which was actually a tribute to the community I grew up in.  I used to have many jobs at once if I wasn't on set.  

I have always been against racism, or sexism or any other -isms.

PHOTO CREDIT: Christine chambers

BAFD: What were the challenges you faced during success and also as a female ?

         I experienced racism at an early age - because we were some of the first non-white people where I grew up.  But it quickly became the "cultural melting pot" of America.  so I have always been against racism, or sexism or any other -isms.  I was the kind of kid who would start my own club, if someone else was too exclusive.  And I had a lot of friends because of it, who I still keep in touch with.  So I love self-starters, innovators, and people who go against the grain.  That has helped me with the struggles coming up in the film business as an adult.

BAFD: Also being a social activist what made you to be a part of "WOMENS MARCH"
   
    This is the 70th year of India-Pakistan Independence.  My grandmothers were very active in the South Asian Freedom struggle - especially my mother's mother.  They always instilled in us to volunteer or stand up for rights.  They used to tell us stories growing up.  Gandhi the movie made an impression on me because it was their generation's story, and about our heritage.  I have a lot of feminists in my family.  Working women or strong women.

Women's march

  So it's in my blood, I guess. I started a group in high school for racial unity.  Then in college, I worked on Reproductive Freedom at the ACLU.  That was about protecting Women's Health and abortion rights.  Because many women did not have access around the US, and the conservative political parties kept trying to push the laws back to the 1950's. I was Pre-Law at the time, and taking a lot of Law/Politics classes -- about Free Speech and Constitutional Law.  

After college, I would work by day and volunteer or do community organizing around different issues on the weekends.  I have always been outspoken, and was on the cover of the New York Daily News speaking about police brutality.  After 9/11, with 3rd i, I was doing more Media Activism -- creating a space for Alternative Media and self-education because there was so much propaganda against anyone who looked vaguely brown like us.  I didn't think we needed so much self-hatred, or fear, and media was the best tool I knew to use.  

My Screenwriting has always been about young women, social issues, or hidden historical subjects that we should know about.   

The current/new administration in the US are from the ultra-conservative part of society, and have a track record of curtailing rights on all those things I have openly stood for my entire life.  Also there was a questionable Election result, between the popular vote and the allegations of election interference by Russia. So I attended the Women's March and took my Aunt, her son, and his girlfriend.  There were MILLIONS of women there, chanting, dancing, singing, and making a statement for Human Rights. 

 One 12 year old girl climbed a tree and was leading the Cheers for the hundreds of marchers who walked under the tree.  There was an all-woman drum marching band playing Brazilian Carnivale songs.  The entire City of Washington DC was flooded with women standing up.  We saw the same thing in Delhi after Nirbhaya. So these are international issues for half of the world's population - Women.

BAFD:  SHOULD WOMEN WEAR MAKE - UP?

       That's a personal choice.  Oberlin was a hippie college. I would just wear lipstick, and people would ask, "Why are you dressed up? You look so Preppy!"  Then I would come home from college and go to clubs in New York, where everyone wore full makeup or even exaggerated Club Kid styles (wearing a costume) to stand out. So then I learned more about makeup.  

However, most people have natural beauty.  Also you don't actually know what chemicals are in the makeup.  It may be good or bad for you.  Many actors (actresses) don't wear makeup if they are not On Set, because Set makeup is so heavy and it can distress the skin.  But they still do masks, moisturize, and take care of skin.  Most women I know, do wear makeup.  It can cheer you up sometimes, to put on your makeup and go! 

Directing a comedy with LILLY SINGH aka SUPERWOMAN. 

FAST FIVE SESSION!

Shilpa flaunting her red carpet look at Cannes wearing RALPH LAUREN.

• What you love to wear?

           I don't really follow trends. I currently have red hair. I like to wear t-shirt and jeans with my sneakers on set. Otherwise I like to wear knee-length dresses for everyday work because they look professional and classy.

• What are your favourite brands?

           DKNY, Calvin Klein and Tahari.

•  What completed your red carpet look?

        For the Red carpet I wore Ralph Lauren. I have curves so I went for a Marilyn Munroe classic 1960's cannes look.

• Your favourite Designers?

         Payal Singhal, Rocky S, Shamal and Bhumika. I like to follow designers on instagram.

. Payal Singhal - I have a favorite light blue silk salwar kameez with royal crystal work.
- Rocky S. - I have a cream salwar kameez with gold waist line that I love.

- Shyamal & Bhumika

There are so many new designers making beautiful clothes, that I just drool over.

•  Who is your fashion icon?
        I have the " be unique without trying too hard " mentality. I like chick or girly rock/edgy looks. So Gwen Stefani comes to my mind. Cannes is the Olympics of Glam.  Even the churches and bathrooms have a red carpet.  This year, Aishwarya Rai Won it with her Couture looks.  

"Beauty is what on the inside, it's confidence and personality. You can have dark skin and be stunning, you can have a bigger size and be gorgeous"

BAFD: That's wonderful ! You have a beautiful smile and teeth I adore them.

 (focusing on the interview),

What is BEAUTY according to you?
      
       Beauty is what's on the inside.  It's confidence and personality.  A person can have conventionally good looks and be a terrible person.  I don't follow those conventions, because these days, they promote Western looks in India, and then all the girls look the same - fair skinned with European features.  But that's not the only type of "beauty".  We have to reject that concept.  You can have dark skin, and be stunning. You can have a bigger size, and be gorgeous. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Everyone has different taste, and there's something for everyone. Find your own unique style.

(AS SAID BY SHILPA MANKIKAR TO THE BAFD TEAM)

THANKS FOR THE READ! 

:)