Not everyone can say that they started their work life at the Supreme Court of London, but for 29-year-old Kanika Batra, that’s how it began. However, lofty ambitions of being a top London barrister aside, Batra felt that her true calling was theatre and she returned to India to pursue the same.
Now, the founder of Outperform, a learning and development company in the city, theatre is something she pours all her free time into. Lately in the news for the heartwarming video, Call Dad Now- #TellHimNow, the young lady reveals that it was all part of research that went into a feature film that she is working on.
The idea for this film stemmed from my need to spend more time with my father, Rakesh Batra. He was getting older, I realised, and I abandoned all logic, as I believed that there was no better way of doing this, than making a movie with him.
Around the same time, a really close friend was coping with the regret of not saying the things she should have/wanted to say to her father, under the assumption that tomorrow would come. I felt then, that there was a message that was worth a movie,” explains Batra, who has no training in filmmaking, or screenwriting.
The video, which went viral within 24 hours of being aired, sees father-daughter duos describing their relationships, ranging from dynamics that are sweet to downright eccentric. Talking about her experience making the video, she shares how fulfilling the project was.
“Each participant, every story that was shared, and every breakthrough reinforced my faith that the concept of the film Project Papa would touch many hearts. During the shoot, someone actually called their Dad and said, “I miss you.”
It was magical!,” recalls the artiste who has done a host of musical and non-musical plays, and has played the lead in two feature films — Station and Joint Trip.
The film, Project Papa, she says is a light, entertaining, fun and uplifting story of a father and his daughter. “The 29-year-old daughter, at the threshold of her career is stressed out, overworked, and believes that happiness is a thing of the future. The father, at the near end of his career, believes that happiness is a thing of the past. It takes a life-changing incident for them to realise the importance of today, because tomorrow might not come,” shares Batra, who launched a crowdfunding campaign on January 18 on wishberry.in, to raise funds in order to make the film “the way it deserves to be made.” Apart from theatre and acting, Batra is also a trained dancer. “I love travelling, adventure sports, music, and learning new things. ” she signs off.
