Vidhu Vincent believes life is a constant learning process. Her first feature film, “Manhole”, won the FIPRESCI prize for the best Malayalam feature film at the 2016 International Film Festival of Kerala, the Kerala State Film Award for best film and best director of the year — all three, a first for a woman filmmaker. Still, Vidhu believes she has a lot to learn.
Aspirations
After school, I went to SN College, Kollam, for my pre-degree and, later, I pursued my bachelor’s in history at Government Women’s college in Thiruvananthapuram, with the aim of getting into the civil service and was training under former Director General of Police Alexander Jacob, a family friend. But, I soon realised that I was not cut out for it. Also, for much of my school and undergraduate years, I was disturbingly religious and had even thought about becoming a nun when I was in class X. I used to go straight to a chapel after classes everyday, when I was in Women’s College. At one point, it was so extreme that I was disappointed that my parents were much less religious than me!
Entering the world of news was an eye-opener. It was after I started studying for postgraduate diploma in journalism at Kerala Media Academy, Kochi, that I started to feel there was something wrong with my religious fervour. I guess, the realities of the world hit me hard. I began watching world movies while I was studying at C-DIT. The raw, visceral nature of scenes was unbearable for me, in the beginning. But, it gave me a broader view of the world, apart from making me fall in love with movies and the craft behind it.
Up until a few years ago, I was a college student and was doing my master’s in philosophy at Goa University. I am a bit like Toto Chan, the main character from the Japanese book of the same name, who gets up every morning, thinking what new things he ought to try learning that day. Being a journalist, I got to learn many topics while working on different projects. If you don’t try to learn something new while working, most jobs will feel monotonous. After my stint with different news channels in Malayalam, I joined for my master’s in social work at Calicut University, where I had spent some time auditing different courses. Even during the making of “Manhole”, I was more of a student of filmmaking than a filmmaker. I improvised a lot with the help of my crew, and I believe I have a lot more to learn.
The journey from a conservative girl to a progressive non-believer began during my college days. You only introspect and change your character when you meet other people. The people who influenced me the most were the friends I made in college. The experiences and the kind of relationships that I had with them, has transformed me. Most of them still have a strong influence on me.
Education in India
Back when I was in school and college, studying meant mugging up lessons. My interest, in so many other fields, emerged from the extracurricular activities I was involved in, and not because of the formal classes. Today, the curriculum has improved, but we still lack good teachers. It is the teaching that makes the difference, and we need effective reforms to set that right.
