Documentary 'Mast Mahila Mandali' Grounds Its Resistance In Laughter & Sisterhood

Mast Mahila Mandali does not ask its viewers to pity its subjects or marvel at their endurance. It asks you to take the women in motion, living their life, by laughing and learning. It reminds us that empowerment is not supposed to be dramatic. It can sound like singing in a kitchen or feels like the warmth of shared laughter after a long day. The documentary does something revolutionary by framing their joy so deliberately.

‘Mast’ is an omnipresent word in my universe. In all the languages I speak, the word means cool and awesome, just joyful. An uncle of mine, whenever I am sad or low, just looks at me with the biggest smile on his face and says, "Mast irru," which translates to "just be joyful" in Kannada. The word might seem light, but it holds a lot of power. The ability and agency to choose ‘masti’ or being ‘mast’ over dwelling and being remorseful is profound and deep, with a lot of purpose.

In 'Mast Mahila Mandali', an experimental documentary made across a two-year-long workshop process where ten women from working class neighbourhoods of Mumbai came together to learn filmmaking, being ‘mast’ is political. The documentary unfolds in a world almost entirely devoid of men, not because they do not exist, but because the film deliberately shifts its gaze elsewhere. Women occupy the centre of the frame as individuals, actively reclaiming agency, friendship and possibility, as opposed to being portrayed as victims of circumstance or symbols of resilience burdened by suffering. 

Mast Mahila Mandali focuses on women equipping themselves, both literally and metaphorically, with the tools required to build better lives. Whether through learning new skills, engaging with technology or navigating systems that have historically excluded them, the women in the film, who are also the co-creators and co-directors of the documentary, are shown to take things in their own hands. Access becomes a recurring theme. We see these women take charge of something we all have, a mobile phone, and make it a method through which to liberate themselves. By interviewing their friends and capturing their lives, they free themselves from whatever lens they are meant to be perceived through by society.

At no point in the documentary does it lean into defining their womanhood through deprivation. While their realities are certainly stark, across labour, marriage, social expectation, and economic hardship, Mast Mahila Mandali intentionally refuses to foreground struggle as spectacle. Instead, it foregrounds joy. Women laugh loudly unapologetically, even though they’ve been told their laughter sounds like a cacophony. They sing and dance for themselves in the kitchen without inhibition. They tease each other, gossip and revel in one another’s company. The film insists that humour and pleasure are forms of resistance themselves.

This emphasis feels especially potent when viewed through the lens of marriage. One of the co-directors of the documentary, Gauri Rane talks about the shifts in identity that occur before and after it; the person she once imagined herself to be, and the person circumstances have asked her to become. The effect of a marriage is not portrayed simplistically or unilaterally as oppression or fulfilment but as a continuous negotiation and transformation between every version of yourself. Despite these tribulations, the women of Mast Mahila Mandali, persistently inquire into their selfhood, together through their friendship.

This spirit of sisterhood is palpable throughout the documentary. The women uplift one another and hold each other accountable. They don’t shy away from calling each other out. The film captures this idea that empowerment is rarely an individual pursuit but something nurtured through community. There is no singular heroine here. Instead, there is a mandali, a gathering, where strength emerges through togetherness. 

With ten women directors shaping the documentary, Mast Mahila Mandali feels rich and practically technicoloured by multiplicity. The film embraces many perspectives, irrespective of religion, cast, or economic status, allowing space for complexity and contradiction. 

Mast Mahila Mandali does not ask its viewers to pity its subjects or marvel at their endurance. It asks you to take the women living their life, by laughing and learning. It reminds us that empowerment is not supposed to be dramatic. It can sound like singing in a kitchen  or feels like the warmth of shared laughter after a long day. The documentary does something revolutionary, by foregrounding these women's joy so deliberately.

Follow Mast Mahila Mandali on Instagram here.

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