Snigdha Kapoor & Lilly Singh Unpack 'Holy Curse' & Its Uncomfortable Truths

In Hindu culture there's a pooja (ritual) for everything. My nuclear family wasn't too religious so I was only aware of the big ones: house warmings, Diwali, etc. But when we visited our relatives, it got more extensive; further entangled into the social dynamic. The more conservative a place, the more they believed that problems and illnesses could be solved through rituals. A community based upon a shared notion of spirituality can be quite empowering. But this subscription to a particular belief also creates a homogeneity where anything that contradicts these beliefs is considered a problem. And as we know, problems can and must be solved through poojas.

The same premise forms the fate of Radha, the 11-year-old non-binary protagonist in Snigdha Kapoor's short film 'Holy Curse'. Set against the backdrop of a family visit to India, the film offers a rich and personal exploration of the pressures that come with navigating one’s identity within the constraints of societal and familial expectations. Last year, it won the Best Short Film award at the Tasveer Film Festival and recently,it has been qualified for the 2026 Academic Awards in the Best Live Action Short Film category.

Radha’s parents, who have only been living in the U.S. for two years, embody the conflict between being progressive and respecting their family traditions. Struggling to reconcile their traditional Indian upbringing with the values of the new world they are attempting to embrace, they see Radha’s journey of self-discovery as something needing 'remedy'. This belief leads them to consult Radha’s uncle, who turns to astrology and age-old rituals for guidance, casting Radha’s nonconforming gender identity as a “curse” that needs to be fixed. The trip to a priest becomes a symbol of the family’s desperation to address what they believe is a deviation from societal norms.

The filmmaker speaks about how her writing began from observing the rituals that were part of the world she grew up in. “Some things like astrology and other aspects of our culture… they're just so ingrained that we don't think of them as something that's bizarre,” she notes. In the short film, she wanted this world to be shown without antagonizing anyone, and start a conversation on a larger, global conflict between inherited belief systems and individuality. "There was care and love behind it, even though the way it was done might not necessarily be right. But the intent was out of either insecurity or fear or trying to protect the child."

'Holy Curse' portrays Radha’s personal journey through a maze of cultural contradictions. While they navigate the physical and emotional changes of puberty, they are also forced to confront the restrictive roles imposed by their family. As the protagonist’s parents turn to orthodox rituals., the film exposes the deep-seated stigmas associated with gender identity in traditional cultures, where deviation from gender norms is often met with shame, fear, and an effort to control or correct it.

Snigdha’s connection to this emotional landscape is rooted in her own childhood. She explains that although she now lives in the U.S., stories anchored in American life felt dissonant, while the world she grew up in continued to shape her imagination. Much of Radha’s internal conflict mirrors her own memories of adolescence.

“My body was changing and I was questioning… I had this perception about myself about how I identify versus how my environment started seeing me,” she recalls. Corrective language was part of that environment. “I would use male pronouns because I didn't know the difference… and so I was being educated, so to say, on what is right for me and what that actually meant, what those labels communicated.” She describes this as an ongoing negotiation of identity that became central to the film. Society, she says, often pushes people into boxes simply because it feels easier for the predominant culture. The child’s perspective became essential to her storytelling for that reason.

Through Radha’s eyes, the audience is invited to reflect on the often unspoken and unacknowledged forms of conversion therapy still present in Indian culture. The use of astrology and rituals as attempts to 'correct' Radha’s identity underscores the ways in which faith and superstition can sometimes serve as oppressive forces, stifling self-expression and self-discovery.

This October, Canadian YouTuber, television host, comedian and author Lilly Singh came onboard the short film as an executive producer. Lilly remembers discovering the film in her inbox and being immediately drawn to its title. “I was not expecting to experience so many emotions in just 15 minutes. There was intrigue, then heaviness, and then me laughing out loud.” She felt compelled to support the film partly because her global audience gravitates towards conversations that challenge taboo. “My audience has always loved authenticity. This film feels very aligned with what my audience has already leaned in on, which is someone taking up space being themselves and it sometimes being challenging.” She also sees value in stories like this beyond the accolades. “Festivals are great… but it’s just about the people," she insists. "It’s about when people come up to you and say, 'I related to this in a way I didn’t expect to.'"

Lilly also situates the film within a larger ecosystem of gender-related discourse which she has actively been a part of through her series 'Shameless', and speaking with public figures. “An important question I often ask is, 'Where did you learn this idea of what it means to be a man or what it means to be a woman?” she explains. Her advocacy work through the Unicorn Island Fund has shown her how strongly influential people can shape cultural norms, which is why she values direct conversations. But she sees films like Holy Curse contributing something different. “It's much more impactful to tell someone a story. When you talk about someone’s experience, it can really make humans connect.” For her the film’s subtle portrayal of patriarchal harm sparks a similar enquiry in the viewers who, on witnessing it happen to someone else, begin to question how it might affect their own lives.

The emotional spine of Holy Curse lies in the contradictions embedded in family life, that Snigdha threads carefully through the film. It depicts the clash of a misguided parental love that is mingled with fear with a budding sense of self that needs room to breathe. Between the two lies a domestic portrait of the age old battle of the collective vs the individual, painted through the lens of the tender humanity and sense of belonging and truth that drives both.

Follow Snigdha here and watch the trailer for the short film below.

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