Storyteller Ishika Shahi is moving toward creating more and more real characters, not idealised ones. Her work with Directors Kut Productions has seen her dipping her toes into narratives that deal with relationships, emotions and intricacies of human behaviour. One of the most important things in storytelling for Ishika is to create female characters who are permitted to make mistakes, prioritise themselves and live beyond the conventional image of the ‘perfect’ woman, as she has done in her shows Jabb Zodiacs Met, Heer Sharma gayi, Tu Ya Koi Nahi and her latest show The Lift.
“I love making my female leads flawed to the point where they feel very realistic,” says Ishika about the themes she naturally finds herself returning to. “I’m just so tired of the sacrificial identity that women tend to have in their characters.
For her, the key to making women relatable is to give them the freedom to be imperfect. Ishika doesn’t want to put female protagonists in the moral light that they should always make the right choices. She wants them to have agency over their own lives.
“I want women to prioritise themselves. I want them to make mistakes and be seen as human beings rather than as moral statues, which is how a lot of female leads are portrayed,” she says.
Ishika also interestingly wants her stories to give women a kind of escapism through the male characters that she creates. She says that positive portrayals of men can be just as meaningful, especially for viewers who may not always see such relationships in their own lives.
“I like to create a fantasy for women when they see men who are green flags on the screen. A lot of women who might not be able to see that in real life would actually get some sort of satisfaction when they see it on screen,” she explains.
“I try and write at least one really good male character in every show. So, there is something to look forward to even in real life for women who might be going through certain bad situations,” adds Ishika.
For Ishika, storytelling is ultimately about creating characters that audiences can see themselves in, but also giving them something to aspire to.
