This story is part of True/False Conversations, a series of in-depth interviews with the filmmakers of this year’s True/False Film Fest. Find the full series here.
Cinematographer-turned-documentary filmmaker Sraiyanti Haricharan is making her directorial debut with "Auto Queens," a film about the female auto drivers of southern India. The motorized three-wheeler — commonly known as an “auto” — is a daily lifeline for thousands of passengers, and the driver’s seat has long been dominated by men. Decades ago, a small group of women challenged that norm, stepping into a profession steeped in discrimination, safety concerns and, at times, a loss of dignity. KBIA’s Najifa Farhat explores Haricharan’s approach to the film — capturing not only the obstacles these women confront, but also the resilience and determination that keep them on the road.
Here’s their conversation:
Najifa Farhat: How did you decide these were the right two people to build the narrative around?
Sraiyanti Haricharan: It was that moment that actually— the first meeting itself, and everybody cleared out the room, and it was just the two of them. The chemistry between them, the dynamic between them was just something that I felt immediately drawn to, mainly because their personalities are so different. If we're oversimplifying it, I thought, "What would it be like if we thought of unions in terms of as simple as a friendship?" Yeah, that's how it happened.
Farhat: While the friendship is central, the story sits within a politically charged space involving gender and labor rights. How conscious were you of balancing the personal narrative with those broader political dynamics?
Haricharan: So I think that that balance very much entirely comes from the characters themselves. I think, like, just trying to stay true to them and like what they are like as people was what helped to sort of find that mix. Inherently what we're going to say about this subject, but also in any film, it is going to be political. I don't think I'm one of those people who's like, you know, you can leave it to interpretation.
Farhat: I have to ask — the scene, especially the ones where they’re signing up to be a driver or sharing each other’s struggles — feels very observational. How did you choose that narrative lens?
Haricharan: It's interesting actually that you bring up the union scene also, because that whole scene was a total last minute addition. the force of the union, like as in how it feels to be part of something like that was something that if I just focus on the friendship wasn't coming across. We needed to know that it was bigger than just the two of them. These two people could be any of the other people. Like they're just representational of the union itself, right?
Farhat: What are some of the most surprising information you found out while doing this documentary about the women who are in this profession?
Haricharan: A lot of them have faced a lot of abuse and there's no sort of form of access to mental health for people who need it the most. So that's the thing that really, I would say angered me about the whole thing.
Farhat: What was the response when you organized a private screening just for the female auto drivers?
Haricharan: I felt like it was a lifelong dream of mine also coming true. And when Leelaka and Monaka came on screen, the entire union and the entire theater was clapping and whistling so much, and they laughed at all the jokes and everything. I just felt like this is what I wanted for so many years and I want to do so much more like this, where you feel as a union member, you feel represented on screen.
Farhat: If one word like you want to say as a filmmaker, like why should they come and watch your film?
Haricharan: I don't know. how many of us actually are okay with the things are the way things are right now? So I think, if you even have some form of feeling that I want something to change, "Auto Queens" is a film that you'd want to watch to, for you to resonate with the feeling that you're not somebody on the other side of the globe who's driving an auto feels the exact same way as you.
