Sita Sings the Blues - Interview with Reena Shah

by Dorothee Royal-Hedinger

category: Interviews

Published May 07, 2009 @ 09:25AM PT

The Ramayana, one of the two great epics of India, is a tale of sacrifice, duty and the responsibility above personal desire. In the story, princess Sita is portrayed as the epitome of female purity and virtue but suffers greatly for her convictions.

Here's a brief summary of a year in her life: She follows her husband Rama into exile and then gets abducted by an enemy king. She is imprisoned on his island but prays devotedly to Rama who eventually rescues her. Instead of welcoming her with open arms, Rama is suspicious of Sita's fidelity so she goes through a trial by fire to clear her name. When she emerges unscathed, Rama promptly banishes her from his kingdom. Talk about blaming the victim!

Sita Sings the Blues, which was directed, written, produced and animated by Nina Paley, is a beautiful re-imagining of this story. Paley's version blends the epic tale with a modern day love story told from Sita's point of view,

Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by email. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana.

I caught up with Reena Shah, who is the speaking voice of Sita in the film and who choreographed and starred in the film's dance-animation sequence.

You're a multi-disciplinary artist: dancer, actress, singer, choreographer - did you grow up performing?

At the age of 4, my mother took me to Classical Indian Dance Classes for Bharatha Natyam taught by the Late Indian Film Actress and Dancer, Padmini Ramachandran. She started an Indian Dance School in New Jersey in the 80's and I was one of her first students. I graduated from the Padmini Institute of Fine Arts in 1991 with my Arengetram at the young age of 13 and became a professional Classical Indian Dancer. I was also involved with traveling dance troupes as well. I was always a part of my school plays, as well as choral groups. I created skits and songs that my sisters and I would perform. I always knew performing was something I wanted to do in my adult life as a profession.

How did you get involved with the production of Sita Sings the Blues?

Nina Paley was looking for voice-talent for Sita Sings The Blues and started blogging about an upcoming audition for the project. I received the casting notice via a list-serve I participated in called - SAWCC (South Asian Womens Creative Collective). I emailed Nina, got an audition time and went in and read a few scripted lines of dialogue... a week later Nina called me and said she liked my voice for Sita's character.

Once we started working on recording the dialogue she had written, she asked me about musicians for the soundTrack. When my husband, singer/songwriter/composer Todd Michaelsen, took a look at what I was working on for Nina's movie, he was amazed at Nina's talent as an animator and was interested in the story. I told Nina, Todd would be interested in composing music for the project and she asked him to be the composer... to score it, and create original tracks/songs. The opening title track music was created after Nina described exactly what she wanted musically and Todd gave her various ideas. Once the title track was complete, Nina animated the opening sequence to the music. It's quite beautiful and epic. The music and animation work so well together.

Nina then asked Todd to compose the Fire Song - "Agni Pariksha." Todd came up with the melody and music, my mother- Laxmi Shah, wrote the lyrics in Hindi, and I sang the song and recorded it in our home studio out of our Brooklyn, NY apartment in Williamsburg. It was a wonderful experience all around to work with Nina, my husband-Todd, and my mom-Laxmi. You can download original soundtrack music from Sita Sings the Blues here: ToddMichaelsen.com

The film is directed by Nina Paley and is based both on her own autobiographical story and the Indian epic The Ramayana. What was it like working with a director for whom the story was so intimate?

Nina was great to work with and is such a talented artist. I was respectful of what she had gone through in her personal life. Out of that personal experience, came a piece of art that is so empowering, especially for women. Nina was open and honest about all that had happened to her. You see it in the film. It's inspiring to see such truth & honesty. Everything she did in creating the film took much time, love, and care. She devoted 5 years to making this movie. Its such a personal piece of art that many people have responded to or have related to.

Had you worked with female directors in the past?

What a great question! Yes, I have worked with a number of very talented female directors:
- Providence Filmmaker, Laura Colella cast me in her Indie film, "Stay Until Tomorrow."
- Universal Pictures' Feature "The Guru" directed by Daisy Mayer, where I was the Assistant Choreographer for the film & a Dancer on-camera.
- Ambika Samarthya cast me in her short film "After."
- I narrated the PBS 'Independent Lens' Documentary, "A Dream In Doubt", Directed by Tami Yeager.

Each female director was confident, open-minded, and passionate about their projects. They brought out the truth in the stories they were telling and were specific with me and yet gave me the opportunity to bring my own truth to these roles. I love working with female directors because they often have a sixth sense about life. I feel very connected to that sixth sense out of my own life experience & through my meditation practice. It allows me to really give an honest and pure performance. A director is so important and each one of these women brought out the true character in the story I was portraying. I hope to direct as well at some point in my career.

Was The Ramayana a story you were familiar with before you began this production?

Yes, as an Indian-American child born and raised in New Jersey, my parents made sure we knew of the stories they grew up with. They exposed my sisters, brother, and I to our traditional Indian culture with stories of The Ramayana and The Mahabharata.

How do you feel about this interpretation which is told mainly from Sita's point of view?

I think Nina Paley's interpretation from Sita's point of view is BRILLIANT. Relating her own experience to Sita's experience was her way to cope with what she was going through as a woman with the relationship she was in at the time. I know other women who have related to Sita's point of view, as well. With these stories, they know that they are not alone. The retelling from the perspective and interpretation from Sita was really special and beautiful for me. It's liberating! We all have a right to tell our own point of view of our own stories. Women have a voice and those voices and stories are shared to reveal the true emotions we go through. Our stories should be heard and I am always comforted to know that we are not alone in all of these sacred, personal experiences.

The film uses many different animation styles and features the singing voice of 1920’s jazz singer Annette Hanshaw. When preparing to do the voice of Sita, were you able to see the drawings or hear the music for the film first?

All of the different animation styles are awesome! Annette Hanshaw's voice is so pure and beautiful and I think that's what Nina heard in my own voice when I auditioned for her. Once, I landed the part, Nina did show me the animation sequences she completed to Annette Hanshaw's songs. Those lovely songs and Nina's creative animation helped me to be even more sweet and sincere in my portrayal of Sita's speaking voice.

You were roto-scoped for the dance-animation sequence that you choreographed in the film. What was that like - were you dancing in front of a green screen?

It was such a fun day of filming the dance-animation sequence. Nina filmed me in front of a green screen with the dance choreography I prepared for the "Agni Pariksha" song. She shot me dancing from different angles with my full costume on and towards the end of the shoot, she filmed me with my bodysuit, so she could get the outline of my full-body. It was genius to see what she did with the footage. She traced my entire outline by hand for every frame for each dance movement for the song. The "Agni Pariksha" sequence was really unique and one of my favorite parts of the film!

What's next for you?

This past March 2009, I just finished taking the LAByrinth Theater Company's Master Class for Writing, Directing, Producing, & Acting in New York City. The class with John Patrick Shanley inspired me to start writing and working on my One-Woman Show!

I also shot an Indie Film in 2006 called ASHES, which is the directorial debut of actor/performance-artist Ajay Naidu (Samir in Office Space), who wrote and stars in the film. I am also in a Rock Band with my Husband, Todd Michaelsen, called MY PET DRAGON. We started the band a few years ago and just signed an indie deal with GTS - Gimme That Sound Records.

I am always looking for creative projects to work on. An opportunity to give a voice to a story is what interests me, whether it be through acting, dancing, choreography, comedy, visual art, or voice-talent. My life mantra is: ROCK ON WITH PEACE, LOVE, & RESPECT ALWAYS.

Sita Sings the Blues has been released under a Creative Commons license and you can screen the whole film online at Thirteen.org.