A compelling new film documents Kiran Bedi's journey from 'that girl', to 'Madam' to 'Sir'When a rioting mob maddened with rage approached, the rest of the police force fled, but one woman stood her ground – and managed to push the mob back. "They had swords, but I had the determination," said India's first woman police officer, Kiran Bedi in an interview, recalling that day.
Not much more than 150cm tall herself, Bedi single handedly fought back 3000 sword-wielding Sikh militants during the Punjab separatist riots, armed only with a wooden stick. In the same interview she stoically said, "You don't have to be big, you have to be strong here (pointing at her mind)."
"After I saw that interview and learned about the courage she had displayed that day, I knew that this is how my film would begin," says Australian filmmaker Megan Doneman. She filmed 500 hours of footage, following Bedi's life for 6 years for her documentary, Yes Madam, Sir.
The compelling feature length documentary, which Bedi described to Doneman as "my life in 95 minutes", will premiere in the coveted opening weekend of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, as part of the Real to Reel program showcasing this year's Top 20 finest non fiction films in the world. Bedi will also attend the premier.
Most of us can picture Kiran Bedi—cropped hair, wearing the police uniform, sleeves rolled up, surrounded by gawking men ready to take her orders. Her piercing, unflinching gaze, straight talk and purposeful gait. She was known in the 80's as 'Crane Bedi' for towing off illegally parked cars, including then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi's as well.
One of the interviewees in the film says, the bureaucrats wondered, "What do we do with her?" In a typical Indian bureaucratic response she was repeatedly transferred from one posting to another—among them the notorious Tihar Jail. In a revolutionary approach to reformation, Bedi introduced Vipassana medition for over 1000 prisoners.
While the film does document these major event that marked Bedi's journey from 'that girl', to 'Madam' to 'Sir', it also presents exclusive and unprecedented access into her private home life. "Her work life is so well documented, I wouldn't have made the film unless she let me into her personal life," says Doneman. "She invited me into her house, and allowed me to film everything and left it up to me to edit as I felt appropriate," says Doneman.
The film includes the first ever video interview given by Bedi's daughter, a telling interview with her husband and even Bedi's extreme grief after her mother's death. The most articulate and fascinating insights into Bedi's character come from her father. "Papaji, who is usually a sounding board for Kiran, came into her room late one night to give her a pep talk around the time that she was being offered the United Nations job. I couldn't shoot it—but I heard most of it through my room, and I still kick myself for not capturing it," said Doneman.
Was it difficult to gain the tough lady's trust? "I felt trusted right from the beginning. "Kiran trusts people until she learns that she can't—she has been burnt many times because of this, but she believes that sometimes people will step up to the trust and be deserving of it."
Yet, why did Bedi chose a little know Australian woman to document her life, over the many esteemed filmmakers who had approached her several times over 15 years? When Doneman asked Bedi, she replied, "Because I am going to enjoy watching you struggle and fight to somehow pull this off."
With no industry funding or crew to produce the project, Doneman filmed Bedi in 3-month stints over 6 years. "I had all my equipment—the camera, the microphone—strapped onto my body as I followed her around almost 10 hours a day," recalls Doneman. And there were other difficulties traveling as a single foreign woman in India. "In Northern India, the view of foreign women is not very kind," she recollects. She mentions she was often caught in dangerous situations, including being attacked in a mosque.
Despite the initial lack of support, she managed to get some big names on board—Academy award winning Helen Mirren lends her voice as the narrator of the film, while acclaimed composer Nathan Larson provides the score.
"I did not have A-list money, but I did want A-list stars. Both Nathan and Helen were very gracious—such films appeal to our humanity and we want to be involved because our hearts are in it," says Doneman. "The film has now made it to the top 20 finest non-fiction films of the year at Toronto. Kiran's story deserves that."
