EXCLUSIVE: 'Cargo' director on why she wanted to see neighbourhood aunty in a spaceship

Netflix recently released the latest Indian sci-fi movie Cargo for its subscribers. The movie helmed by Arati Kadav is earning praises for its stunning visuals and brilliant direction. Viewers in India are showering praises for the movie as it is something which is rarely seen in Indian movies.

Cargo director Arati Kadav in an exclusive interview with Republic World talked about what went into the making of this Indian sci-fi movie and how she wanted to see a neighbourhood aunty in a spaceship. Arati Kadav's movies like Time Machine have always been evident of her love towards the sci-fi genre. Here is a look at what she had to say about the making of her Indian sci-fi film.

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Cargo director Arati Kadav explains why she wanted to see a neighbourhood aunty in a spaceship

Cargo director Arati Kadav was asked about the concept behind the film and how she came up with the idea of Cargo. Arati Kadav said, “I have always been very much interested in Science fiction and I’ve been working for around 5-6 years and making short films in that period. I also had the same issue that it is not being made in India. No science fiction is as such made in India and I wanted to make something that’s very Indian.”

She further talked about her research for the movie and Hollywood sci-fi films. The director Arati Kadav said, “So I was researching like what is Indian SciFi in general and what could be Indian SciFi and then I realized that our early mythology and early stories were in a way fantasies like SciFi. So I thought why not build on that and make a film that is very unique to India. Because the biggest criticism of SciFi that has been done before India is that we have been derivatives of western Hollywood films. We could never match with the production quality but I thought we should make something unique and homegrown, very Indian and we have learned from their films also but we also should bring something uniquely Indian to the conversation.”

Arati Kadav also shared how she wanted it to be an all-inclusive concept and shared, “So I was thinking on those lines and the idea of Cargo hit up on me and I thought it just worked because it was nice to make a spaceship film but also be able to see a neighbourhood aunty in a spaceship to make it feel like a space that anyone can go to so not make it seem very alien as such.”

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Cargo director Arati Kadav with cast

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Cargo trivia

The movie has received appreciation at various film festivals across the globe. Arati Kadav shared her experience of how the movie was received outside of India. She mentioned, “People outside India have seen enough sci-fi space films. We used to feel like inke liye naya kuch toh hai hi nahi because unhone toh ek se ek sci-fi space films dekhi hai. (There is nothing new to these guys as they have already seen quality space sci-fi films) But for them, the fact that we were bringing Indian mythology and not just mythology but the way it is set and the way they talk in the computer like a middle-class office was something that was very exciting for them.”

Image Credits: A still from Cargo trailer