In Person: Sivaranjini on Victoria

Screened as part of the 14th edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF), currently being held at the Tibetan Children’s Village, Victoria (2024) by Sivaranjani explores a day in the life of the eponymous protagonist, who works in a beauty parlour. The film offers an intimate portrayal of the lives of women, subverting conventional representation by restricting the presence of men to mediated forms. In this conversation, she speaks about her process of making the film, the interweaving of research and practice, the various interpretations of the film and her experience of screening it at DIFF.

Sivaranjini is a filmmaker and research scholar. She is an alumna of the National School of Design, Ahmedabad, and is presently doing her PhD at the IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay. Victoria is her debut feature film.

(Featured image: Still from Victoria (2024) by Sivaranjini. Image courtesy of the director and DIFF.)

Recorded on 31 October 2025.

To learn more about the previous editions of DIFF, read Mallika Visvanathan’s interview with the founders Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam and watch the previous episodes of In Person with Udit Khurana as he discusses his film Taak (2024), Jhansy Giting Dokgre Marak on her film Chaware (2023), Gavati Wad on her film O Seeker (2024) and Vani Subramanian on her film Cinema Pe Cinema (2024).

In case you missed the previous episodes of In Person, watch Mahishaa speak about his film Babasaheb in Bengaluru (2024), and Asmita Pal discuss her film A Very Clear Sunrise (2025).