‘Before Life After Death’: Namita Lal On What Makes Her Film Special

Speaking of the shooting of the film, she says, “‘Before Life After Death’ is a very unique film from many aspects. It's the first time the story of two Indian families from two very different social classes, living in Singapore has been told in a form of a full-length feature film. It was also shot during a gap that Singapore experienced during Covid times, the end of 2020 and 2021. We got a lot of approvals from a lot of locations to shoot this film with a very large crew and cast of Singapore-based actors from theatre and film. It also touches on a lot of topics such as teenage pregnancy, mental health, sisterhood, bonding among women, and social class differences in a country like Singapore. So, it touches on a lot of topics that are very relevant today.”

When asked about the cast and crew, she adds, “I met Anshul Tiwari, who is an award-winning short film and a documentary filmmaker who lives in Singapore as well as India and his wife, Debasmita Dasgupta, who is a renowned illustrator and a story writer. I met them during MAMI in 2019 and we spoke about a film that they were making in India. And then during Covid, we all were in Singapore, and they had done a lot of research into the social strata that we talk about in the film, especially Indians and teenage pregnancies in Singapore. They had this story and they had even written the screenplay. They narrated it to me, and I liked it a lot. I have a production company Nutz About Me Pte Ltd in Singapore and I always wanted to make a film with international production values in Singapore.”

Talking about why she chose Singapore, she says, “It is a uniquely Singaporean story. It is not a story that can be made anywhere else. It is about Indians living in Singapore. When you look at Singapore from the outside, most people think that Indians living in Singapore are rich ex-pats. But there is a very big stratum of Indians, who moved to Singapore many years back and they run small businesses that form an important part of Singapore’s economy. Their children are well-integrated into Singaporean society. We were very fortunate to get a lot of support from the Singaporean agencies and the housing development board, parks, beaches, roads, restaurants and, of course, the Singapore government who supported us with approvals for a big production unit during tough Covid times and helped us make this film. We are honoured to be selected for the Singapore International Film Festival which is one of the premiere international festivals in the world and in Asia and Southeast Asia. To be selected in that festival and showcase a story from Singapore is of huge pride to the whole team.”

She adds, “The cast and crew are a mix of multiple nationalities including Europeans, Malay, Chinese and Indians. We have a very well-known Singaporean actor Adrian Pang in a very special role and the sound and music have been done by award-winning experts from India. So, it's a very good team of people who have come together to make this film. We wanted to start our journey with the world Premiere in the place where this has been made. So, we're honoured to be part of the 33rd Singaporean National film festival which is happening after two years and being launched after Covid in a very big way with some great film selections. We are honoured to be a part of such a huge festival which also gives us a very international status for the film.”

“Even though it's an Indian story we wanted to project it as an international film with international production values and style and we managed to do that. Director Anshul Tiwari and writer Debasmita Dasgupta worked really hard with the actors with a two-month workshop before the shoot. For me personally, this has been the toughest role of my life where I explored deep complex emotions of the character Dr Radhika who is dealing with intense personal grief,” she concludes.