Dancer, actor and filmmaker, Joshinder Chaggar, documents the lives of a Seniors Bollywood dance class, and two older women based in Melbourne, who navigate the challenges of age and gender in pursuit of personal fullfilment. Through this documentary, she deliberates over the experience of aging in a world that places a scathingly high value on youth and physical appearance, especially for women.

 

 

The ensemble of the Bollywood Seniors dance class considers and reclaims the idea of the Crone - a concept that has been distorted over time but which, in fact, symbolizes the wise older woman. Through their dance performances on stage and festivals, and their viral dance videos on social media, they push back against the idea that getting older means losing social value, and continue contributing to the arts and to the community.

 

 

 

 

 

The second subject of this film is, Karin Kuusk, 71. A student of Chaggar’s Bollywood dance class for seniors and fondly deemed the dancing queen of her family, Karin has dreamed of visiting the Taj Mahal ever since she was a child. In Karin’s own words: “It’s just symbolic. Something to dream about, to aim for. Once I reach the Taj Mahal, it won’t be the end, but a beginning – of a new challenge.” This film follows her journey from 2020, to finally realizing her dream in October 2023. We see her regain her health and fitness, shedding twenty kilos, and getting her mojo back in her 70’s, inspired by a renewed sense of community. This film also documents the trip itself to the Taj Mahal in India. 

 

 

 

 

The third subject of this film is Natalie Gamsu, 64, an actor and cabaret singer. In her sixties, she is at a crucial time in her life as she navigates her career. “There are no roles for women in their sixties,” she declares. Natalie’s story works in parallel with the ensemble and Karin’s journeys. Whereas their journey is a reckoning with an ageist society, Natalie is part of a highly ageist profession. Defiantly, she stages a one-woman show, ‘Shrapnel’, pushing back against ageism in the theatre world. Shrapnel demands another layer of courage from Natalie, which she has lacked before. Through this show she addresses the intergenerational trauma of her heritage, her compulsive eating and her complex relationship with her body. In her crone years, she is now ready to face her fears on this subject. This film documents her journey through the development and performance of her show and through her own reckoning with her identity and value. 

 

 

Against a backdrop of Bollywood dancing and the independent theatre and cabaret scene in Melbourne, integrated with stories of migration and reflections on personal identity, Chaggar - who is of Indian Sikh heritage - presents these women’s experiences alongside her own notions about growing older as a performer, creator and as a woman in society. She considers societal limitations imposed by ageism and sexism - including those that are internalized - and questions whether it is possible to transcend these obstacles through a defiant assertion of one’s own value and through the undaunted pursuit of dreams and aspirations. We are conditioned to believe that we have a use-by date and come to believe the old refrain, ‘It’s too late’. Chaggar has picked up a camera for the first time in her forties. Watching the crones in her life push forward has caused a ripple effect, and inspired her to make her twenty-year dream of making a film come true. Through voiceovers, we witness the filmmaking process, while simultaneously witnessing the journey of the women.