We are fighting for a peaceful future: India-based Ukrainian filmmaker

Mumbai: She wakes up every morning with the hope that Russia’s invasion of her country is a nightmare but the grim reality of her parents, friends and extended family being trapped in a war imperiling their lives sinks in moments later, says Ukrainian filmmaker Dar Gai.

Oscillating between despair, disbelief and sometimes helpless tears, the India-based director said her loved ones back are home are going trying to save themselves by hiding in subway stations converted into bomb shelters. Thankfully, her parents have managed to leave Kyiv.

“Till the last moment we couldn’t believe that in the 21st century world, a European country can be bombed, can be invaded. Every morning I wake up and think that it was just a nightmare,” Gai, who made the move to India 10 years ago, told PTI.

As global attention remains focused on Ukraine after Russian troops stormed towns and villages in the east European nation, leading to hundreds of casualties and many thousands forced to flee their homes, Gai is frantic with worry and also angry.

“I saw a video of a Russian tank passing by the school where I used to study. It’s scary. It’s absurd,” she said, stressing that the attack is a “war” and not a “conflict or an operation” on Ukraine. Gai, an intimacy director in Shakun Batra’s “Gehraiyaan”, is best known for directing festival favourites “Teen Aur Aadha” and “Namdev Bhau: In Search of Silence”.