Day wrote roles she wanted on- and off-screen
She’s director, star, writer, producer of ‘Definition Please’
Three years ago, Sujata Day decided to take the biggest leap of her career: she would direct and star in her own feature film, “Definition Please,” about a 20-something former spelling bee champion still living at home in the Pittsburgh suburbs.
Unlike the characters in scripts she was getting sent, her own protagonist, a first-generation South Asian American slacker, found comfort, not conflict, in her culture — freeing her to explore other serio-comic ups and downs of her arrested development. Day had actor friends in mind to round out the cast, and her parents were not only willing to let her film in their house, they were elated she was betting on herself.
“They were like, ‘Finally! You’re making a feature film,’ ” Day said ahead of the film’s debut on Netflix, where it is now available after being acquired last fall by Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing.
Day wore multiple hats — writer, director, producer and lead — on “Definition Please.” She financed the shoot with her savings, recruited friends and family to help, and rolled with the pandemic’s punches to take it to festivals and find a home.
Filmed in 12 days in her hometown of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, the dramedy stars Day as Monica Chowdry, an ex-“Scribbs” National Spelling Bee winner drifting through adulthood, tutoring young overachievers and caring for her ailing mother, Jaya (Anna Khaja). When her older brother Sonny (Ritesh Rajan) comes home for the one-year memorial of their father’s death, buried wounds resurface and force both siblings to reckon with the past.
The film’s ensemble includes Jake Choi as former classmate and love interest Richie, Lalaine as Monica’s ride-or-die best friend Krista, Sonal Shah and “Star Trek” icon LeVar Burton, playing himself.
This interview with Day has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: The film introduces a hero who has failed to achieve the greatness once expected of her. How did you figure out where she goes from there?
A: I pulled from the Indian American community that I grew up with, and personality traits from my friends, and threw them into the movie with my characters. I wanted to examine the question of, why did she not fulfill her potential? Because if you Google the spelling bee champs of the past, they’re all doing really incredible things.
Q: I’ve never done that. What are they doing?
A: They’re like, working at NASA as scientists. They are champions on the World Poker Tour because they’re really good at numbers. They’re world-class mathematicians. So it excited me to explore, what are the reasons why Monica hasn’t moved on in her life? Why is she stuck in this state of arrested development? I was inspired by some of my favorite indie films, especially sibling drama-comedies like “Skeleton Twins,” “The Savages,” “You Can Count On Me.” I love Duplass brothers movies as well, which are so deeply character-focused. I knew I wanted it to be about the relationships, and I wanted to show a South Asian American family in a way that you’ve never seen before.
Q: A 20-something stuck in life is such a classic American indie film setup, but most of those stories are about young white men. Here, you also write Monica’s identity and culture into the fabric of the movie without making any of it the source of conflict.
A: I wanted to do the complete opposite and say, “Here is a young woman who is balancing both cultures really beautifully.” I didn’t want to explain any of the traditional Indian stuff; it’s just there to be enjoyed, because when I watch shows about different worlds that I’m not necessarily familiar with, I love to just be washed in the story and not have things explained to me. If I have questions during a movie or show, I’ll look it up later. No big deal. I wanted to treat the audience as intelligent individuals and allow them to be immersed in their emotions as opposed to being talked to like, “This is India.”
Q: The rest of your ensemble also rebuts the typical absence of characters of color in so many American indie family dramas.
A: I always thought of Lalaine to play Krista. She’s a friend of mine, and she just killed it. She was the best person for the role and she is also Filipino, so that was cool. I did think of white boys to play Richie, and we were going to go the star route and see if we could get a celebrity for that role, and I pulled back from that. I met Jake (Choi) and I was like, “This dude is hot.” So I reached out to him, and I don’t think he read the script, he just said yes right away. And we have so many fun cameos. Parvesh Cheena is a friend of mine. Sonal Shah kills it, steals every scene that she’s in. I’m so happy that people are going to get to witness her hilarity in this movie. Tim Chiou has a really nice cameo. At the end of the day, I’m just so proud of my cast and so grateful that they all said yes.
Q: In the film, you introduce fantasy asides in which we pause to see through Monica’s gaze, often objectifying the men who cross her path. Is it fair to say, as some critics have noted, that those moments are Bollywood nods?
A: When someone first brought that up, I was like, “Was I influenced by Bollywood?” I was actually just home watching Bengali soap operas with my mom, and they definitely have the slo-mo moments with the women and the wind blowing through their hair. I think I’ve grown up seeing those images, and I wanted to see it flipped. I think it’s also accentuated by the music, and the one theme song that runs throughout the film was completely inspired by three or four popular Bollywood songs from the ’90s and ’00s that I love and grew up with. Those were songs that I had sent to Amanda Jones, my amazing composer, and she created this whole new song with Bengali lyrics to play during those moments. So yes, I was subconsciously inspired.
Q: How did seeing the film through this journey affect you creatively?
A: I feel completely invigorated. I am in preproduction on my next feature film that I wrote during the pandemic. It’s an ensemble Indian American comedy. And I’m also pitching a few different shows right now to studios and networks. It’s really fun! I can’t believe it’s happening.