If you decide to watch Pitta Kathalu, on Netflix next Friday, you will find yourself drawn into the lives of the women in the films—watching them in awe, sometimes disbelief, but always with admiration. In colloquial Telugu, the title means “short stories”. The four-part anthology drama, co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala and directed by four different directors (Nag Ashwin, BV Nandini Reddy, Sankara Reddy and Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam) presents tales of women who are trying hard to go against how society tells them to behave—and as a result, end up making decisions that could be seen as  immoral or grey. “To me, it’s empowering that the women and men are on equal footing. The idea centres around  desire. Each of our stories are different, but similar in that they discuss the freedom of desire, something that we don’t always get easily in this country,” says actress Lakshmi Manchu, who headlines the story Ramula. 

We are on a video call with Manchu and her co-stars Sanvee Megghana, Amala Paul and Eesha Rebba, and their banter is refreshing. “A lot in the stories reflects the power dynamics of the man-woman relationship,” says Megghana. Rebba adds, “I think women will relate to it since the female characters take drastic decisions, after struggling with them. Usually you don’t have stories that show women sticking their neck out for fear of judgement.” Paul, who plays a particularly grey character in the story Meera, says that some women find themselves stuck in a loop of suffering because they choose to meet societal expectations. “In this anthology, it’s about making a choice that helps you. Because in the end, it has to be about you too.”