Cracking the Shell: Ravi Chand and Sara Norman on Coconut
A short comedy about the reconnection between a teenage bedroom rapper and his non-English-speaking Grandma that’s currently screening as part of the 2025 VCA Film and Television Graduate Season, Coconut humorously explores the power of language while offering a poignant glimpse into the experience of being caught between two cultures.
Speaking to director/producer Ravi Chand and producer Sara Norman – both recent VCA graduates – MIFF Publications Manager David Heslin asks about the film’s thought-provoking themes and its origins among the distinctive landscapes of Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Many of the world’s languages and dialects are suppressed and marginalised in various ways, not least in their absence from cinema and global popular culture more generally. Ravi, when did you first develop the idea of making language – and Fiji Hindi specifically – the centre of this film?
Ravi Chand: All my stories are deeply anchored in my identity and carry the legacy my beautiful grandma passed to me, so that current, younger and future generations don’t grow up ashamed of their culture and language like I did. I hadn’t spoken Fiji Hindi for 30 years until I learned my maternal grandma, who I thought had passed away decades ago, was still alive and waiting for me in Fiji. She spoke Fiji Hindi, Tamil and iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian), but no English.
I thought my grandma would’ve been ashamed that I couldn’t speak Fiji Hindi, but she was so overjoyed to hear her grandson’s voice and made me feel I was enough. After a year, I spoke with her in my broken, Aussie accented Fiji Hindi for one to two hours each week. I realised the bond and power of language and why it was the first thing colonisers targeted. This is the spine of our short film Coconut.
I started the VCA Master of Film and TV knowing I wanted to make something that honoured my grandma and Fiji Hindi. From development through actor rehearsals and post, I worked hard to capture the nuance of being assimilated as a survival mechanism, longing to speak your language yet feeling ashamed of not knowing how to.
The title refers to a slur that’s sometimes directed at the children or grandchildren of migrants by members of their own communities, and at various stages of the film we get a sense of what kind of emotional impact these jibes might have had on Dev (Indra Liyanaarachchi) and his sense of identity. Even Dev’s grandma (Saba Zaidi Abdi) calls him “white boy”, which gives their story a little more edge than if it were solely about crossing a cultural and linguistic divide. What made this focus important to you?
RC: Yes, “coconut” means brown on the outside, white on the inside – that you’re a complete sellout to your culture and people. The actual meaning of the “white boy” line means “father of the white man”: it basically means you’re so white, you’re the father of all white people. In focus groups, this was lost on those not Fijian-Indian/Indo-Fijian, so the closest translation was “white boy”. My grandma never called me this, but I did hear it many times growing up.
We first arrived in Australia when I was five years old, and my English was terrible and I had a strong Fijian-Indian accent. I was bullied and struggled to make friends, so my mum told me to always speak in English. Eventually, I had a very strong Australian accent. When I tried to speak Fiji Hindi, everyone laughed at me because I sounded white, so I swore I’d never speak Fiji Hindi again. When my mum died a week from my 12th birthday in a car accident, my assimilation went into overdrive. Everything I saw on TV screamed it was not good to be Indian – it made you a target. When Dev hears that slur from Grandma, it reinforces he’s an outsider while desperately wanting to be accepted. For Grandma, it’s tough love for Dev to learn his language. They both want the same thing but are at two opposite ends, knocking heads.
Above: Indra Liyanaarachchi and Saba Zaidi Abdi in Coconut | Header: director/producer Ravi Chand and producer Sara Norman behind the scenes of Coconut.
Sara, how did you connect with Dev and this project, and what in the film speaks to you the most?
Sara Norman: For me, the thing that immediately connected me to this project was the relationship between Dev and Grandma. It reminded me so much of my own relationship with my grandma. I don’t have many grandparents left, so the relationship I have with her is incredibly special, even though it’s also quite distant – she lives in a small town in Wales, and I only get to see her every few years. But she’s always been this constant source of support and unconditional love, and I think grandparents are often the people who really take the time to see you for who you are.
On top of that, the grief of losing a grandparent, the feeling of not quite belonging or being a bit disconnected from your family, those feelings hit on such a gut level for me. And then there’s the swearing, the cheekiness and the warmth – all of that mixed together makes these characters feel so alive. That’s the kind of storytelling I’m drawn to. Coconut feels like a story that genuinely matters, and I’m really proud to be part of bringing it to life.
You’ve captured some beautiful Melbourne landscapes that we don’t often get to see on screen – I was particularly taken by the rubbish-strewn abandoned lot and the railyard that Dev and his grandma walk through. Where did you find these locations, and what drew you to them?
RC: I really wanted to capture location as a character. Dev and Grandma’s unfolding relationship is subconsciously reflected in each environment. The travel scene begins in run-down, decaying, industrial environments, gradually shifting to introducing more nature as they open up to each other. They are travelling on either side of railways tracks when refusing to see one another’s point of view, and they rebuild rapport over and under a bridge. The rubbish-strewn abandoned lot is where they find a key item that drives the story. They find beauty where it’s least expected, like finding belonging amid assimilation and racism.
SN: Ravi actually found most of these spots just by wandering around his local neighbourhood in Werribee, Altona and Point Cook. We surveyed around forty locations over the summer and selected the best eight for the story and characters.
We really wanted to capture the distinct personality of Melbourne’s western suburbs, which has this mix of graffiti-covered industrial buildings along with beautiful coastal parks and rivers.
The railyard scenes were shot at [the Newport Railway Museum], and the rubbish-strewn area was located right next to our bus stop – lots and lots of locations! We shot across eight different locations in five days, which was a big feat that kept us light on our toes. Amazing thanks to our wonderful crew, who were so efficient and organised.
Above: Liyanaarachchi in Coconut.
How have both of you found the experience of studying at VCA, and how has it changed your concept of a career behind the camera? Do you have any future projects you’re working on?
RC: I honed the essence of my voice and pushed creative boundaries in every task, even the simplest assignments. I aimed to leave with a refined skill set and a clear process I can grow with on every project. I still respect the huge commitment and workload of longform work, but it no longer feels intimidating.
Coconut is a proof of concept for a feature film, and I am excited about what comes next. After the Coconut feature pitch (part of the Master of Film and TV), I received an email that same day from a notable distribution company keen to move the project forward. I am also developing a documentary with support from pro-vice-chancellor departments at the University of Melbourne, and a slate of six other projects of various formats.
SN: I know everyone says this, but for me it really was the people I met here at VCA. The relationships I’ve built with my cohort have been invaluable, and they’re ones I’ll carry with me well beyond my degree. Filmmaking is a tough business, and it can be so difficult going at it alone – building a supportive and collaborative team around you makes such a difference. And I’ve learnt so much by just watching and working alongside other filmmakers. Our cohort has been incredibly supportive: they are all seriously talented, and many of them really lifted this film up.
My next project is a short film called When You Hear Hoofbeats, which we are currently in post-production for right now, collaborating with more VCA alumni!