Mallika Juneja's Film 'Little Fishies' Forces Us To Look At Loss Differently

In her short film Little Fishies, filmmaker Mallika Juneja brings an intimate, deeply moving meditation on grief, responsibilities, and growing up too soon. It follows teenager Raya and her little sister Mia, who together navigate the loss of their father, the emotional withdrawal of their mother, and the sudden weight of emotional obligations. They're forced to confront a feeling that they aren't quite ready to understand.

Mia is simply too young to comprehend why she cannot smile at a funeral or go out to play. Raya is compelled to step into a grown-up's role, taking on challenges that sit uneasily on her still-young shoulders. 

The sisters find comfort in each other as they try to make sense of a world that has suddenly shifted. The film makes subtle yet telling observations on loss, sisterhood, and gendered expectations. 

Little Fishies draws from Juneja’s own experiences of loss at a young age. It offers a tender and nuanced look at how families cope with pain, collectively but each in their own unique ways.

The film premiered internationally at the Austin Film Festival 2025 and in India at the Bangalore International Short Film Festival 2025. It recently screened at Pune's Smita Patil International Film Festival 2026.

In an interview with SheThePeople, Mallika Juneja unpacks her approach to portraying grief without judgment and why centring the inner lives of women remains central to her filmmaking.

Mallika Juneja in conversation with SheThePeople

STP: What is the story and inspiration behind Little Fishies? Do you have any personal connection to the themes in the film? 

Mallika Juneja:Little Fishies was inspired by my own experience of dealing with loss at a young age. My father passed away when I was 13, and what followed was a complex set of emotions that I was far too young to fully comprehend at the time. I found that I wasn’t just grieving him — I was also dealing with a change in myself, almost a loss of childhood that was suddenly thrust upon me.

I processed the loss in my own way, wanting to remain largely silent through most of the rituals, which worried my family. As they pushed me to share more, talk more, to “let it out,” I began to wonder if I was grieving incorrectly. That pressure, though well-intentioned, only added to the confusion I was already feeling.

Years later, reflecting on that period, I realise how often people project their own expectations of what grief should look like onto others — and how that can further complicate an already traumatic experience. This was the seed of Little Fishies: a desire to explore grief not just as loss, but as something deeply intertwined with duty, expectation, and love.

STP: The film makes viewers look at loss differently ‐ showing how there's no one single way to grieve. How did you approach portraying these different coping mechanisms among the characters? 

Mallika Juneja: For me, the way each character grieves comes directly from their lived experience and social conditioning. For example, Mia, the younger sister, doesn’t yet fully understand what has happened. Death is still an abstract concept for her, and that innocent confusion allows her moments of lightness and joy.

Raya, on the verge of adulthood, understands the gravity of the loss, but she still retains a kind of purity — a belief that comfort and small joys matter more than rituals or appearances. Meanwhile, Mona, their mother, has lived a life where familial responsibility and “doing things the right way” have always taken precedence, and that informs the way that she copes on the day of the funeral. 

It was extremely important for me that the characters all behave authentically, rooted in their age, experience, and internalised values — rather than preaching what I, as a writer, may feel about grief myself. Even the extended family’s pressure on Raya comes from their own conditioning, not malice. 

I wanted to show these contrasting coping mechanisms and the conflict that arises when they clash, without resorting to black-and-white judgments on any of the characters. No one is entirely right or wrong — they’re simply operating from their own belief of what may be helpful at such a time.

STP: Raya's character is particularly striking, as it details the roles elder daughters play in most families. What inspired you to focus on this perspective? 

Mallika Juneja: As an elder daughter myself, this role — or label — has shaped me in many ways.  Particularly in Indian families, the position of the elder daughter is deeply complex. There’s a

beauty in the trust parents place in her, in how they lean on her during moments of crisis, but that trust slowly turns into an unspoken burden as expectations compound over time.

Through Raya, I wanted to explore how that responsibility manifests when it arrives suddenly — when childhood is lost overnight rather than gradually. Her arc reflects that quiet exhaustion of always having to be “strong,” even when you’re still figuring yourself out.

Towards the end of the film, when Mona allows Raya to simply be a child again, it was deeply cathartic for me as a filmmaker. I hope it offers elder daughters everywhere the same, small yet important moment of relief.

STP: Why was it important for you to show how women navigate grief and family roles within a patriarchal context? 

Mallika Juneja: As a filmmaker, I’ve always been drawn to exploring the roles women occupy in society — and how society, in turn, moulds them. I don’t think we’ve seen enough Indian stories that engage deeply with the female experience in a nuanced, honest way, and that’s something I actively seek to explore in my work.

Growing up, I noticed how women were almost instinctively pushed into caregiving roles, even during moments when they themselves needed rest or care. Whether it was my mother managing a dinner party, or my aunts dutifully greeting guests at a funeral, this expectation always felt deeply ingrained. 

In Little Fishies, I wanted to examine how that instinct plays out during loss. Do the women resist it, or do they surrender to it? Raya pushes against it while still selflessly caring for her sister. Mona fully believes in duty and sacrifice, often at the cost of her own happiness and that of her daughters.

These contradictions and tensions arise directly from the way womanhood is shaped by culture. I’m certain the story would unfold very differently if it were about three men instead! 

STP: Is there a deeper significance behind the title Little Fishies? 

Mallika Juneja: To me, Little Fishies is a metaphor for Raya and Mia. It reflects how small and vulnerable they feel at this moment in their lives, when everything around them is shifting. They’re like two tiny fish navigating a vast, unfamiliar ocean. Frightened, unsure, but staying close to each other as they find their way through.

STP: Can you share a bit about your personal journey as a filmmaker? How did you enter the field, and what kind of stories do you gravitate towards? 

Mallika Juneja: After studying filmmaking at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, I worked in development in New York at companies like A24, Comedy Central, and WME. The work entailed reading scripts and developing projects, which greatly strengthened my instincts as a filmmaker.

However, I always knew I wanted to tell stories for Indian audiences. I felt strongly that there were countless perspectives and stories here that deserved to be explored on screen. That belief led me back to India, where I worked at Tiger Baby — first in development, and then as a Director’s Assistant on Kho Gaye Hum Kahan.

I’ve been working as an independent filmmaker ever since, and the creative community in Mumbai has been extremely inspiring and supportive through it all. I’m currently directing commercials, music videos, and promotional content while also writing a feature as part of a Screenwriters Lab at Exceed Entertainment. 

I gravitate towards telling female-centric stories that are fresh, thought-provoking, and gripping — stories that gently reflect on the contradictions of the time and society we live in, while also being grounded in raw human emotions. 

STP: How important are film festivals for Indian independent films from South Asia in reaching global audiences? 

Mallika Juneja: Film festivals definitely play a crucial role in giving independent films and filmmakers the international visibility and legitimacy they might not otherwise receive. They also provide incredible exposure and allow you to meet people who may open exciting doors for you!

Not only are they a great resource for a film in terms of accessing streams of distribution, but they are also food for the mind and soul — they are extremely inspiring and exhilarating spaces filled with filmmakers from all around the world; a breeding ground for new ideas and exciting collaborations. 

That being said, I do feel there’s still a lack of diversity in the kinds of South Asian stories that travel globally — in tone, genre, and perspective. India alone contains countless worlds, each with its own rhythms and nuances, and many of those remain unseen on the world stage. 

Getting into a festival is only the first step, though, and what follows is a whole other journey.  Marketing, networking, pitching future projects — a festival is definitely an opportunity to prepare for and make the most of. Festivals aren’t the final goalpost, but another step in the filmmaker’s journey — and an extremely rewarding one at that!