Poster of the film Auto Queens

Auto Queens

Documentary Tamil


Mohana is the president of the first trade union for women auto rickshaw drivers in the southeast Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As well as maneuvering her own auto through the busy streets of Chennai, she has to navigate a sexist and patriarchal system to secure equal opportunities for women drivers. She faces constant resistance—with conflicts and humiliations every day.

Director:Sraiyanti
Editor:Sraiyanti
Camera:Premkrishna Akkattu

Guild Reviews

Image of scene from the film Auto Queens

Portrays a mobility revolution led by TN’s first women auto drivers’ union

FCG Member Reviewer Aditya Shrikrishna
Aditya Shrikrishna | Independent Film Critic
Thu, November 20 2025

(Written for The NEWS Minute)

Cinematographer-turned-director Sraiyanti’s Auto Queens, which premiered at the 2025 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), follows two women with incongruent personalities but a shared goal: a mobility revolution for their army of women drivers.

Cinematographer-turned-director Sraiyanti’s Auto Queens begins with a bird’s-eye view of Chennai and comes to rest at a safe distance above the bustling city’s coast when we hear two voices munching on fish and talking. “The worries of the world fade away at the beach,” one says. They are Mohana and Leela Rani, women auto drivers of Chennai who are here to buy a peaceful minute away from the roads of a rough city, one that is hostile and sceptical about carving public space for its women.

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