New Delhi, March 5: The sordid tale of unfairness to the fair sex in rural India is all set to hit the screen on Friday, ahead of the International Women’s Day.
The two-hour bilingual movie in Hindi and Punjabi, “Kudessan” or “Woman from the East”, depicts the plight of poor women from Bihar who are being purchased by rich landlords of Punjab.
“The movie is basically based on true human trafficking stories and tries to narrate the plight of women, especially the teenagers, who have to face sexual exploitation and abuse just for a few thousand rupees,” director-cum-actor Jeet Matharru told IANS Thursday.
The film is based on a Punjabi play, “The Namesake”, written by Jatinder Brar, the man behind Punjab Naatshala, a theatre in Amritsar.
“It took six years for me to make this social drama which will definitely leave questions for society,” Matharru, whose maiden Punjabi movie “Adi Tapa” was quite hit.
“Kudessan” is the story of a rural girl from Bihar, who is sold by her father to a 65-year-old farmer from Punjab under the grab of a domestic help. There she is a “Kudessan” or “Woman from the East” and suffered atrocities and abused. She finally decided to fight it out.
“It’s just an attempt to portray the real life into reel life,” Matharru said.
He said in eastern India the practice of selling girls is still prevalent. The prosperous people in rural areas of Punjab and Haryana, which are infamous for skewed sex ratio, still prefer to buy girls from Bihar in lust of bearing boys. Such girls often face humiliation and torture throughout their life.
According to Matharru, the idea of depicting the tale of trafficked women came in the mind of Brar, Punjabi play ‘Kudessan’ writer, during his visit to Bihar 25 years back.
“During his visit to Bihar, Brar was curious when a dhaba (roadside eatery) owner offered him a girl for Rs.1,000, Rs.2,000 and Rs.5,000,” he said.
“Even one of his friend bought a girl for Rs.2,000. When Brar sahib asked his friend that what will he do with this girl? He replied: ‘Nothing. We will have fun and leave her,” said Matharru.
Noted Bhojpuri actor Pakkhi Hegde will in the role of Ganga, who is sold by her father. This is her maiden Punjabi film.
Singer Kailash Kher sang a promotional song for the movie titled “Beti”, which narrates the tale of girls and women in the country.
The movie will be released simultaneously in India and Canada.