Madhureeta Anand’s upcoming movie Kajarya underlines the issue of female foeticide in the country. The thriller tries to highlight the realistic environ for women, both in rural and urban India, delving in the intertwined lives of Kajarya – a middle-aged woman who lives in a village of Haryana, and whose job is to ‘kill baby girls’, and a Delhi-based female journalist.
The trailer of the movie was recently launched in the capital at Jantar Mantar, giving amiss to the luxury and grandeur of five star hotels unlike most other feature films. Collaborating with a number of non-profitable organisations to support the campaign One Billion Rising, the event looked more like the onset of a movement, as people from different walks of life attended the event and lighted candles to pay tribute to the 5 crore girls gone missing as per the Indian demographics.
“The movie is about the squeal of women. It’s about the issue of sex selective abortion, prevalent not just in India but across the world, which is the saddest part. I want this movie to be a vehicle of change and what can be the best place than Jantar Mantar to initiate it where most social movement start,” says Anand.
Kamla Bhasin, social activist and South East Asia representative of the campaign One Billion Rising, was also present at the occasion. She says, “More than five crore girls are missing from our country and over 100 crore females over the globe are victims of some kind of violence. No war is bigger than this war against women. This movie raises the issue and it will be of no use if the trailer will be launched in a hotel. We intended to make it a movement, and so the makers decided to do it in a symbolical way that can make people understand that this fight can be fought only if we change our mentality.”
The event also saw skits, spoofs and poems presented by young girls and children that showcased their concern for the issue.
The story was written a long time back but it took 10 years for Anand to execute the idea as she thought that she’s “exaggerating” the issue at that point of time.
“But when the 2011 census came out, which revealed that sex ratio in India was 933/1000, I finally decided to make it. I had to do this movie; it was kind of a dream project for me,” Anand tells Metrolife. However, raising fund for the movie gave her a tough time as it was hard to get a producer for the movie featuring freshers, and without any songs and dances.
Meena Hooda, who plays the protagonist in the movie says, “My role is of a woman who is pure at heart but victim of circumstances and fighting for her status in a patriarchal system,” refraining from disclosing more about Kajarya.
The much-anticipated movie was premièred at the Dubai International Film Festival and earned accolades. The film is set to hit screens on December 4.
Published 03 November 2015, 14:50 IST