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"9 fierce women, 9 different backgrounds, 1 stark reality". This stark reality is of Indian women, rape and murder, seen in the 13 minute short film Devi.
“9 fierce women, 9 different backgrounds, 1 stark reality”. This stark reality is of Indian women, rape and murder, seen in the 13 minute short film Devi.
The film released on 2nd March is set in a single room occupied by several women, some almost unconscious or vegetative in the background while nine of them lead the plot on.
Written and directed by Priyanka Banerjee, Devi thus becomes an exploration of what binds these women together.
Announcing her short film Devi on February 24th Kajol had said in a tweet – “”9 fierce women, 9 different backgrounds, 1 stark reality.” The stark reality she was hinting at is rape and murder.
9 fierce women, 9 different backgrounds, 1 stark reality. Here’s a glimpse of what happens when these women are put together in a room! Stay tuned for our short film, #Devi on 2nd March on @largeshortfilmshttps://t.co/LCAnYjc2Pw@shrutihaasan @NehaDhupia @neenakulkarni — Kajol (@itsKajolD) February 24, 2020
9 fierce women, 9 different backgrounds, 1 stark reality. Here’s a glimpse of what happens when these women are put together in a room! Stay tuned for our short film, #Devi on 2nd March on @largeshortfilmshttps://t.co/LCAnYjc2Pw@shrutihaasan @NehaDhupia @neenakulkarni
— Kajol (@itsKajolD) February 24, 2020
Even by physical appearance the diversity of this group of women is established in the very first scene – various age groups, different social strata – medical student, English-speaking working woman, homemaker taking the arti-thali around the house, elderly maushis playing cards, party girl, teenager with a disability, burkha-clad Muslim woman waxing her legs, and yet all of them together in a crowded noisy room.
As the doorbell rings a debate ensues as to whether she, the visitor should be allowed in or not. It unravels that these are all rape and murder victims stuck in the same purgatory kind of space. Watching the news on their dysfunctional television which again symbolizes a media that has failed these women, they learn that their little space will keep getting more and more occupants every day.
They try to debate then the criteria of who is eligible to get a space there and bring forth the problematic aspect of sexual violence – that while they all have met a similar fate ultimately no two acts of sexual violence are the same and yet all are equally traumatic and tragic.
A rape where the victim was burnt alive cannot and must not be pitched against another case where the victim later died of trauma. A rape where the rapist was younger must not and cannot be compared to what relationship was there or not between the rapist and the victim.
The gruesome methods of murder are also discussed, and finally it is decided that they can’t let those waiting outside wait forever. Since they were “adjusting” in their earlier lives as well they might as well adjust here. Jyoti played by Kajol in this short film Devi says- “….better than living with those demons.”
The 13 minutes long film is a vivid commentary on the state of women’s safety in India, however the execution could be too nuanced to understand for a lay person. The first few minutes generate intrigue; it is much later in the film that it is established that these are all “dead women”.
The twist and final comment comes in the form of the newest member of the room brought in by Jyoti- a girl child. The end slate brings statistics and the irony of worshipping Goddesses where crimes against women and girls are constantly rising.
The film successfully showcases how rape and murder have become the ugly fact for Indian women across age, social status, religion, education and class.
The film has come at a time when the country is still awaiting the execution of the death penalty in the Nirbhaya gang rape case after almost eight years of the crime. The women in Devi are symbols of the women victims who have become mere statistics, and each case meets the same fate after grabbing social and media attention for a few days.
It is a dystopia albeit “a room of one’s own” for these women, for whom this isn’t a choice. The helplessness of these women is a mirror held to the helplessness of the society as a whole when it comes to sexual crimes against women.
Pooja Priyamvada is an author, columnist, translator, online content & Social Media consultant, and poet. An awarded bi-lingual blogger she is a trained psychological/mental health first aider, mindfulness & grief facilitator, emotional wellness trainer, reflective read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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