Home truths on gender bias discussed at film show

LUCKNOW: When Indian-born Canadian director Nisha Pahuja was informed that the audience for her film ‘The World Before Her’ at Garhi Kanaura, on the outskirts of the city, were mostly Muslim women, she was terrified. Not wanting to offend sentiments, since her film dealt with religious fundamentalism, Pahuja was taken by surprise. “Generally, it is difficult to initiate discussion, but women in Lucknow understood the finer nuances and the complexity of the film and its characters, contrary to students who watched the film in Baghpat,” she said.
Covering Uttar Pradesh with her “India Campaign” and visiting areas with low sex ratio, Pahuja and her team were in the city on Sunday to apprise women of their empowerment.
The young Muslim women she interacted with however, opened her eyes. The film deals with the dichotomy and similarity between the ‘modern Indian women’ in beauty pageants and the making of ‘ideal Hindu nationalist women’ by Durga Vahini. “They evoked an impressive and engaging response from the young women, some of whom were students, while others might not have studied ever,” she said.
Female protagonist of the film was much liked by the Muslim viewers. “Prachi's ideology, her honesty and her battle with the family, struck a chord among the women,” said Pahuja.
Dhawalika of Lucknow, who is touring with her said, “There was a woman in the audience with a ghunghat till her chin said since she was not able to fight for her dreams, she is making her daughter independent.” Another girl at the interaction, shared her experience of her father's discrimination between her and her brother. To which her father replied, “You are both the same to me but it is the society that will oppose if I give you the same rights, so I cannot."
There will be three more screenings of the film in Lucknow, before the team leaves for Faizabad and Chitrakoot.