Looking beyond the cityscape: As we celebrate International Day of Rural Women, here’s a look at films and web series that have put the spotlight on women from villages

Sheetal

October 15 is celebrated as the International Day of Rural Women, a tradition which started in 2008. This day highlights the critical role as well as contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in eradicating poverty, inequality and malnutrition and furthering the cause of education, health and empowerment. Through cinema, of late, more women-centric themes have been explored and many celebrated films and web series have rural women as subject.

We list out those films and web series which put the spotlight on rural women’s plight and achievements.

The digital touch

Web series Panchayat may have a male protagonist who is stuck in a remote village called Phulera in Uttar Pradesh for a job, but Neena Gupta as the reluctant village pradhan, Manju Devi, is no less than a parallel lead. The second season of the series was released this year. Netflix series Jamtara, based in Jamtara, Jharkhand, through its character Gudiya, played by Monika Panwar, has brought forward rural women’s problems as well their aspirations.

Recent Disney+Hotstar release Dahan: Raakan Ka Rahasya, which is set in an imaginary village called Shilashpura in Rajasthan, has also fleetingly touched the subject of atrocities towards women at the hands of patriarchal society and superstitions.

Filmy safar

What may have been initiated with films like Nargis’s Mother India (1957), Hema Malini’s Rihaee (1988) or Dimple Kapadia’s Rudaali (1993), has now continued with the new generation. Many actresses were taken seriously after they showed their versatility by playing a village girl such as Alia Bhatt in Udta Punjab or Patralekha in City Lights. Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Article 15 also highlighted the atrocities on Dalit girls.

It sometimes takes a woman to bring the stories of women foreword and that’s the case with a multi-starrer female cast film, Parched, directed by Leena Yadav. Parched stars Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Lehar Khan. The story is set in a village in Gujarat. Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla- starrer Gulaab Gang is about activists and vigilantes ladies in Bundelkhand, who fight against domestic violence, dowry culture and rape.

Pataakha by Vishal Bharadwaj is a story of two sisters born and brought up in a rural setting. And then there is Saand Ki Aankh, a film based on the lives of sharpshooters Chandro and Prakashi Tomar and Pad Man based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who made low-cost sanitary napkins to promote menstrual hygiene. Other notable mentions are Ishqiya, Anarkali of Aarah, Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.

Get it right

I remember Alia Bhatt’s character in Udta Punjab. She aptly portrayed this particular character from the underprivileged society—her walk, her look, her diction, her needs etc. I could relate to it completely given that I have worked with rural women for years, helping them better their lives. There were times when portrayal of rural women on screen had gone horribly wrong. I do think that writers and actors must have an understanding of where this is coming from, how their lives are and what their challenges are. Even if you talk to your house help you will get an insight into how different your world is from theirs. Ritabhari Chakraborty, actress