With the kind assistance: shalIt is often said that marriages are made in the sky.
But in India, where most marriages are settled, the process of matches can feel like a passage through hell for a woman and her family.
This is the prerequisite of SHAL: A Match, Fritty Marathi-Language Film, which has won several prestigious awards at festivals in India and abroad. He first appeared in the theaters in India on Friday.
Situated in the rural state Maharashra, the film focuses on Savita, a young woman who strives for an education and career in a patriarchal society, and the attempts of her father, Daulatroo Wandhare, a poor cotton farmer – to find a good husband for her daughter.
“He wants a good price for his harvest and a good match for his daughter,” says director Jeant Diagambar Somalkar.
The film is remarkable in the unwavering way he presents what his lead actress calls “very humiliating” experiences of many young women, unlike other Indian marriage films.
Sthal also caught attention, as his entire cast was made up of actors for the first time, selected by the village where he was shot. Nandini Chick, who plays Savita, has already won two awards for her brilliant performance.
With the kind assistance: shalThe film opens with a sequence in which Savita interviews a future groom.
Together with her relatives and friends, she watches the young man serve them drink from boards. They laugh when he, apparently nervous, breaks down during interrogation.
Roughly awakened by what turned out to be a dream, Savita is said to be prepared as a group of men come to see her.
In fact, the roles of the gender are completely reversed and in a scene that is relayed several times in the almost two -hour movie, Savita's humiliation goes into a sharp focus.
The future groom and other men in his family are greeted by Savita's father and relatives. Guests feed on tea and snacks and after the introductions are ready, Savita is called.
Dressed in sari, with her eyes removed, she sits on a wooden stool facing her interrogators.
The questions come, thick and fast. What is your name? Full name? Mother's clan? Date of birth? Height? Education? Theme? Hobbies? Are you ready to work on the farm?
Men go out to have a discussion. “She's a little dark. She had makeup on her face, but didn't you see her elbow? It's her real color,” one says. “It is also short,” he continues to add. Others nod in agreement.
They leave, telling Daulatrao that they will answer in a few days to let him know their decision.
According to her parents, “this is the fourth or fifth time when someone came to see Savita” – all the worse meetings were over with rejection, which led to heartbeat and despair.
The scene sounds true. In India, men often have a list of attributes they want in their brides – a look at the marriage columns in newspapers and websites to create matches show that everyone wants tall, honest, beautiful brides.
With the kind assistance: shalSavita's protests – “I do not want to get married, first I want to finish college and then take exams for civil services and to build a career” – do not carry weight in your rural community, where marriage is presented as the sole purpose that is worth a young woman.
“Marriage is very important in our society,” Chick told the BBC. “Parents believe that after the daughter marries, they will get rid of their responsibility. It's time to change that story.”
She says she found “very humiliating” that Savita was made to sit on a chair to be judged by all those men who discussed the color of her skin until there was no discussion about the future bridegroom.
“I only acted, but with the progress of the movie, I lived the journey of Savita and felt angry on her behalf. I felt offended and disrespectful.”
The film also handles social evil, which is a dowry – the practice of the bride's family gives money, clothes and jewelry to the groom's family.
Although illegal for more than 60 years, lands are still ubiquitous in Indian weddings.
It is known that girls' parents take huge loans or even sell their land and house to meet the needs of dowry. Even this does not necessarily provide a happy life for the bride, as tens of thousands of the groom or his family are killed every year to attract insufficient lands.
In the film, Daalatreau also signals “for sale” on his land, although agriculture is his only source of livelihood.
With the kind assistance: shalDirector Somalkar says the idea of his debut feature film is rooted in his own experience.
Growing up with two sisters and five cousins of women, he witnessed the ritual too many times when the future groom visited his home.
“As a child, you don't question the tradition,” he says, adding that the turning point came in 2016 when he accompanied a male cousin to see a future bride.
“It was the first time I was on the other side. I felt a little unpleasant when the woman went out and sat on a chair and asked me questions. When we came out for a discussion, I felt that the conversation about her height and skin color was objectified.”
When he discussed the problem of his fiancé at that time – who is now his wife – she encouraged him to explore him in his work.
With the kind assistance: shalIn a country where 90% of all marriages are still settled by families, SHAL is not the first to deal with the screen theme. Imdb has A list of nearly 30 films For the arranged marriage made by Bollywood and regional film industries, just in the last two decades.
Just recently, the wild -popular Netflix show Indian matches Focused entirely on the process of finding the perfect partner.
But, as Somalkar points out, on the screen “Weddings are extremely glamorous”.
“When we think about weddings in India, we think of a big fat wedding, full of fun and splendor. We think of Hum Aapke Hain Koun,” he says, referring to the Bollywood blockbuster of the 90s, which celebrates Indian wedding traditions.
“And the Netflix show was only concerned with a certain class of people, those who are rich and educated, and women are able to exercise their choice.
“But the reality for the majority of Indians is very different and parents often have to go through hell to marry their daughters,” he adds.
According to him, his reason is to “shake the society and the audience beyond complacency.
“I want to start a debate and encourage people to think about a process that objectifies women who have a very little freedom to choose between marriage and career,” he says.
“I know a book or one movie does not change society overnight, but it can be the beginning.”
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