Indian movie showing “humiliation” of the bride in the agreed marriage

It is often said that marriages are made in the sky.

But in India, where most marriages are organized, the match process may feel like a pass through hell for a woman and her family.

This is the prerequisite for “Sthal: a match, a movie about the Marus language of 2023, which won several prestigious awards at festivals in India and abroad. On Friday it is manufactured in theaters in India.

Established in the Maharashtra village, cinema focuses on Savita, a young woman who strives for education and careers in patriarchal society, and attempts by her father Dautlatho Wandhar – a poor cotton farmer – to find a good husband for her daughter.

“He wants a good price for the harvest and a good match for his daughter,” says director Jewnt Digabar Somakar.

The film is characteristic of the unwavering way it reflects what her main actress calls the “very humiliating” experience of many young women, unlike other Indian films about organized marriage.

The Stel also caught his attention, as the whole acting consists of actors who are first selected from the village where it is shot. Nandini Chikte, who plays Savita, has already won two awards for her brilliant performance.

The film opens with a sequence when Savita interviews a promising bridegroom.

Together with her relatives and friends, she watches how the young man gives them drinks from the tray. They laugh when he, noticeably nervous, gets during the interrogation.

Roughly awakened from what turned out to be a dream, Savita was ordered to prepare when a group of men came to her.

In reality, the gender roles are completely canceled, and the humiliation of Savita comes into a sharp focus in the stage, which is played several times in almost two hours.

Being a bridegroom and other men from his family are welcomed by Savita’s father and relatives. The guests fed tea and snacks, and as soon as they were introduced, Savita causes.

Dressed in Sarah, sinking with her eyes, she sits on a wooden stool standing before the interrogations.

Questions are coming, 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 hold a discussion. “She’s a little dark. She had a makeup on her face, but you didn’t see her elbow? This is her real color,” one says. “She’s short,” he continues. Others nod in agreement.

They leave, saying Dalarato, which in a few days will answer to tell him about his decision.

According to her parents, “this is the fourth or fifth time someone came to see Savita” – all the previous meetings ended in the rejection, which led to the breaking of the heart and despair.

The scene is ringing. In India, men often have a list of attributes they want in their brides – a look at the marriage columns in newspapers and matches shows that everyone wants high, fair, beautiful brides.

Protestations of Savita – “I do not want to marry, I first want to finish college, and then pass the civil service exams and build a career” – do not carry weight in their rural community, where marriage seems like the only purpose for a young woman.

“Marriage in our society attaches too great importance,” said Chikte BBC. “Parents believe that after the daughter married, they will be released from their responsibility. It is time to change this story.”

She says she found it “very humiliating”, that Savit made it a stool to be condemned by all the people who discussed her skin color, while there was no discussion about the future bridegroom.

“I only acted, but as I was promoting the movie, I lived by Savita’s journey, and I got angry on her behalf. I felt insulted and disrespectful.”

The film is also engaged in social evil, which is a dowry – the practice of the bride’s family, clothing, clothing and jewelry for the groom’s family.

Although it was illegally over 60 years, it is still comprehensive in Indian weddings.

It is known that girls’ parents take over huge loans or even sell their land and home to meet the dowry demands. Even this does not necessarily provide a happy life for the bride, because tens of thousands are killed annually by the groom or his family for bringing insufficient landings.

The film also exposes a sign “for sale” on its land, although agriculture is the only source of livelihood.

Director Somalkar says the idea of ​​his debut feature film is introduced by his own experience.

Growing up with two sisters and five cousins, he witnessed the ritual too many times when the future grooms visited his house.

“As a kid you do not question the tradition,” he says, adding that the turning point came in 2016 when he accompanied his cousin to see the future bride.

“It was the first time I was on the other side. I became embarrassed when the woman came out and sat down and asked questions. When we went out for discussion, I felt the conversation about her growth and skin color was objectively.”

When he discussed the issue with his groom at the time – who is now his wife – she urged him to study him in his work.

In a country where 90% of all marriages are families, Stel is not the first to be on the screen. IMDB is List with almost 30 movies About the marriage, made by a pain and regional film production, only in the last two decades.

Most recently wildly popular show Netflix Indian matchmaker Focused entirely on the process of finding the perfect partner.

But, as the anesthetics notes, “weddings is very glamor” on the screen.

“When we think about weddings in India, we think of a big thick wedding, full of fun and glamor. We think of Hum Aapke Hain Koun,” he says, citing the Bollywood Blockbus 1990, which marks Indian wedding traditions.

“And the Netflix show viewed only a certain class of people who are wealthy and educated, and women can take advantage of their choice.

“But the reality for most Indians is very different, and parents often have to go through hell to marry their daughters,” he adds.

Its reason for creating a stele, he said, is “to distract society and viewers from self -resort.

“I want to start a discussion and urge people to think about the process that women who have very little freedom of choice between marriage and career,” he says.

“I know that one book or one movie does not change society over the night, but it may start.”

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