A new short film spotlights the caste-based sex work tradition still trapping girls in Madhya Pradesh
In an early scene from Khilawadi, director Shobhita Thakur’s debut short film, 12-year-old Sapna stands outside a primary health centre, transfixed by a lady doctor
In an early scene from Khilawadi, director Shobhita Thakur’s debut short film, 12-year-old Sapna stands outside a primary health centre, transfixed by a lady doctor through a window. The glance offers a glimpse into her aspirations, but the collective identity of her community stands between her and those dreams. Khilawadi premiered at the FascinAsian Film Festival in May, where it won the Audience Choice Award at the Calgary leg of the festival and the Best short film award at the Edmonton leg. The 26-minute film follows Sapna, a young girl from the Banchhada caste in Madhya Pradesh, a community known for its “tradition” of family-based sex work. As she grapples with caste identity, she also faces mounting family pressure to pay off debts through her own exploitation. Originally from Bhopal, filmmaker Shobhita Thakur says she has been familiar with the Banchhada community since childhood and knew she wanted to explore their stories when making her debut film.
“The idea of women being pushed into a profession because of where they are born and the caste they belong to stayed with me for a long time. The fact that such exploitation is upheld in the name of tradition makes it even harder for women to escape these systems,” says Shobhita, who also belongs to a Scheduled Caste community. “Coming from a marginalised background, I faced challenges in pursuing my passion. I am only the second woman in my extended family to earn a degree, after my elder sister. My mother was forced to quit school after Class eight because of her caste, despite coming from a financially well-off family,” says the filmmaker, who graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, in 2012. Shobhita began her research with documentaries and books, including India’s Child Sex Highway, produced by Al Jazeera, Mahendra Jakhar’s Diary of a Prostitute and Anuja Agarwal’s Chaste Wives and Prostitute Sisters.
She later travelled to Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh, where many members of the community live. “There, I connected with Akash Chauhan, founder of Jan Shaurya Social Welfare and Development Society, an NGO working towards the rehabilitation of Bedia and Banchhada communities. I also met educated women who lived in fear of being dragged into prostitution and then pressured to find a man,” she says. “Many FIRs shared by the NGO eventually found their way into the film’s dialogues.” Shobhita, who has worked as an associate with filmmaker Anurag Basu on projects, adds, “They told me people often refuse to hire them because of the stigma attached to the community. Some have secured jobs only by concealing their identities, while many have changed their surnames.” Khilawadi also draws attention to the importance of caste certificates, the document required to access various government privileges designed to promote social equity, highlighting how many community members lack them because they do not know their fathers’ identities.
The BriefWire