An 11 minute Marathi short film sensitively sheds light on a taboo topic we all thought about at some point in our lives.
“Gosht eka kawlyachi” tries to become an unspoken voice and succeeds in speaking a thousand words.
By Megha Chougule
The film starts with a beautiful soundtrack and we see a village setting. We all have our nostalgic memories from our childhood and some mysteries which got solved over time. This is such a story that revolves around a taboo which is supposed to be talked about but unfortunately well hidden especially from children and that is “women’s periods”. This is a story of a mother and son duo. The mother who lies every month about her periods to her son, Sonu, because as per “our orthodox traditions” she has to isolate herself during those days. She tells him she has to do it because a crow has touched her. Sonu is frustrated due to the fact that some crow always touches his mother.
The story sheds light on deep rooted misconceptions in our society and the effect on our childhood. How women are not even aware that this is a wrong thing. They just go on with it as if it is a part of their living. Her suffering is shown very authentically. We feel sympathetic towards her but at the same time we feel helpless as no one can make her understand that she doesn’t have to suffer. At a point when she is isolated and can’t sleep in the middle of the night, she can’t even go inside her own house to get water for herself. Her son feels for her but has no idea how to stop all of it. The man of the house, the father, is just invisible during all of this as he represents the ignorant society who does not care to think about the oppression. Sonu doesn’t want to live without his mother and is angry at the crow. His friend feels the same as it is a tale of every orthodox household. Sonu does not expect anything from his father as for him his mother is all he needs. He hates the fact that when the crow touches his mother they don’t even get good food. Which again shows the patriarchy in the society and how it is just being carried on through our children.
The premise is familiar yet different. The cinematography by Saiprasad Pilankar is interesting. The images that show Sonu’s helplessness bring the same feelings in the audience. Enough close ups and not getting trapped into showing the beauty of the scenery is just what brings the right emotions. The locations chosen help in the storytelling. The dialogues are grounded and don’t feel alien. The music enhances the feel. The child actor portrays the troubled child very well. Conversation between the mother and her friend from the village depicts that they think all the suffering is just their bad karma and they have to deal with it no matter what. The actors move around so subtly that you can’t separate them from their characters. Having empty tiffin to not touching the river, everything is just a part of their lives. Only the curiosity of the child separates it all from being “normal life”. It leaves us with the thought that even in 2021 we still have this mentality in our society. When the wave of feminism is doing wonders at global level, we are still “not fighting” for these basic issues. When the oppressed are not aware of the oppression, shouldn’t we, the aware ones, fight for them? I guess the team here has tried doing the same, putting the word of awareness out there in the world to spark some thought process.
The end of the film achieves the purpose. When the trouble shifts, will they just laugh and leave the topic or will they educate the children? When will our society, our parents understand the need of sex education? When will our textbooks and teachers teach us something as basic as the workings of our body? Science is reaching new heights every day and our kids or we ourselves don’t know what our organs do. So many questions, so many ways and yet here we are, unaware of the facts and happy with our privileges. We need films like this and more. We need to ask questions like this and more. “Gosht eka kawlyachi” tries to become an unspoken voice and succeeds in speaking a thousand words. Most of us know these stories and the irony is that in the age of the internet and social media, we have bigger topics to discuss than those which are happening in our own households. We can fight for women in Afghanistan but not for our mother/sister/daughter/wife/friend or even for ourselves.
Watch the short film on YouTube & MX Player
Very well written
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