Spellbound!

Mona

While we, who live in metros, take pride in being at par with developed nations when it comes to enjoying certain privileges, right from luxury drives to global food joints, there are still certain belts in our country where people finish all their chores before the sundown for there is no electricity.

Jungle raj rules there, women get raped, burnt alive or beaten to death in the name of witchcraft every single year. Bringing forth this terrible truth is upcoming film Kala Sach— The Black Truth.

Witch hunting

Kala Sach is culled from stories that Mayank Prakash Srivastava saw, observed, documented over the years. Police, politicians and religious figures form a nexus to subjugate women for land or lust and go totally unchecked in the hinterlands. “I got to know about this ‘bhaktin’ (god woman) who ruled this particular region. It took us 20 days to see her face and many more to see how she does ‘shudhikaran’ (purifies) to the so-called ‘dayans’, reveals Mayank. This passionate filmmaker has cast Himani Shivpuri on the role of this god woman. “We needed a strong performer to essay the role and Himani Ji fitted the bill.”

Realistic take

The film has, apart from Himani, Pakkhi Hegde, Mushtaq Khan and Sanjay Batra. The rest of the cast is picked up from rural areas where the film is shot in actual locations sans any sets. “We wanted to keep the film real,” shares Mayank. The film has also taken assistance from Tarot reader Renu Mathur. The film that was completed in 2014 was appreciated at film fests abroad but it was a long wait at the Censor Board to get the film cleared for India screening.

To get ‘Based on True Story’ doesn’t come easy. We submitted volumes and volumes of data to support our claim. Now that the film releases on August 7, the film’s crew, including its producer Jitendra Soni, aims at creating awareness and passing a law that banished the witch hunting practice as we have successfully done with ‘sati’.

mona@tribunemail.com