(Hon) Dr. Vibha Bakshi, Acclaimed, Award-Winning Film Director And Producer
On International Women’s Day, I am celebrating all the men. Yes, men, who have stood in solidarity with women and created a bold and united force for equality. So, a big round of applause to all the men who outnumber the women at the Rotary Club of Bombay today, on International Women’s Day.
Recently, during the screening of ‘Sonrise’, I was asked, ‘What makes a girl born and raised in south Mumbai, studied in Boston, lived in NY, and married to a Wall Street banker, want to go into the deepest hinterlands of Haryana and spend two years across 45 villages to find a story?’
The answer is simple: I have the conviction that each one of us, anywhere around the world, has the power to be the voice of change. Nobody would have imagined that from the unlikeliest place in India – rural Haryana – India’s seat of patriarchy, we will find our gender-right heroes. Ordinary men who have done extra-ordinary things in standing by women and breaking the shackles of patriarchy.
I would never have imagined that these men would have achieved victories of humanity not only in India but globally as examples of how to knock over patriarchy in the world over.
Today, I am going to talk about my latest film ‘Sonrise’ and how it started. I do not have the opportunity to choose a story, the story chooses me.
I was screening my previous documentary, ‘Daughters of Mother India,’ which put the spotlight on rape and gender-violence. The film was shot right after the brutal rape and murder of Nirbhaya and I was the only team allowed to enter with Delhi Police right after the rape and murder.
The film won the National Film Award but more importantly we were able to cover a lot of ground by screening the film for 150,000 police officers across India to gender-sensitise the force. Because unless the police are sensitised, justice will not only be delayed, but it will also be denied. It was during this screening that I reached Haryana. It was here, I believe she was an activist – who came to me and said, ‘Ma’am, there is a farmer who, in an arranged marriage, has married a gang-rape survivor.’
To be honest, I was happily shocked. I went in search of this farmer; she did not have a name, she did not have a village, but I had the police. And so, with their help, I was able to track him. When I found him, I asked him, ‘Why did you do this?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘The shame is not hers, it’s ours.’ And this is how ‘Sonrise’ was born.
For the first six months when I entered Haryana, nobody spoke to me; as a woman filmmaker it was even harder. The first person I met was India’s biggest khap leader, a patriarch who works outside the law but with tremendous social norm influence on the society. When he looked at me, he said, ‘There is no place for woman here.’
It is the same khap leader today who is screening ‘Sonrise’ across 800 villages in Haryana and that is victory. We had many sleepless nights, specially the family, because I was following the story of Kusum, the gang-rape survivor. The rapist had already seen me in court, and it would get very dark in Haryana and by 5 o’clock it was not only dark, but I would lose cell reception.
My husband called up the Police Commissioner and asked for protection for me; I did get the protection but there was a cop, a junior cop who looked at me and said, ‘Madam kya protection? Ek lorry aayegi aur aapka car ka accident ho jayega.’ And this is the reality on ground. But we came out untouched. When your intent and emotion are right, the universe conspires to make things happen. Not only did we come out intact but also stronger, braver and unstoppable.
The film won National Film Awards for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Editing, and we won not on the category of social issue but in Best Film category. The issue deserves the attention; I am very proud and honoured to share that, today, ‘Sonrise’ has been selected by the UN to be part of the global He For She movement across 71 priority countries. And, when we say each one has this power, I remember sitting at a café in Dubai when a Consul General of New Zealand in Mumbai, Ralph Hays and his wife Sonia, said, ‘Why not bring Sonrise to the Dubai expo?’ and I remember laughing. I said there are very glamorous events happening so let’s not get a documentary to the expo. He said, ‘Why not?’
Sonrise was screened at the Dubai Expo at the largest venue, the Jubilee Stage, which is unheard of because concerts are held on that stage. The film was attended by heads of 50 nations who signed a pledge. Covid has unleashed a shadow pandemic, which is an alarming upsurge in violence against women and girls globally. So, while we flatten the curve of Covid pandemic, we also must use the same might to flatten the curve of the shadow pandemic. There are no fairy tale endings when you take up burning issues; there are more trials than triumphs. But I have to say, as a filmmaker, I have choices to make. I can sensationalise the issue or sensitise my audience. I can focus on a burning country or ignite hope. I will go with hope because without hope, no movements can be won. And the movement for a safer and more equitable world is a movement that we cannot afford to lose.
So, thank you. We are in this together and remember each one of us has the power to be the voice of reason, caution, and conscience, unleash it.
ROTARIANS ASK
India is called the capital of Rape, is it true or is it sensationalised?
I began shooting ‘Daughters of Mother India’ right after the brutal rape and murder of Nirbhaya. I saw a revolution unfold. And to be honest I stood there as a proud daughter of India because I truly believed there is no other country in the world that has reacted to a gender crime the way India did. But, at the same time, I was left asking the question how did we get to this point. I have also worked on United States government films to end gender violence. It became part of the ME Award winning campaign to stop violence and I will say this again and again – rape, gender violence, gender-bias is not an India story, it is not a story that happens only in rural India, it happens amongst all of us sitting here.
It is not pertinent to one country; it is a global reality. And so, when you look at the numbers, the numbers can be higher in the US as compared to India and that is what it is about sensationalisation. Two films came after the Nirbhaya case, one was my very small film and the other was the BBC film, India’s Daughter. Honestly, when you look at India’s Daughter, every Indian man is perceived to be a potential rapist and I took this very personally. After my film won the National Film Award, the next day was the New York Film Festival. I missed dinner with the President (of India) and flew to NY, looked at the audience and said that race is a very big issue in this country, in the US, and as a filmmaker, if I showcase a white cop killing a black cop, should I label all of you as racist? Please remember, showing the opinion of rapist who said she (the victim) deserved to be raped is sensationalising the issue. That is what it is. This is an oath we have taken, whether one watches the film or not, this I have learnt from my partner who is an Oscar-winning filmmaker. Remember, a documentary filmmaker has the responsibility not to sensationalise the issue but sensitise the audience.
What would be your advice on the accused – does he need to be reformed or punished in view of the lengthy legal system which take years and years, and, by that time, the accused comes forward and says, ‘I am ready to marry the rape victim?’
Again, when I was in Delhi, I had access to Nirbhaya files, I could have gone in and filmed the rapist, but I would not give them any time on my film; we are not here to hear their opinion. As far as the Nirbhaya rape is concerned, the 16-year-old who inserted the rod inside Nirbhaya inserted it with so much force that her internal organs came out. When I was filming ‘Daughters of Mother India,’ I was in the control room at the time, and we received a call that a five-year-old has been gang-raped. I guess because I had the camera the police reached there and in a closed room, I saw a bloody body lying there and we picked her up and we took her to the hospital. They had inserted bottles and candles inside her. I called up my husband and said, ‘I am not brave enough to tell the story; I, myself, have two young children and I want to come home.’
He said, ‘You cannot unsee what you have seen, the only closure you will get is when your film is complete, and one life is saved.’
So, bringing it to your question, whether the person is 16, commits such a hideous crime, they should be punished for it but again you have to follow the law, there is a balance to be maintained. I think the age of 16 must be revised.
Your thought on marital rape in the Indian context.
I am not an activist, I am filmmaker who documents stories of extra-ordinary people, I tell the story; it is them who are doing the change on ground. Whether it is rape, marital rape, bias, disparity, let this not be a women’s issue. This is why I am celebrating men, we have to look it as an issue of human rights and it is not man vs woman, it is men and women, girls and boys standing together. To make this a better world, just remember when women thrive the entire society thrives, and this is why I am proud of Sonrise. It is going in the curriculum, we are rallying the youth to be able to change mind-sets so that the next generation that emerges, we have the Sonrise heroes. So, when it comes to any of the issue, let us treat it as a human rights issue. Have these important conversations at home, we have been raised in similar environments, but we all know that biases exist. The biases in rural Haryana are exactly the same that we see in south Mumbai, just the packaging is different. So, let’s start having these conversations at home and you will see the change.
What are you working on next?
I am still waiting for that film to find me.
I always believe that the father emancipates a woman. The minute the father gives his daughter the strength, the woman is emancipated.
Yes, and I would say that men are in the position of privilege to make change happen, but it is the women out there, I have two sons and I think I carry a greater responsibility of how I raise my boys versus focusing on the girls. So, it has to be a combination of both. Each one of has to have a conversation at home. You can be from wherever you want, the biases exist, the men need to step up. The farmer (in Sonrise), his mother is the one who brought this change, she is the one who accepted a gang-rape survivor. When they were receiving death threats, she said, I have raised my son with so much care that if today he dies fighting for her justice, he will die an honourable death. We have had so many claps in between the documentary, so, yes, it is a combination of father and mother both.
What happened after the farmer accepted Kusum as we don’t see that part in the documentary.
Jitender Chattar – he fights; he is a farmer who fights for her justice. And, as I said, there are no fairy-tale endings.
When the final verdict came in after Kusum identified all the eight rapists, they were set free. The evidence was burnt by the police. I was with Kusum when the verdict came in; she was pregnant and she miscarried on the spot.
I looked at him (Jitender) and said, ‘It is all over.’ He said to me, ‘I will fight and I will fight till the end.’
When we were screening the film, our premier night was at Royal Opera, and it was packed beyond capacity; the UN Under-Secretary General flew in and there was a sound of sigh echoing. So, this is a farmer who sold his land to continue the fight for her justice; funds are being raised to help him fight. He is unstoppable. He has enrolled himself into law and two weeks ago he became an advocate. He said, ‘I will fight her case.’
