"CHAMELI" A Meaningful Cinema: based on Fact and True Story:-
A heart-tugging story of a trafficked girl, Chameli is a wake up call to the authorities to stop this disgracing trade
By SANJAYA DHAKAL (reporter)
A scene from Chameli : Story that makes us ashamed. Chameli is the story of a Nepalese girl from rural village who is trafficked to a brothel in Mumbai by her own husband. It is characteristic of the stories told so many times by the victims of the girl-trafficking who return to the country after getting infected by serious illness like AIDS, having spent most of their productive years in the dingy Kothis (brothels).
Chameli's father dreamt of sending Chameli to campus but his untimely demise left Chameli and her family vulnerable. Even before she completed her schooling, Chameli is married off to Amar, an unscrupulous lad who sells girls by first marrying them and conning them into travelling with him to India.
Amar sells Chameli to a brothel-owner in Kamathipura, Mumbai for a few thousand of Indian rupees. Thus begins Chameli's interaction with shame, tragedy and endless misery.
The film vividly portrays the heinous ways the brothel-keepers adopt in forcing new girls into prostitution. They use everything from snakes to whips to scare away the girls into fulfilling their wishes. The girls are forced to have sex with as many clients as possible in a single night.
The film revolves around the life of Chameli in the shabby Kothi (brothel) of the Kamathipura where the day begins after the sun sets. It portrays hapless conditions of girls -- the forced abortion and constant physical as well as mental abuse they have to suffer.
More importantly, the film raises an important concern about the role of the community in this whole affair. While the innocent girls are conned into the trade by ruthless brokers, it is them who have to suffer the disdain in the end. Chameli gets ostracized by her own villagers when she returns to her home after escaping the Mumbai brothel.
Already infected by AIDS, Chameli seeks to take revenge against Amar, who by then is already half-dead thanks to drug addiction. In the end, the film gives an important message that the girls should be united to fight off this evil. It, however, raises a huge question mark over the role of authorities and politicians in this whole episode.
Despite featuring new and fresh faces, the director has done well to bring out the artistic talents from the otherwise unknown faces.
Chameli marks the completion of a full circle. The issue of girl trafficking in the country have been widely discussed, a number of seminars have been conducted in this issue, a number of books have been written and now the issue is embraced by the cinema.
The film is directed by young Ravi Baral. Baral used to read the stories about girl trafficking that appeared frequently in newspapers. Concerned by these news, Baral took upon himself to make a film on this issue. "We did a research for about two years before we finally made the film," said Baral.
Baral went to Mumbai to film the scenes for the movie. "We had to face a lot of harassment when we tried to shoot in Kamathipura. So, we erected separate set in Godavari to film the inside scenes."
The film, though having a meaningful script and a serious story, suffers from few lapses like the lack of continuity. Scenes in the film, which is currently running at Manakamana theater with English subtitles, seem to jump from one situation to other without smooth connection. It was produced by Ravi Baral with technical and other collaboration from UNIFEM.
But these weaknesses can be forgiven as this is the maiden venture by Ravi Baral, who is a communication expert by profession. Son of a noted pediatrician Dr. Manindra Ranjan Baral, Ravi is quite happy at the response his film has generated.
According to him, the special screening of the film at Mumbai before celebrity audience had to be stopped midway as some of the audiences (who were also the victims of the girl trafficking) were moved to tears.
In Nepal, too, the film has generated rave reviews from media. but the main point is whether the policy-makers take stock of the situation and stop this disgracing trade. "It is ultimately the policy-makers and the government officials who have to deal with the situation," said Baral.
Every year five to seven thousand Nepalese girls are said to be sold to Indian brothels especially in Mumbai where the fair-complexioned Nepalese girls are said to be on constant demand.
One hopes that the concerned authorities take concrete steps to stop this flesh trade so that the reality will differ from the ending of the Chameli where she wanders into the sunset leaving the dead body of her husband behind.
http://www.nepalnews.com. np/contents/englishweekly /spotlight/2000/apr/apr28 /national10.htm
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