During this Women’s Day week, we looked at the positive impact and progress that women have made through the years. Yet, there are still many issues that aren’t given much time of day, and priority. This short film video made by a city-based group of producers, directors, and actors raises awareness about domestic violence that has been silenced by society. According to statistics, 10 cases of violence against women are reported every hour across the country, making it the most reported crime and yet the least talked about. This film, Break the silence #stepupspeakout was made to highlight this uncomfortable truth, and has gotten some overwhelming responses in just a few days, with over 30-40k likes and shares on social media websites.
In a tete-a-tete with the producer, Sarah Thomas who believes strongly about talking about domestic violence, the short film opens with a woman onstage getting bashed by her husband, and how she reaches out and asks for help but no one’s responds. “The stage is used as a metaphor where the actors are shown with acts of domestic violence but as spectators, no one does anything like the rest of the society,” she says.
The intensity of the scenes would make you wonder how the experience was for the actress, Anushka Nair on stage. Anushka shares her experiences going back to the day she received the offer to do the film, “The moment I read the script, I literally loved it. Especially, the metaphoric hints of using the stage and spectators as normal people who see these things happen but never do anything about it. There’s always a difference in the ones who act on it and the spectators. On stage, it was physically intense for me as you would have seen in the shots. But, putting out the message across was the most important thing for all of us, and that made it worthwhile.”
Hats off to the writer who could get a beautiful connection with the beginning and end of the script; Mahesh Karunakaren says he drew inspiration for the script from some of the experiences he has encountered amongst his family and friends that were always hushed up. He says, “I really wanted to write about a topic that nobody speaks much of, and this came at the right time. Sarah really believed in the script and made everything happen perfectly. If there was anything missing, she would chase after it and go and get it done.”
