Integritus Prime

The word ‘bhakshak’ means predator. I doubt a better title could have been chosen for this film. Trigger warning and spoiler alert!

We recently watched this very disturbing movie about the sexual abuse of orphan girls. It started off in a very alarming way, portraying the absolutely unconscionable way girls at a particular government shelter, in a place called Munnawwarpur in India, are treated. They are used like disposable products. This includes very young girls, who have no idea what sex is. It is, in a word, heartbreaking.

The film has many moments and lessons, but I want to focus on just three that really struck me.

1. Snap out of patriarchy NOW. In a scene, the protagonist, journalist Vaishali Singh (played impeccably by Bhumi Pednekar) arrives home in the evening after investigating the Munnawwar orphanage case. Her husband begins to blame her for him not having a cooked meal to eat. In the diatribe that ensues, Vaishali stands up for herself and points out that if her husband is hungry, he can cook and eat. He is not a child. And that she is fed up of his family pressuring her to have a baby, and he can marry someone else if he is desperate for a child right away. This scene takes on toxic patriarchy: Vaishali asserts her right to pursue her career, to be free of gender stereotypes, and to have autonomy over her reproductive rights. She stands up and her words scream for all women everywhere: “I’m not a domestic slave, and I am certainly not a baby making device. I have a right to do what I feel is right for me in this life. If you don’t like it, bugger off!” The social justice lesson: wake up and help co-create a world in which toxic patriarchy has no place.
2. Speak out against injustice. In a moving scene, Vaishali tries to convince Sudha to speak out against the abusers. Sudha is a young woman who was hired as a cook in the Munnawwarpur orphanage and witnessed many of the abuses taking place. Sudha initially refuses to speak out, stating that she feels it’s best not to have anything to do with these abusers: to not support them and to not oppose them. Sudha is deathly afraid of getting involved. Vaishali responds with a call to conscience, asking Sudha if she can sleep at night knowing what the little girls are suffering and will continue to suffer. As Vaishali and her cameraman Bhaskar Sinha (played by Sanjay Mishra) turn to leave, Sudha catches up to them, and agrees to speak out. She goes on air (with her face partially covered to protect her identity) and names the names, which propels a police investigation and some arrests. The social justice lesson is to speak out against injustice in ways that also protect you so you can continue to do your work.
3. Don’t let social media desensitize you. In the closing scene, Vaishali goes live in an eerie sort of way, telling her audiences that the Munnawwarpur case is just another case, and maybe justice will be served, but maybe not. There will be other cases, she asserts. And people will post about them with hash tags, but not feel compelled to act, because social media can make us passive observers who use emojis to hint at emotion. Vaishali urges us in a sardonic tone to see if we can bear to really face the emotions of the atrocities around us and act to put an end to them. The social justice lesson here is to remember not to get desensitized from your cause, and to find the right balance of facing reality and staying present and whole.

We finished this movie with a clear sense of its aim: a call to action to stop injustices. The movie is an illustration that a person’s persistence, as demonstrated by Vaishali’s character, can make a pivotal difference. Indeed, it is Vaishali’s decision to pursue her investigation, in spite of political and law enforcement corruption, that brings about the freedom of the victimized girls and the apprehending of perpetrators, the bhakshak.

Share with us your lessons about social justice based on your activism.