Mumbai (The Hawk): The short film "Highway Night," in which actor-director Prakash Jha appears, has been shortlisted and is being considered for Academy Award selection. In the Shubham Singh-directed movie, Prakash Jha plays the part of Seetaram, a truck driver who, one lovely night, picks up Manju, a sex worker, from the highway.
They start talking to one other while travelling. By the time daylight arrives, they have formed a strange bond, and Seetaram feels a paternal affection for Manju.
When discussing the movie, director Shubham said: "I used to travel throughout different regions of India because I love to explore the diversity of the country. On one of my trips, I was sitting next to an Indian Dhaba when I noticed a young girl frantically looking for customers to satisfy her hunger. A strange old man contacted her out of the blue and gave her food."
He also remembered, "I was watching the whole thing suspiciously. However, the old man kindly paid for the food without asking for anything in return, shattering all of my preconceptions. After thanking the man for his kind gesture, the girl departed the store without looking for any clients. And from this point on, I began my trek through "Highway Night." ".
The movie depicts how women are mistreated and forced into the vicious cycle of the flesh trade in outlying areas of India. It is based on the actual history of the Bachhada tribe in Madhya Pradesh.
Shubham continued, "After doing extensive study, I learned about the Banchhada tribe, where historically, the men of the family choose not to work and instead use the women of the family to engage in sex trade. The entire community's only source of revenue was a legally forbidden practise in India."
The male residents of the community who are not employed have a shared history that dates back to India's colonial era.
Shubham revealed "This custom has been practised for many years since the tribe used to believe that one of their number accidentally killed a British officer during the British Raj period (before to Indian independence). The incident had extremely severe repercussions because the then-governor barred the whole tribal population from working anyplace in India. Since they had no other choice except to engage in sex trading, this tradition has been carried down down the generations."
(Inputs from Agencies)