JD Chakravarthi’s ‘Dahini’ to expose scourge of witch-hunting
Hyderabad: Starring actors Tanishtha Chatterjee and JD Chakravarthi in the lead roles, the upcoming film titled ‘Dahini: The Witch’, which is directed by National Award winner Rajesh Touchriver, is gearing up for a theatrical release soon. The movie is currently in post-production stage. Also featuring Ashique Hussain, Badrul Islam, Angana Roy, Riju Bajaj, Jagannath Seth, […]
Hyderabad: Starring actors Tanishtha Chatterjee and JD Chakravarthi in the lead roles, the upcoming film titled ‘Dahini: The Witch’, which is directed by National Award winner Rajesh Touchriver, is gearing up for a theatrical release soon. The movie is currently in post-production stage.
Also featuring Ashique Hussain, Badrul Islam, Angana Roy, Riju Bajaj, Jagannath Seth, Sruthy Jayan, Dilip Das, and Dattatreya, the film is produced by Orion Pictures International Pvt. Ltd. and SunTouch Productions. Human Rights activist and Padma Shri recipient Sunitha Krishnan and Pradeep Narayanan are jointly producing it. Currently, post-production work is on.
Inspired by true incidents, director Rajesh’s films usually are closer to reality. It has been his style since the beginning. His movies have highlighted a range of social evils. ‘Dahini’ touches upon a subject of human rights concern. The film is about the scourge of witch-hunting that later manifests as gender-based violence. Women become victims of witch-hunting in property disputes or in cases where they are hated for not conforming to societal gender norms.
Shot in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district where witch-hunting is said to be rampant, the facts that were unearthed by the director would startle the audiences. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), approximately 2,937 women were killed in India between 2001 and 2019 on suspicion of practising witchcraft. In the year 2019 alone, 102 people were allegedly killed.
As per the Odisha High Court, in 2021 alone four women were murdered every month in Odisha in the name of witchcraft. As per a UN Report, over 25,000 women were murdered in less than 16 years between 1987 and 2003 in the name of witchcraft in India. Most of these women were single women or widows.
Through ‘Dahini’, the makers are seeking to raise awareness about evil. Talking about the movie, Sunitha Krishnan says, “Even in the modern-day, gender-based violence and savagery are going on. It’s unfortunate that we are yet to acknowledge the extent of this gross human rights violation. Our film attempts to expose the existence of the centuries-old evil with the aim of encouraging collective action.”
Producer Pradeep Narayanan said, “How are thousands of women being witch-hunted in today’s India? Our film is an attempt to openly talk about the shocking issue. I feel fortunate to have produced the movie.”
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