By Vinod Raghavan*
Muscat: A 10-minute film ‘She Is’ made by the expats in Oman, is about a mother, sister, daughter, wife and friend as a mark of respect to all womenfolk on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
The lead actor Piya Pawani performs her daily chores in the film, which she takes up with ease despite the ups and downs in her life. She has a family and the role of her husband is played by Kabeer Yousuf, her son by Rehan and her mother-in-law by Azra Aleem. Piya plays the role of a multi-tasking lady, who handles her office pressure with ease and a smile.
In the short film, the director, Anirban Ray, has highlighted the ongoing scenario in the job market and how people manipulate it.
Despite her hard work, the trophy Piya was awarded is snatched by her male colleague portrayed by Anirban Ray. She pleads to the world it’s her hard work for which she has been rewarded, but the shrewd colleague snatches and shamelessly claims it as his achievement.
It’s not only men, but women too are manipulators, which is shown in the film. Piya helps an unknown lady played by Indu Baburaj, in her journey of achieving greater heights, and the same lady blocks her way and pulls her down. Despite blocking her, a shocked Piya wishes good luck to the lady and moves ahead.
In her journey balancing between work and home front, she faces a lot of opposition which the director subtly uses from the epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata.
In Ramayana, Sita had to spend time in jungles and also had to face the Agni (fire) test, and in Mahabharata, the Pandavas and Kauravas played the dice game.
To film such scenes, the director has used beautiful locations in Oman. The jungle and the fire scenes are from the picturesque Hadash Village which is on a curvy mountain 1500 metres above sea level around 200 km from Muscat on the Barka-Nakhal road in Oman.
Piya boldly crossed the real fire which was shot thrice, as the director wanted to get more perfection and she did it with ease.
She is also stalked by a local Romeo, who sees a single woman and tries to bully her. She displays her women’s power skills, crosses the hurdle, and moves ahead.
The famous Bangla song written by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and sung by Usha Uthup Ekla Chalo… uplifts her energy to start afresh despite all the hurdles she comes across in her journey from family to workplace.
She walks amongst the harsh reality of life with her ambition on one hand and, on the other, her family, but she does a balancing act. Whenever she is down, she gets inspiration from a line from Tagore’s song – Jodi Tor Dak Shune Keu Na Ashe Tome Ekla Chalo Re…
Watch the film:
*Senior journalist
Very well written
And interpretation on this sensitive subject is highly commendable.
Well written, very informative and all encompassing
Excellent narration. Well written and very well explained. She represents one of the daring women who crosses all the hurdles in life. After watching the film, a quote by the famous Tamil Poet and Freedom Fighter Subramanya Bharathi lingered in my mind, which is
” A woman’s power lies in her will power”. Pudumai Penn,” a new kind of woman. He visualised her as a leader and a lawmaker and, above all, a free, independent, and fully realised human being.”.