Parched
| Parched | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Leena Yadav |
| Produced by |
Ajay Devgn Aseem Bajaj Gulab Singh Tanwar Leena Yadav Rohan Jagdale |
| Written by | Leena Yadav |
| Starring |
Tannishtha Chatterjee Radhika Apte Surveen Chawla Adil Hussain Lehar Khan Sayani Gupta |
| Music by | Hitesh Sonik |
| Cinematography | Russell Carpenter |
| Edited by | Kevin Tent |
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Production
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Release date
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Running time
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118 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Parched is a 2015 Indian drama film written and directed by Leena Yadav and produced by Ajay Devgan under his banner Ajay Devgn FFilms. It premiered at the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. In India, the film released on 23 September 2016.
Parched is the story of four women residents of a desert village of Rajasthan, India. The village and the society are plagued by several social evils and age-old traditions and practices of patriarchy, child marriage, dowry, marital rapes and physical and mental abuse.
Rani (Tannishtha Chatterjee) is a widow struggling to support her old mother-in-law and teenage son, Gulab (Riddhi Sen). Following village customs, Rani marries Gulab to a child bride by paying a hefty sum to the bride's family from another village. Meanwhile, Gulab is disrespectful, rebellious, and prefers to loiter with a gang of spoilt friends, and spend time with sex workers. Janki (Lehar Khan), the child bride, revolts to the marriage by chopping off her hair, but is still forced into the relation. Lajjo (Radhika Apte) lives in the same village as Rani, and is a close friend and aid in Rani's struggles. Lajjo is struggling in an abusive marriage with an alcoholic husband, Manoj (Mahesh Balraj). Having failed at being pregnant, Lajjo is labelled a "baanjh" or infertile by her husband and the society at large. The fourth woman is Bijli (Surveen Chawla), an erotic dancer in a local entertainment company. She is an eye candy for the men in the village and doubles as a sex worker. Because of her profession, Bijli is ridiculed in the day and considered a taboo at auspicious events. Bijli is a close friend and advisor to both Rani and Lajjo.
The movie starts with Rani and Lajjo visiting another village to see Janki and fix a price for the marriage. Meanwhile Gulab is seen loitering with his friends. He chases and teases an educated woman till her husband, Kishan (Sumeet Vyas) approaches. While at Janki's house, Rani receives an anonymous phone call from a person who tries to charm her. Although Rani is excited by being approached by a man, her happiness wanes when she realizes that her widowhood may be unknown to him. Later, at the Gram Panchayat, the whole village participates in solving local issues. The first issue is of a girl named Champa (Sayani Gupta) who returned to her parents, absconding from her marital home. The Panchayat forces her to return despite her revelation that her husband's male family members all rape her. Kishan and his wife try intervening but are ridiculed for their progressive opinions and Kishan's marriage to an educated woman from outside of the state.
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