CHOODA – EK PRATHA

CHOODA – EK PRATHA

On a cool November evening, the cast and crew members of ‘Chooda – Ek Pratha’ warmed the hearts of many by speaking about their film. The movie is a poignant portrayal of an archaic practice called the “Chooda” that is prevalent in the areas of Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The film, however, is based in a remote village of Rajasthan. The practice is yet another extension of the patriarchal system of our society, but with a reversal of power, wherein the girl is the property of her father even after her marriage and he has the sole right to determine her future as he wishes.

The cast and crew of Chooda (L to R) Piyush Raj, Ravi Jhangu, Vikrant Pawa, Ekta Tiwari, Lokesh Tilakdhari and Seema Pandey.

The film revolves around the character called Chanda, played by Ekta Tiwari, who portrays the hardships that many women belonging to those sections of the society face because of the tradition of Chooda. The film focuses on the psychological and social ramifications of such a practice when a woman is forced to leave her kids behind every time she is married to another man. The consent of the woman is of no importance and her dignity is placed on her acceptance of the tradition.

Mr. Ravindra Singh Rajawat, the writer and director of the movie, has strong associations with it as it is based on his observations of this tradition in his early childhood. As a child he was privy to a host of such stories when the victims of the Chooda tradition would come up to his father with their grievances, seeking his counsel. Affected by their pain, he decided to do something for abolishing such an oppressive practice. The first step towards that was to make people aware of such a tradition as, in many parts of the country. it is still unheard of.

(L to R) Ravi Jhangu, Vikrant Pawa, Ravinder Singh Rajawat, Pravin Narain Agarwal, Balkrishan Sharma.

Talking about the cast, Ravindra Singh Rajawat said, “People might think that we do not have a strong star-cast but when they would watch each one of them playing their characters they would be surprised because each one of them has given very realistic performances. I as a director experienced moments when I could not direct because the scene made me so emotional. So, I believe our decision has been fruitful and would be glad if the audiences also feel the same.”

Joining hands with Mr. Rajawat, on this noble mission, is Mr. Pravin Narain Agarwal who is the producer of the film along with him. With an intent to create meaningful cinema, he was instantly on board as soon as he heard the story.

Ravi Jhangu

“This movie isn’t disrespecting any religious emotions but it is just creating awareness that we all are a family and like we are guided by someone elder to us for the good and bad, similarly it is our duty to make people realize that these traditions/customs have no relevance in the current global scenario and it needs to be stopped.” Says Pravin Narain Agarwal.

The project was finalized in a matter of minutes. Their endeavor is to question the male dominated structure of the society which uses a woman as a commodity denying them from ever having a level playing field.

Vikrant Pawa

The cast and crew first visited a media college to promote their movie and talking about their experience with the students, Mr. Agarwal said, “The experience of promoting the movie in colleges was really good. Usually the older generation looks upon the younger generation but they have to realize that this young generation wants to participate in events for a better tomorrow. The concept was appreciated and it made them realize that it is a step towards the right direction, towards a better nation because no matter where you belong to, when you move out of the country, you will be called out as an Indian, for better or for worse.”

Prolific actors such as Chandrachur Singh, Seema Pandey, Shivani Wazir Pasrich, Meghna Naidu, Arjun Ferozekhan, Ravi Jhangu, Lokesh Tilakdari, Kumar Rajput, Gulshan Pandey, Banwari Lal Jhol and many others are a part of the team of ‘Chooda – Ek Pratha’ .

Ekta Tiwari

Singers like Jaspinder Narula, Shubha Mudgal, Kailash Kher, Kalpana Patwary and Piyush Raj add to the soulful music of the film. The Directorial and Production Team including Music Director Bal Krishan Sharma, DOP Saundarajan and Associate Directors – Jai Prakash Negi, Aviral Raj Sharma and many others joined the ship. Speaking on the kind of music the movie would have, Bal Krishan Sharma said,

“We wanted to keep the music rooted to the plot. Making music for me is to create something soothing for the ears, just like the music of old era which remains on our playlist no matter how modern we get.”

Lokesh Tilakdhari

Commenting on the root cause of such traditions, Mr. Pravin said “It’s a combination of poor economic conditions as well as oppressive patriarchal structure of the society.”

The movie is all set to release in January 2015. Let’s hope that the noble efforts of the ‘Chooda Team’ are able to bring to light these issues and start a social movement to eliminate such oppressive practices.

Picture Credits: Neel Kamal Pandey, OneWorldNews