Gulabi Gang- A Story of Empowerment

Prabhavati Akashi “My film is all about Power. It is about powerlessness, empowerment and also about abuse of power”, says Nishtha Jain, the director of “Gulabi Gang”, one of the most talked about documentary film which is poised to be released in the theatres soon. A strong expression of efforts of a few women in the face of the lawlessness of rural Bundelkhand, the film is built around the famous Gulabi Gang.

Gulabi Gang , an extraordinary women’s movement, was formed in 2006 by Sampat Pal Devi in the Banda District of Uttar Pradesh in Northern India. This region is one of the poorest districts in the country and is marked by a deeply patriarchal culture, rigid caste divisions, female illiteracy, domestic violence, child labour, child marraiges and dowry demands. The women’s group is popularly known as Gulabi or ‘Pink’ Gang because the members wear bright pink saris and wield bamboo sticks.

The Gulabi Gang was initially intended to punish oppressive husbands, fathers and brothers, and combat domestic violence and desertion. The members of the gang would accost male offenders and prevail upon them to see reason. The more serious offenders were publicly shamed when they refused to listen or relent. Sometimes the women resorted to their lathis, if the men resorted to use of force.

Today, the Gulabi Gang has tens of thousands of women members, several male supporters and many successful interventions to their credit. Whether it is ensuring proper public distibution of food-grains to people below the poverty line, or disbursement of pension to elderly widows who have no birth certificate to prove their age, or preventing abuse of women and children, the Pink sisterhood is in the forefront, bringing about system changes by adopting the simplest of methods - direct action and confrontation.

Although the group’s interventions are mostly on behalf of women, they are increasingly called upon by men to challenge not only male authority over women, but all human rights abuses inflicted on the weak.

Interacting with the audience following the screening of Gulabi Gang at the ongoing Mumbai International Film Festival, Nishtha Jain spoke passionately about her work. The film has brought about various aspects of the organization including the pluses and minuses. She says the issue that has been dealt with is the plight of many women around us and she was happy to have been able to give a voice to it. According to her, Gulabi Gang is a "study of fear, silence and the wide urban-rural gap which manifests in different feministic outlooks.”

Nishtha, who spent five months with the gang, says Sampat would start getting calls from as early as seven in the morning. "If the issue wasn't that complicated, she would go alone and settle it. But if it was a more serious, the group would head out with lathis and hold chakka jams to drive home its point." On the Bollywood version of the same story, Nishtha says she has nothing to do with it but also fears that public may accept fiction for the fact and the efforts of the thousands of women who are fighting for justice may go unheard in the pomp and show of a commercial masala movie.

Commenting on her work Joshua Oppenheimer, the director of the Oscar nominated 'The Act of Killing' has said,"By avoiding sentimental dramaturgical conventions, Nishtha Jain has fashioned a Brechtian learning play, with a poetic urgency unmatched in recent nonfiction cinema. The most intense human drama is staged on landscapes that remind us how nature always bears witness, innocent of the human greed that sends it hurtling toward extinction: watching, silently and without accusation, but aware. Always aware. Gulabi Gang is a heartbreaking and brilliant film."

According to Anand Gandhi, director of “ Ship of Theseus” Gulabi Gang the documentary by Nishtha Jain is "My favourite Indian film this year..it is a richly detailed portrait of Sampat Pal, the founder of the courageous women rights organization Gulabi Gang, a document of their struggles against rural Indian caste politics and corruption, and a re-invention of the detective genre."

Gulabi Gang will release in India on February 21, 2014 via PVR Cinemas. The film is being presented by Sohum Shah, actor-producer of Recyclewala Films, who also produced Ship of Theseus.

Gulabi Gang was produced by Oscar and Emmy nominated producers Torstein Grude and Signe Sorenson of the The Act of Killing fame.

The film has travelled to over forty international festivals and has won several awards including the Best Film at Dubai International Film Festival and Amnesty International Awards for Human Rights in South Africa and Poland.

One must watch it not only to support the efforts of thousands of oppressed mothers, sisters and daughters who are waiting to be heard but also to support the new beginning in the direction of commercial release of Documentary Films in the country.