Kathputli

Copyright BeeDance Entertainment

Producer- Gaurav Gupta, (Bonia.Gupta@Gmail.Com, 0 971 646 7 909 ),
Director- Yogi

Title of film: Katputli | Duration: 90 minutes

Format: Video shot on Sony PD170

Appeal: International integration | Genre: Feature | Audience: 18+ | Language: Hindi

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Abstract:

Munni is a 19 year old Sunni Muslim girl living in a remote village in Uttar Pradesh. She is in love with Jamaal, a lower caste Shia muslim who is vehemently opposed by her family. One night Jamaal and Munni elope with each other, running away to another village. They get married and Jamaal partners with a transporter called Pandit, leases his auto rikshaw for employment. Jamaal and Munni conceive a daughter called Umair.

One day, one of the relatives of Munni spots Jamaal on the bus stand. He informs his family, who then take the oath to kill the couple. A couple of days later Jamaal learns that a group of men came to enquire about him and realizes that they may be relatives of Munni who might have come to avenge their dishonour. He runs to his home and sees Munni feeding the 6 month old child. He warns her that their lives may be in danger. Then, he sees a group of men coming towards his house. He expects voilence is extremely perturbed. Sensing danger, Jamaal asks Munni to run away with the child. After initial hesitation, Munni runs away towards the highway. While she runs, she hears her husband being chased by those men. She realizes that her husband might be killed.

Alone, deserted and with the child in her arms, Munni walks on the highway not knowing what to do. An autorickshaw driver stops next to her. She knows the man as Pandit. Pandit comes to know about what happened and insists Munni to stay at his home as her life was in danger. Munni accepts his proposal and comes with him to his house. Pandit sees the woman feed her child and is smitten with lust. On pretext of offering her food, he enters her room and rapes her.

Pandit tells her that she has no option in life and if she needs to survive she must marry him. Traumatized, Munni accepts to become his wife. Pandit uses her for sexual pleasure for a few days and then takes her to another village where his family lives. There she discovers that Pandit is already married.

Pandit keeps her in his house and introduces everybody that she is a servant. He threatens that he will kill her son if she were to complain. For the sake of her child, Munni accepts her fate and becomes a mistress of Pandit. Pandit exploits abuses and humiliates her. He uses her to please his friends and bosses and makes her a prostitute.

Each day, Munni prays her child to grow up and rescue her from the bondage. All her hope is that child and there is nobody except her child whom she constantly seeks solace in. As the child turns two years, while playing in a field where a massive construction is happening, Umair falls into 40 feet deep bore well. Trying to locate her child, Munni searches all night. When Pandit comes to her home, drunk- she explains that the child is missing. Pandit hardly cares and goes off to sleep. Munni searches frantically everywhere, at last hearing the cries of her child coming from the bore well.

Munni frantically comes back home and tells Pandit that the child has fallen in the pit. Pandit approaches the incharge of the construction company. The incharge informs his superiors and gets orders that this news should not get into the media or heavy damages would happen to the company. The incharge offers Pandit 13000 rupees to keep quiet about the accident. Pandit tells Munni that the child cannot be taken out from the bore well and asks her to forget Umair. When Munni does not agree, he locks her in the house and goes away.

Munni pleads and cries to let her out of the house. Pandit's first wife helps her and breaks her lock. Munni runs to the police station, but finds no body who can help her. She starts running onto the highway. There she sees a cultural festival being organized and a TV reporter narrating the event. She begs the reporter to help her.

The reporter accompanies her to the bore well and comes to know that the child needs to be rescued. The reporter asks his crew to film the location, the incident and the crying Munni. The crew makes a story about the incident and broadcast it over their network. Suddenly, Munni cries reach the world.

Police and the army is commissioned. After three days of labour, Umair is rescued and returned to Munni. However, evil designs of Pandit do not stop and he asks Munni to giver her daughter for prostitution. Enraged, Munni kills Pandit by drowing him in the river Ganges.

The End.