'Natkhat' ft. Vidya Balan speaks about gender equality in a patriarchal society

Ronnie Screwvala has co-produced a short film along with actor Vidya Balan titled Natkhat. The film stars Vidya as a mother who is educating her son about gender equality. The film also stars child actor Sanika Patel who essays the character of a young boy named Sonu. The film premiered back on June 2, 2020, as a part of the We Are One: A Global Film Festival. The film carries an impactful message about how issues surrounding women abuse stems from a patriarchal view of the society and how a child's belief system can be moulded in order to deal with dire issues such as domestic violence. 

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Natkhat film details

The film is co-written by Annukampa Harsh and Shaan Vyas, who also directed it. Interestingly, the character of a young boy is played by a young female child actor named Sanika Patel. Talking about the casting choice, this is what the writer Annukumpa Harsh had to say - 

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One fine day I was generally scrolling through Instagram when I came across an uncredited post of a little girl reciting a powerful poem by Sohanlal Dwivediji. Not only was this child’s command over the Hindi language flawless, but her recitation style was also beautifully fiery and strong!  I instantly began searching for this girl, and through the comments section discovered her uncle, traced her, and was on a call with her within the next hour. I instinctively knew she is our Sonu, and I texted Shaan within moments of “discovering” this child- Sanika Patel. 

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Director Shaan Vyas also weighed in on the casting choice made for the short film. The director stated that casting a little girl for the role allowed the film to have sensitivity when during the filming of scenes with other girls. Here's what the director said - 

I get a text from Annukampa with an Instagram link of a girl reciting poetry. The girl, Sanika, was mesmerizing: extremely emotive and expressive. And the cherry on the cake was that she could remember long passages of poetry with ease: a dream come true for a director. However, I completely missed the point of this link since this was a girl.  Annukampa then called me up and asked me if I saw the link and began persuading me to consider this girl for Sonu. She added that since I was anxious about teaching a boy the very things he's not meant to do, this casting decision will solve that problem, while also bringing a little girl’s sensitivity during Sonu’s scenes with other girls.  Now, we had a girl who brought in so much compassion and understanding to the character because she was sensitive enough to weigh the implications of what her character was doing. And to be fair, so were all the other wonderful children who are a part of our film

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Disclaimer: All views and quotes are provided by the spokesperson of Natkhat short film