Beti (Daughter) is an internationally recognised short film about women empowerment and a woman’s basic right to live. The short film that has been directed by director Raja Ram Mukerji has been highly appreciated at its screening on the 10th of November.
The storyline of the short film that’s produced by Chaitanya Akolkar of Digital Detoxx deals with the female foeticide issue that still prevails in rural India. Apart from Neetu Chandra in the lead, the short film also stars actors Aditi Singh, Shalini Arora, Vishal Lalwani, Dr. Mukesh Hariawala, and Chandralekha Mukherjee, who were all also present for the screening that proved to be a grand success.
The film highlights this concern as a cry for help in saving a girl child. The story revolves around a poor woman, Reema who is married into a backward and orthodox Gujarati family that forces her to bear a son. Soon their expectations are crushed by a series of baby girls born to their daughter-in-law. Their disappointment leads to distasteful events, having a deep negative effect on Reema.
Actress Neetu Chandra who plays the lead role in the short film helps Reema lead her life as an independent, fearless woman. Beti depicts how a woman can sacrifice and if need be fight back to gain the respect and their right to live.
The screening was also attended by celebrities like Dipannita Sharma, Shalini Arora, Hiten Paintal, Dolly Bindra, writers Chirag Shah and Puja Ballutia, Vandana Khandelwal and Sangeeta Kapure.
Neetu Chandra has also bagged an award for the best performance of the short (female) in the August Short Cine Fest. The film has also been nominated for the Red Wood Film Festival 2018, 2018 Directors Circle Festival of Shorts (United States), the 2018 Bioscope global film festival, London International Motion Pictures Awards 2018, Independent Online Film Festival 2018 (United States), Azure Lorica Award Fest 2018, Best of India Short Film Festival 2018 (London), Echo BRICS film festival 2018 (Russian Federation) and Rome Elephant Film Awards 2018.
