Esther Anil, the actor who played the younger daughter in the famous Drishyam films, walks across a dining hall, reading a book. It is a short film against domestic violence and Esther with her book appears to be in contrast. An older man, presumably her father, has his head in some papers on the dining table. It looks like a normal evening with a student studying at home until the noises come from the next house.
There are the stifled screams of a woman, crying into the night as a man’s louder voice can be heard yelling. Both Esther and Sreekanth Murali, playing the father, try to ignore it at first. When it doesn't stop, the girl looks helplessly at the guardian whose solution is to pull down the curtains and tell her to not ‘mind it’. But as he walks away, the student takes his phone and dials a number. The abusive man next door picks it up and hears her say, “Chetta, venda, pani kittum” – “Don’t, brother, you will be punished.”
“For sure, you will get it. This is not old Kerala. No woman is alone here,” says Malayalam actor Manju Warrier at the end of the film, addressing the audience. “Harassment of women, giving and receiving dowry are all punishable (by law). Every woman facing such injustice should remember, you are not alone, a society is with you.”
Health Minister Veena George released the one-and-a half minute film on her Facebook page. The film was made by technicians association - Film Employees Federation of Kerala or FEFKA. Producing the film with FEFKA is Indian Ad Filmmakers or I AM.
Manju Warrier also shared the film, writing, “Happy to share this short film against dowry system and domestic violence in the society.”
The film comes in light of the recent incidents of dowry deaths and domestic violence of young married women in the state, particularly the death of Vismaya which triggered massive outrage across Kerala.
Watch the film: