Filmmaker Karan Johar and Mithila Palkar have teamed up for a short film that highlights how unsafe women in India feel in public spaces. Titled Girls Got Talent, the film has been presented by NGO Save the Children and Yuvaa, a media organisation aimed at the youth, as part of their #LightUpHerLife campaign.
Mithila plays a young woman returning home late at night. As she walks down a dark lane, she must constantly stay vigilant. She gets startled at every strange man that she encounters, not knowing whether she will make it home safely or end up another statistic or newspaper headline. Karan provides the voiceover, using film references to convey how women have developed a special “talent” and honed their instincts to be able to detect any possible danger while travelling alone.
“To use this talent, you must be brilliant in three departments – running, hiding and fighting. Kyunki jab andheri raaton mein,sunsan raahon par kuch kuch hota hai. Dar sa lagta hai. Toh yeh hi talent kaam mean aata hai. (Because on dark, lonely nights, when something happens and you feel frightened, this talent will come in handy),” he says.
Speaking about the initiative, Karan said in a statement, “The girls of our country are extremely talented and are recognised for it across all professional fields. But there is one more field that they are unfortunately ‘talented’ in – and that is managing their own safety. While we salute them for this, we must acknowledge that safety isn't a talent, it's a social responsibility. And it's high time that we all take this responsibility for the safety of women.”
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