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Cinema
'Pink Ludoos' for Girls
 The birth of a
child calls for celebration. Well, not always. Not if it is a girl, and
certainly not if born out of wedlock. But the determination of an unwed
19-year-old Sikh girl to give birth to triplet girls, thereby jolting a
patriarchal social order is the theme of 'Pink Ludoos', a film that is
winning critical acclaim and awards.
Laced with wit, the film tackles the serious issue of societal
discrimination against women and portrays how people can cross
geographical boundaries with their attitudes intact. And worse, perpetuate
them. So in British Columbia, when a boy is born in the Punjabi community
(it could be true of many communities the world over), it is a time of
great celebration, and relatives hand out ludoos (a round-shaped,
traditional Indian sweet preparation).
What happens when a girl is born? "They had out Kleenex (tissue paper),"
says Gugan Dhaliwal, the film's protagonist, who believes that by birthing
the girls, she is fulfilling her destined role to challenge this
discrimination.
While Indo-Canadian filmmakers have explored themes of arranged marriages,
inter-generational conflict, immigrant identity and so on, 'Pink Ludoos'
is the first to explore gender selection - aborting the female foetus.
Even though, under Bill C-13, the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, passed
last year, the practice (of sex determination) is banned in Canada, many
clinics in the US provide information about the sex of the foetus. It is
well known that women, particularly from the Indian and Chinese
communities hop over the border to these clinics for sex determination
tests, says Belle Mott, 41, who wrote the screenplay for 'Pink Ludoos'.
An English teacher, Belle (her real name is Balbir), entered 'Pink Ludoos'
at a screenplay writing competition. She won and soon 'Pink Ludoos' moved
from paper to the big screen when Brightlight Pictures picked it up and
approached Gaurav Seth to direct it. The film's title draws on the Indian
practice of distributing ladoos on joyous/auspicious occasions. Although
ladoos are usually yellow or orange, the choice of pink (which signifies
girls) is deliberate and the message is clear: the birth of a girl is as
much a cause to celebrate as that of a boy.
The producers suggested a title change since "ludoos" is an unfamiliar
word to the mainstream audience, but Belle refused. Her stand: "The movie
was about gender preference and I wanted the name to be a metaphor. We
should get into our consciousness that girls are as valuable."
Unfortunately, she says, the growing number of educated professionals has
not meant a corresponding change in mental attitudes. While it is true
that attitudes are changing, the change is too slow and Mott hopes movies
like 'Pink Ludoos' will hasten the process.
The film is a tongue-in-cheek journey into the superstitions and caste
prejudices prevalent in the Indian community. In all the festivals it has
been screened at so far, the audience has lapped up the film's humorous
take on these serious issues.
It was this very aspect that also attracted Gaurav Seth, the film's
director. Seth, 36, who made his debut with an award-winning film, 'A
Passage to Ottawa', three years ago, snapped up the offer to direct 'Pink
Ludoos'. "I read the script and was totally sold," says the filmmaker who
grew up in Mumbai and studied filmmaking in Russia before settling in
Canada in 1999.
Incidentally, Seth had submitted the script of a psychological thriller to
Brightlight Pictures hours before they gave him 'Pink Ludoos'. He says he
was attracted to the film because it "was raising an important issue but
in a humorous, palatable and playful manner". He filmed it with an
inexperienced cast, in 16 days, and on a shoestring budget of Canadian
$1.2 million.
Seth says the fact that comedies are underrated in terms of a message they
can put forward has worked to his advantage. "People think comedies mean
just humour and I like the fact that comedies are underrated for messages
because you can make movies like this and sneak in a message or at least
an idea to think about without making a big deal of it or without people
expecting it. This makes the film even more potent than someone going into
theatre knowing it is a serious film or raising a very important issue."
Seth also feels that this issue (patriarchy) in the Indian community is
not talked about much, especially in the West.
Although 'Pink Ludoos' was originally meant to be a television film, the
overwhelming response to its screenings at recent film festivals in the US
and Canada has made the producers abandon its telly-screening and schedule
a commercial release later in 2005. At the Reelworld Film Festival in
Toronto - April 13-17, 2005 - 'Pink Ludoos' won the award for best
Canadian film.
While the film has won all-round appreciation, some people have been upset
with the community's portrayal, arguing that it reinforces stereotypes and
that Indo-Canadian filmmakers have a responsibility to portray the
positive side. "Yes there are problems, but when you are an ethnic
minority you are already stereotyped so much, you don't like to see
stereotypes reinforced in the film," says Rajesh Kalra, who watched 'Pink
Ludoos' in Toronto.
Seth counters that such arguments stem from a "need to be accepted" by the
white mainstream populace. "I am comfortable enough with my culture not to
gloss over its negative aspects," he says.
Mott argues on similar lines. "I am being socially responsible as a member
of the community. Fortunately, my parents have been very liberal and
provided me an education and voice because of which I feel a
responsibility to talk about some things in our culture. I do not mean to
criticise, but to look at our vulnerabilities and put them in a place
where the mainstream audience can see them," she says. After all, she
argues, "everybody has to admit there is a problem, then we can start
addressing the issues."
� V. Radhika
May 1, 2005
By arrangement with
Womens Feature Service
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