Malavathi Gautham Naik

PGP/21/212
STI MOVIE DIARY
1. HUNTING GROUND
I always thoughts that there is an issue with the Indian system that we live in. Be it the judiciary system or
security forces, I always thought that perhaps there are nations where the concerns of people are
addressed and dealt in the best of ways. But seeing what happens in the so called “greatest country of the
world” is appalling. The best of education institutions in the world are in reality the breeding grounds for
the crime and harassment. What is even more disheartening is the fact how the entire system and
administration prefers to live in denial and ignorance, and allow the victims to suffer. This not the world
we want to live in where the people are ready to watch others struggle only for the fear of losing the
reputation and the ‘brand’. Seeing the criminals walk away with the crime because they are the prospects
the capitalist desires takes mankind to its nadir today. But the positives out of this documentary is that, no
matter how much you struggle and suffer, and even if you’re the only one fighting the battle,
determination courage is what can make you achieve what you want. That is why the lesson learnt is that
it is important to stand against the wrong and fight for justice.

2. TWO WOMEN
This movie showed us the plight of women, and how they struggle and fight to live a live they want to or
they desire. It’s a story of most of mothers who have lived a life full of constraints, lived a life for
somebody else but sadly could only dream of the life they desired. It shows how a talented women like
Farishthe, who dreamt big, had huge potential to make her life grandeur, ends up in a patriarchal society
where every decision, every choice is made by her husband. She has no say. What is the purpose of life
when it gets trapped around the four walls? It is important for us to understand that killing a women’s
dreams, controlling their lives, and most importantly wasting their talent is a crisis. It also shows the
power of education, how no matter how many constraints are restricting one’s life, education and reading
is something that nobody can control. It also shows immense power of a woman how they can live a life
for others, no matter how much painful that was, but still love the life they life and the people involved.

3. THE MAGDALENE SISTERS

This was another movie highlighting the plight of women and their sufferings in the name of religion. It
shows the laundry facilities that were running till 1996 and how women were sent to these institutions by
their family. Irrespective of who was at fault, it was the women who had to suffer. It shows how in the
name of religion, women were tortured and harassed in these institutions. The people preaching the name
of god, talking about better lives in the name of god were the ones committing offensive crimes against
women. What is sad to see is that their own family doesn’t believe or support them. It makes us
understand how we need to be independent no matter what the circumstances are. But what this also
shows is how women have the power and courage to fight the odds and come out of the struggle by their
sheer determination. Nobody has the right to control our lives, and when somebody does, we need to
stand and fight for what we deserve and fight until we fall.
4. A LOVE TO HIDE
This movies shows the Nazi genocide and the sufferings of the innocent. Nazi genocide is something that
our generation have grown up reading about. But it always seem as an abstract thought since we have
neither seen nor experienced any of its aftereffects. This movie shows the fear side of the individual
where people were worried about themselves and their loved ones. A happy feeling of ‘love’ also couldn’t
be expressed in open. Innocent people were killed due to the colour of their skin or due to their last name
or due to reasons as personal as sexual preferences. It was done in such an organised and systematic way
that most of the people who carried out these atrocities actually believed that what they did was right. It
highlights how a power that is concentrated within a few people can be dangerous. In today’s India it is a
terrifying prospect to think about. Such a world haunts even today because of the increasing intolerance
across the world.

5. MUNICIPAL CORPORATION and LESSER HUMANS

The ugly side of Indian society is shown in this movie which talks about how caste and discrimination is
prevalent even in today’s India. The dominance of upper caste makes the lives of the dalits and lower
caste people a misery. A woman says that if they didn’t clean the latrines, the upper caste will not be able
to do it since they being poor humans may get sick. Dalits were not treated as humans but animals by
employing them for human scavenging. A small girl explains how she wanted to study and become a
doctor or a nurse but was forced to discontinue studies because the parents of other children thought she
might be contagious. People talk against reservation, and here we see how children are not even allowed
to carry on with their education. The all-pervasive way in which this part of society has been tortured is
astounding. Even today, the government of India claims that human scavenging doesn’t exist anymore.
But the dominance of upper caste is prevalent in every forms our lives.

6. GRAVES OF THE FIREFLIES

A movie about the war, survival and struggle of the people. It was heart touching to see the way the kids
were trying to fill their stomachs. It also shows us the true face of the society we live when the kids were
asked to leave the house after some days and were left in lurch in the midst of a war. The constant fear of
attacks, the lack of food, the lack of money and the death of the relatives and finally the emotional trauma
associated with breaks down the two little kids. This movie shows how children were starving for food
and shelter because of the political tensions. It also shows about the special bonding that the siblings
shared. But when the little girl passed away, the bother could not forgive himself because even when he
cared for his sister, he always ate first whenever they found food. But he did not think about his sister.
The ending is really tragic and somehow made me rethink of what is going around us.

7. CENTRAL STATION
Trust becomes very critical when it comes to leading a life with happiness. Trust endeavors us put our
earnest attempts towards accomplishing the objective. The motion picture delineated the relationship
between a young man who as of late lost his mother in a mischance and a moderately aged lady who are
venturing out to the young men's local place looking for his dad. It was stunning to picture the trust one
puts into an obscure when he/she requests that her compose a letter which incorporates the sharing of
their own life and an installment towards its postage without an affirmation of conveyance. Individuals
judge others and act in like manner, however in unfavorable circumstances the genuine character of a man
is really delineated. We may see individuals in light of our few beginning communications however it is
just when we cooperate with somebody and comprehend the entanglements, we become more acquainted
with about each other. The reason for the mission of uniting friends and family, keeps oneself inspired
and adjusted towards the job needing to be done. It was fantabulous of Dora to go with Josue till the end
where he eventually meets his family. And in the end, Dora dresses up and heads back home. It shows
how she felt loved again and discovered her beauty being revived. It shows us how Dora changes from a
self-serving person to a caring person and invents herself through the process.

8. CRUCIBLE
This is a movie regarding sexual abuse experienced in a school by deaf and dump children. The very
people who are supposed to train and educate them and guide them to attain their potential are abusing
children who are not even able to understand what is happening to them. But the system is so flawed that
the despite overwhelming evidence, the jury acquitted the guilty. People and system live in denial and
ignorance and refuse to act against the guilty. On the other hand a lone teacher and a social worker with
no money for proper residence were able to bring this crime in front of the society. Even if the jury
acquitted them the society knew their real faces. It doesn’t matter whether we are able to take the case till
victory or not. The important thing is that we continue to do whatever we can against any injustices we
come across. It is important to be determined and fight the system no matter how strongly built it is. All
that is needed is a push to collapse the wall.

9. FUNNY GAMES
This movie shows the impact the capitalism world can have on the lives of the people. It symbolizes the
capitalist world and how even the most well of people can face the wrath it. A world that seems perfect
from outside gets a lot more complicated and ends up seeing a dreadful end to their lives. We don’t
understand that there is an exact flip side to this world. A world where the family security, emotional care
is all at risk. We need to be aware that this flamboyant world is established on the backs of this section of
society and there will come a day when it will all come tumbling down around us. Most time we get
mesmerized in this beauty of capitalism that we fail to understand how our lives can change overnight just
by smallest of mistakes that we do. Capitalism is indeed a great risk to our lives.

10. THE WORLD BEFORE HER EYES

This movie shows two different lives and aspirations of women life in India. On one hand we’ve the
modern beauty pageant women competing for beauty, and the other hand there are pro Hindutva claiming
to fight for survival of Hinduism and its values. It shows two worlds that are polar opposites from the
outside but are one and the same at the core. There is the fashion world were women are brainwashed that
they are only as good as their bodies. They are objectified to such great extent that they themselves
wonder if that is the life they wanted. The entire effort is put into shaping their bodies into somebody
else’s idea of an ideal female. In the process their individuality and intellectual prowess is stripped of. On
the other side there is a camp where the exact opposite is done where in girls are taught there is nothing
more important than their personal beliefs and it is ok to destroy anything that is standing in their path and
beliefs. They are taught to view the entire world as their enemies and kill them if they are against
interests. Such extreme ideology certainly makes the future of India bleak where survival looks difficult
amidst

11. COLOUR OF PARADISE

This movie tells us about how even the blind people can feel the colours and desire to make their lives
paradise. The happiness and care that they display is probably unmatchable to most of us. But see how the
world is cruel to the differently abled and how they are left behind in our blind rush to some obscure goal.
Own parents and family wants to disown them because of their personal gains. They are also denied to
implement the talent they possess, and they never feel loved. Somewhere they always experience lack of
caring and love. Be it music, painting, intellectual power or anything. But the world in its mad rush fails
to pause enough to identify these gems. It also shows how even those who are supposed to take care of
them discard them when things get tough. It shows how people are willing to discard anything that can
hamper their gain. I think it becomes important for us to be assertive in our decision making and share our
love with people who deserve experience that love. It is important to value people in life who care and
love you because it is only they who can make you feel the colours of paradise.

12. JUST A QUESTION OF LOVE

It's a beautiful fun movie that allows us to understand the world that we live in. Generally, the world
around us tends to look down upon people who have different tastes and different preferences and tend to
judge them based on them. The sad part of the story is that own parents sometimes fail to understand what
their children really want out of their lives and what makes them happy. It’s not just prejudices that
they’ve but the opinion of the society which also frames their opinions. It might be anything raging from
political or economic outlook to something as personal as sexual preferences. This movie shows how the
most important aspect of life is to be loved and to be able to love back. That’s when it doesn’t matter who
the person is, but it’s about love and understanding they share which needs to be valued by everyone.

13. DON’T TELL

This movie show how children have been sexually harassed by a family member. This movie is
reiteration of the fact that in majority of the rape cases, the accused is a known person or a near relative.
Child abuse is one of the major issues of modern times. But people don’t really have the courage to come
and fight them. It shows how those disturbing memories can have a great impact in the future lives.
People are unable to decide what is wrong and right, and which makes them sceptical about every little
event in life. It is the foundation of our being and hacking at it will bring down our entire world. It also
shows how a damaged and disturbed family can shatter you from the inside having a lasting impact that
makes you critical about everyone in your life. This ends up in damaging the valuable relationships we
share. That’s when we must understand that happiness comes above all. It is about sharing happiness and
loving and trusting the people who deserved to be loved. We also need to resist that is against our
principles and fight for your rights.
14. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER
This is a movie that highlights the negative attitude people have towards a particular section of the
society. People are judged based on where they come from or to which section of ociety they belong to. It
also shows how just because of the prejudice of particular person an entire family is tortured and forced to
admit to crimes that they were not even remotely related to. There is no opportunity provided for them to
prove themselves right. It shows how the system uses the weak for their own purposes and denies them
basic rights to fight for themselves. They are also made to die and rot. The system is so corrupt the
prejudices is what is used to decide the fate of people rather that logical facts. It’s the hatred that people
share against the country that can change the entire life of innocent people. But no matter what happens,
in the end it’s the victory of the truth. But there are people who understand the gravity to fight for the
right, and it’s the determination that finally helps the innocent to be declared not guilty.

15. A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING

The faint yellow back ground has a deep meaning that just an effect. This movie shows us how things are
not always black and white. The cruelty and sadism of a boy is depicted first but in the latter half the
humane part of him is shown and it is explained how he came to be the broken man he is now. It also
questions whether violence is the answer for anything. The violence could be physical, mental, emotional
or sexual. It could also be by your parents, your friends, your better half or in this case the state. Any
investigations by the state extends only till the identity of the person who committed the crime and not to
the reason behind it.

16. THE CHORUS

This movie talks about the connection between the students and teacher, and how music can have a
positive impact on it. This movie also shows how care and affection can bring about a big difference in
the lives of so many people, especially children where it becomes difficult to understand them and what
they enjoy the most. The teacher has the ability to build stronger bonds with the students by using the
right medium and building a relationship that they value. It’s the teacher who knows the right way to
connect to his students needs and be made understand how they’re wrong. It’s only the teacher who has
the power to identify the talent and put them in the right use. It shows how a teacher despite not knowing
it, may have produced a profound and life altering change in his or her students. A teacher who changes
perspectives of our lives always remains as a memory to cherish because small things learnt, have huge
impact in our lives and the way our perspectives get diversified.