Your ally, all the way

Bebaak premièred online as part of the JioCinema Film Fest

With Bebaak, director Shazia Iqbal wanted to depict what she calls a 1,000-year-old "jugalbandi" between patriarchy and religion, and how it affects women. She found the perfect ally in filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who came on board as producer. It was an intuitive call, says Kashyap - as soon as he read the script, he wanted to support Iqbal in taking the short film to a wider audience. "I knew Bebaak is a script coming from a personal space; [it stems from] Shazia's own growing-up experiences. I wasn't involved in the creative part at all, but just in empowering Shazia to make her film," says the filmmaker.

Bebaak, which premiered online on October 1 as part of the JioCinema Film Fest, tells the story of an aspiring architecture student Fatin Khalidi, whose father is unable to afford her educational expenses. He takes her to a Muslim trust that offers financial support to bright students. With Sarah Hashmi playing Fatin and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the conservative trust head, the film questions why men feel a sense of ownership over women and their bodies. Kashyap says the story, by challenging these patriarchal notions, aligned with his beliefs. "When something unfortunate happens to a woman, we often hear ‘ghar ki izzat lutt gayi.' I have a problem with this terminology. Why don't we address the violation as an individual's experience and empower them to stand up for themselves? In the olden days, [men] covered women's faces, assuming that only they had the right to see them. It's the male insecurity that fuels patriarchy and a sense of ownership. Women possess incredible strength, which seems to threaten men."

Shazia Iqbal

He is glad that his friend and frequent collaborator Siddiqui joined them in telling the story of women empowerment. Kashyap says, "After the first day of shooting, Nawaz was so happy with Shazia's work. He said that she is so clear in her thought process."