The World Before Her

"The World Before Her" (2012 release from India; 90 min.) is a documentary focusing on two women. As the movie opens, we get to meet Ruhi, a 19 yr. old who is in the final group of 20 young women competing for the title of Miss India 2011. The beauty contest boot camp will run for 30 days leading up to the pageant itself. Next we get to meet Prachi, a 24 yr. old who is a camp leader at Durga Vahini, a Hindu nationalistic training camp for women between the ages of 15 and 23. We also get to know the respective families of these young women.

Couple of comments: first and foremost, kudos to director Nisha Pahuja for bringing us these insights into Indian society, it was an eye-opener for me (I've never been in to India). Second, beware, the documentary contains some disturbing archive footage of Hindu extremists brutally attacking women for the heinous crime of being seen with a man or for being in a bar, or for simply being a woman. There is also some fairly shocking footage of the beauty pageant contestants getting botox injections and skin whitening treatments. Third, one can only imagine the pressure that weighs on girls and women in India. At one point Ruhi's mother describes how disappointed and let down she felt when giving birth and being told it was another girl. We should all be thankful for living in a country like the US where, compared to India, women are treated and live like queens.

I saw this movie at the 2014 International Women's Day festival held by the Cincinnati World Cinema, and the screening was PACKED I am happy to report. "The World Before Her" raises a lot of poignant questions, and is worth checking out, be it in the theater, on DVD or on Amazon Instant Video. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The World Before Her is one of the most significant, thought- provoking films in the recent times - one that shocks, saddens, amazes and leaves you with more questions than answers. It tucks in, within a story, little stories of dreams, despair, courage and hope. It opens your eyes to a world you may not have seen or entirely known before. And yet, presents it all in a non-judgmental light. The director feeds your mind with questions and lets you settle for an answer without imposing or influencing.

Indo-Canadian director Nisha Pahuja documents two contrasting worlds, two conflicting Indias, two diverging ideologies through the eyes of primarily two subjects - Prachi Trivedi, a 20-year old instructor at the Durga Vahini camp, (the women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an Indian right-wing nationalist outfit propagating the Hindutva ideology) and Ruhi Singh, a Jaipur-based, 19-year old Miss India aspirant.

The film lets you into their worlds through first-account narratives and base your opinions even as they sway and swerve until it becomes hard to conclude about the two in the same light you set out with. Every subsequent scene is a revelation, adding a new layer to the characters.

There seem no similarities between the two at the outset but as you get to know them closer, you figure both crave one thing - freedom. To be what they choose to be, to live the way they desire to. Not how the world expects them to be.

Even as the film makes you look at the brighter side of the modelling world (like how the beauty industry offers equal platform to men and women) and the darker side of Prachi's world at the start, it scrapes their contrarian sides eventually - exposing the hypocrisies of our society and questioning your judgments about the two girls.

While every scene is memorable and adds value, one that is heartbreaking and deeply disturbing is of the mother of one of the contestants (Pooja Chopra) talking about her broken marriage. Of why she had to walk out of it. I remember reading her story a few years back but hearing it again stirred me to the core.

I don't know why it took me this long to see The World Before Her. I would strongly recommend anyone who still hasn't, to watch it. But more importantly, and as Nisha Pahuja points out in this lovely interview (below) with TBIP, I wish the documentary, beyond just being seen, can actually shake people, particularly men, out of their beliefs and force them to rethink the roles and the rules of our society. "The only way things are going to move forward for women in this country is if men start to understand patriarchy in two ways: one, as a construct that limits them because it gives them a particular role to play and so it limits their freedom, their ability to know who they really are. Two, they need to question the moral wrongness of oppressing somebody based on gender."

Source: http://www.balconyrow.com/2015/09/the-world-before-her-2014- review-nisha-pahuja.html

With drastic change in the Indian Culture over the years, there has been sudden change in lifestyle of an Indian woman as well. Gone are the days when a girl's purpose of life was to get married and settle down with kids. Come 21st century, a female in the modernized India is aspiring and build her career path, Unfortunately, the rural India is still lingering under the shadows of hypocrisy and live within limited choices of life.

The World Before Her tells a contradicting story of 2 people - rustic and violent Prachi Trivedi who go to any extent to protect her religion and sweet and simple Ruhi Singh who breaks the barrier of common society thinking by participating in Miss India pageant.

Directed by Nisha Pahuja, The World Before Her is ground-reality and hair-raising 90 minutes drama which give you goosebumps. Pahuja has very well presented two parts of India - one who follows the old age customs whose empowerment, oppression and dignity is being utilized for political motives and the other part where parents are encouraging their child to pursue their dreams. It is perfectly blended with hard- hitting drama of different mindsets and depressing state of Insia. Screenplay does falter in the end. Editing is crispy. Hats-off to Art direction and cinematography. Background score gels well with the mood of the film.

Thought-provoking story of women in India, choose - Beauty Camp or Boot camp. Good 3/5

A new kind of documentary with sharp issues that are very part of India we live in. A new kind of change that India is part of manifests it in various forms. The new age girl seeks to the change the old values and adopt the new ones but the other section sees it as the violation of the intricate culture and heritage. One group sees herself as the next Priyanka Chopra while the other goes to see herself as Goddess Durga. The two worlds with the different belief system crisscross each other that this leads to tensions. The sharp tensions are shown in a well organized manner. The dark sides of an extremist groups like call for violence, chauvinism, polarity are something that the new generation is learning in some pockets of the nation. This set of ideology is challenging multiculturalism and non-violent ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. In the name of the empowering women these groups are somewhere leading the nation into unknown and dark lands. Similarly, the other half is not free from becoming mere product of western ways of life. Being a brand is the new motivation of the urban middle and higher class girls. The west is using this mentality to utilize the huge Indian market as per their call.

So, I had my doubts about the content of this film. Nether the less I watched it. The movie stimulated many thoughts and emotions, it provided a very interesting look at the options and choices of the women of India.

More than this though it displayed the human condition from extreme view points. The film re-enforcing the fact that as human being we tend to place judgements on situations and people without ever truly knowing the environmental conditions creating them.

I highly recommend this film, what ever part of society one comes from this film has something to offer in opening the mind.