Newspaper supplement Calcutta Times aims for inclusiveness in Indian society through latest film
As part of the ongoing Hindu festival Durga Puja (celebrated to pay tribute to Goddess Durga), The Times of India metro supplement for Indian city Kolkata, Calcutta Times has released a film to help end gender bias and division in the society.
Newspaper supplement Calcutta Times aims for inclusiveness in the Indian society in latest film
The film, 'No Conditions Apply' was conceptualised by FCB Ulka and features actresses Sohino Sengupta, Rituparna Sengupta, Gargee Roy Chowdhury and the first transgender person in India who has completed Doctor of Philosophy, Manobi Bandyopadhyay.
All of them narrate their own struggles and emphasize on how the Bengali tradition of Shindoor Khela (where Bengali married women in India smear each other with vermilion as part of celebration) during Durga Puja should be about inclusiveness of women irrespective of their marriage or social status and empowering them.
In Indian society, the widows, transgenders, unmarried and single mothers face social exclusion year after year and are often victimized for their existence. The campaign aims and urges to put an end to that by inviting everyone to join Shindoor Khela.
Swati Bhattacharya, chief creative officer, FCB Ulka said: “If we don’t dance together, we don’t stand a chance! As women, we can’t afford to be divided. Not now. Not again. For more than 400 years Shindoor Khela has been a tradition that has united married women in song and praise of goddess Durga."
"But then the thought just hit me and that made me think, Does Ma Durga really separate her married daughters and her unmarried daughters? Does she really think one is more special than the other? This thus evoked the premise of the campaign, No Conditions Apply. It prods a reality check, it’s time, we changed. Time, we made this tradition about all of us; divorcee, single, married, transgender, prostitute, single mother, unwed mother or a commitment phobic.”
