Mar 08 2025 to Mar 08 2025 2 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

96 minutes | Hindi/Bundelkhandi with English Subtitles | 2012 | Norway, India, Denmark | Documentary

Enter the badlands of Bundelkhand in central India and you have entered a place of desolation, dust and despair. And yet it is hope that this film discovers, as it follows the Gulabi Gang, an unusual group of rural women. Led by the energetic and charismatic Sampat Pal, they travel long distances to fight for the rights of women and Dalits. They encounter resistance, apathy and corruption, even ridicule. Sometimes whole villages connive against them to protect the perpetrators of violence. The film pulls us into the centre of these blazing conflicts and uncovers a complex story, disturbing yet heartening.

Gulabi Gang was released in theatres in Norway in 2013, where it played for the entire year. In India, it was released by Sohum Shah (Recyclewala Films) and had limited theatrical release in Indian Metros. The film gained critical acclaim, including two national awards.

The film has been screened at over 60 film festivals and international universities including Stanford, NYU, Wellesley, UCSB, NW University, UT Austin, Texas A&M, North Carolina, University of London, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Queens Belfast, Coventry, Heidelberg, Danish Film School, FTII Pune, SRFTI, Kolkata, MCRC Delhi, JNU Delhi.

Cast: Sampat Pal, Jaiprakash, Suman Singh Chauhan, Usha Devi, Husna Jahan
Director: Nishtha Jain
Writer: Nishtha Jain, Torstein Grude
Producer: Torstein Grude, Bjarte Morner Tveit (Piraya Film)
Co-Producer: Nishtha Jain (Raintree Films)
Co-Producer: Signe Byrge Sorenson (Final Cut for Real)
DOP: Rakesh Haridas
Location Sound: Niraj Gera
Assistant Director: Aditya Kelgaonkar
Line Producer: Neelima Goel
Sound Design: Peter Schultz
Editor: Arjun Gourisaria
Music: Peter ScartabelloTranslation & Subtitles: Smriti Nevatia
Grading: Tom Christer Lilletvedt
Assistant Producer: Oddleiv Vik
Produced by Piraya Film (Norway), Raintree Films (India), Final Cut for Real(Denmark)
Festival Distribution: Norwegian Film Institute

The screening of the film will be followed by a Q&A with Director, Nishtha Jain.

This event is part of Unheard Narratives, BIC’s programmes to commemorate Women’s Day 2025. It celebrates the power of unheard narratives—spotlighting the resilience, artistry, and impact of women whose stories have shaped India’s cultural and social fabric. Through performances, talks, and films, we bring these voices to the forefront.

Speaker

Nishtha Jain
Director
Nishtha Jain is India’s leading documentary filmmaker best known for her critically acclaimed films: The Golden Thread (2022), Gulabi Gang (2012), Lakshmi and Me (2007). Her latest film, Farming the Revolution (2024) premiered at Hot Docs and won the Best International Documentary Prize. Experiential and immersive, her documentaries are subjective, focus on the quotidian, and embrace the surprises and imperfections inherent in actuality.

Jain is a Chicken & Egg Award winner (2020); a Member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences (AMPAS); a Film Independent Global Media Maker Fellow (2019-20); and a Recipient of Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship (2019).

Her films have been screened at over 250 film festivals including IDFA, Busan, Hot Docs, Zurich, Viennale et al. They have won numerous international awards. and have been written about in academic journals/books.

Jain’s films have received support from the IDFA Bertha Fund, Sundance Documentary Fund, Sorfund, Alter Cine Foundation, Indian Foundation for the Arts and Chicken & Egg Pictures and they’ve been broadcast on Arte France, France TV, PBS, DR, NRK, YLE et al.

Jain has served as a juror at IDFA, Zurich, TIDF, Cinema Verité and IDSFFK. She’s presented her films at numerous universities including Stanford, NYU, Wellesley College, UCSB, Northwestern University, UT Austin, Cambridge University, University of London, St. Andrews University, Heidelberg, Danish Film School, FTII Pune, India, Satyajit Ray Film & TV Institute.