Parched is a beautiful film with stunning visuals of life in a remote Kutch village (though I understand the set was erected on an abandoned village in Rajasthan).The story essentially revolves around three women in a rural society, their lives in an abusive male centric world, their emotions, their relationship with each other, how they draw strength from their friendship to somehow survive all their problems and so forth ... I do not like to disclose the plot details in a review.The costumes, the houses, the settings, its all so authentic looking. This film could promote Kutch embroidery and handicrafts in a big way!Some shots such as Bijli driving the girls in the embellished jugaad auto are a bit stretched but do not detract from the main plot. Likewise the Bijli act in the tent is probably far more sordid in real life than what was depicted.The topless scene and the act with the God man in the cave were sensitively depicted. I saw this movie on You Tube. Not sure if the CBFC released version had any cuts.If you haven't already, do watch Parched.

Are you Parched !! Have you known what being Parched feels like !! Parched : Dehydration owing to scorching heat leading to state of extreme thirst The movie with the name very aptly chosen takes us through the lives of three main protagonists: Rani, Bijli, Lajjo in a remote Rajasthani village. Rani married off on just attaining puberty had believed men to be the center of world. But, is dejected by the men in her life : firstly by her husband and then by her son. Both like the other menfolk go to a path of drunkenness and violent bouts to assert their masculinity. She rebukes her daughter in law for not being able to reign in her son. She says "Give pleasure to your man. What will you do by studying, become an big shot administrator.Forget it."Lajjo, on the other hand extremely playful and full of life, has to deal with beatings from her husband. Constantly shamed in public and made to feel guilty for not bearing a child, she assigns herself to self deprecating humor. "What do these menfolk want !! Curvaceous derriere, plump bosoms, long dark free flowing hair, fair skin et al" (Literal descriptions of physical features arousing libido was discussed by the village ladies amidst ensuing laughter. The audience was in splits in acknowledgment) Bijli true to her name is the wild child for whom all the village men swoons over privately but abhors publicly. Being able to have men raving about her gives her joy. It is at least better than descending into slow decadence within the narrow confines in meek submission.The three of them meet frequently and find solace in shared sorrow about the men in their lives. Being more fearless among the trio, Bijli is fearless and comes as the harbinger of hope. When she tells Lajjo to get her husband checked, Lajjo's innocent surprise was priceless. She says "What are you saying, even men can flawed ?" Bijli also tells Rani to get her son Gulab under control. Rani, however is in denial mode and comes up with strong emotional outburst. These are the two singular acts that mark onset of a change in both Rani and Lajjo's world views. The story then progresses along a coming of age curve. The three protagonist leave their previous lives with sea altering change in their "Weltanschauung". The shackles both illusory and real are shattered and out they head to cities, to a brave new world saying "We will manage somehow" Certain instances in this remote village were indeed disturbing. Deflowering like a passage of rites is the onset of a highly abusive relationship. The women folk face it silently with the mother also coyly leaving her son to violate her new daughter in law.Whereas the men compelled by peer pressure brag about their male bravado. Little bit of nudity and sex has been shown but it was beautifully interwoven into the movie never even bordering on voyeurism. On the contrary, could sense strong element of pathos as for the most part it was violence laden affair devoid of sensuality and consent. In this context, Lajjo's ecstatic astonishment and ensuing vignettes has been nicely portrayed. With the ability to empathize, one should desist from the vulnerability to label all men as misogynistic in the wake of the movie. However, the movie does a good job of showing good men as well like Kishan who despite good intentions face a significant resistance in ushering change.After a certain point, more than what happens to the movie protagonists, its the reality that hits you hard. I felt that there are numerous Rani, Bijli, Lajjo silently suffering out there in the numerous villages. And the vignettes of the bus ride with the folksy background score during the start and the end keeps playing vividly in front of you with the eerie reminder that life for them shall continue in silent resignation. To surmise : The pathos lay in the realization that They shall remain "Parched" perched in their small worlds !!

There comes a time in life when you stuck up in a wrong place and feel suffocated. You feel like breaking the barrier and seek freedom as you have one life to live and it is you who can take the control of your destiny. Who do you listen to you – Brain or Heart ?Parched (extremely thirsty) tells the story of three women in the rural village of Rajasthan – Rani (played by Tannishtha Chatterjee), a 32 year old widower, who is under the burden of home loan she took to marry off her son, Lajjo (played by Radhika Apte) who is beaten up mercilessly by her husband as she cannot conceive and Bijli (played by Surveen Chawla) who is a dancer and prostitute but has her own share of glitch by men in her life.It is a good comeback for the director Leena Yadav, who gave couple of flops in form "Shabd" and "Teen Patti". The subject of "Parched" is definitely bold with nude scenes, abusive language and violence but I guess she was trying to make it more real. The highlight of "Parched" is defining each female protagonist character appropriately, the issue of women equality still existing in the Northern part of India and how these central characters overcoming the challenges to live their own life. Hats off to Leena Yadav for a fantastic effort and keeping the audience on their toes. Screenplay is crispy with beautiful cinematography capturing the princely state of Rajasthan. Art direction is outstanding along with nice background score. Full marks to the editor for completing the drama within two hours. On the flip side, the second half loses the grip to some extent but the climax showing the dusshera scene shot simultaneously with Lajjo's husband burning in fire is brilliant. I loved the scene where Surveen Chawla vents out her anger that why all the abuses ends with a female f..k but why can't it be male f..k."Parched" belongs to queens of desert – Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte and Surveen Chawla. Tannishtha Chatterjee plays a sensible and matured widow character with aplomb. The brilliant actress has been in town for some time and this film will be an icing on cake for her. Radhika Apte is just growing well with each film. This will be her second brilliant performance this year after spellbinding act in "Phobia". I was completely taken aback with Surveen Chawla's performance. The gorgeous actress is mean, straight-forwarded but extremely compassionate for her friends. Watch for her as she has the perfect looks and talent to carry it forward. Rest of the star cast did justice to their role.On the whole, "Parched" is electrifying and enigmatic. Another beautiful tale of women empowerment and equality after last week's "Pink".

Parched is a brilliant, unconventional and powerful film by Leena Yadav. It is Leena's third directorial film after Shabd and Teen Patti. The film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. It has been very much appreciated in various International Film Festivals and bagged many awards too. Although Leena has used Rural India and its women as the premise, the story is somewhere related to all of us irrespective of which part of the country we live in. The rural society and women in the film are mere representations of the larger whole. It tells us the stories of women deciding to put an end to the oppressions faced and change the course of their lives for better. The best thing about the film is that although the subject of the film has covered many serious issues which are prevalent in our Country (be it child marriage, abusive husbands, women looked at as commodities, women getting ostracized if opinionated and educated etc.) which need to be eliminated completely, the tone of the film is not at all depressing. Rather, the protagonists in the film are not shown to be sad or crying in despair, but they chose to outgrow their sufferings, take bold steps, be rebellious, smiling even while suffering. The film shows frank conversations about sex and sexuality amongst females which are very candid. Frontal nudity of the actresses are also shown, blended so well with the plot and shot so gracefully. The film showcases how intolerant we as a society are towards women without even being apologetic about how they are treated (or mistreated). But the best part is that the film is not preachy at all, rather it talks about the incredible spirit of women even when they are at low phase in their lives. It is the story of three women Rani (Tannishtha Chatterjee), Lajjo (Radhika Apte), Bijli (Surveen Chawla). Rani is a widow, who lost her husband 15 years ago and lives with mother-in-law and son Gulab (Ridhi Sen). Lajjo is married to Manoj (Mahesh Balraj), but often get physically abused by him for being childless. Bijli is a dancer and a good friend of Rani. Bijli has a reputation of being a seductress. Her clients are managed by Rajesh (Chandan K Anand). Rajesh seems to be completely in love with Bijli. Initial scenes show Rani and Lajjo going to fix Rani's young son Gulab's marriage to 15-year old Janki (Lehar Khan). Although Gulab gets married, he does not find Janki as per his expectations. Gulab is a spoilt brat. Meanwhile, it is shown Panchayat taking decision to send Champa (Sayani Gupta) to her abusive husband and in-laws who also force themselves on her. The village also has good souls like Kishan (Sumeet Vyas) and Naobi, his wife (Nancy Nisa Beso) working for the betterment of the village. Kishan runs a boutique for village women to work there. How the events unfold? The various characters of the film are etched out so thoughtfully and the cast is awesome. Tannishtha as Rani represents a woman who is living in isolation since years, hasn't been touched or loved by a man. Radhika as Lajjo represents an ambivert woman, who gets succumbed to abuses from her husband and bears it all thinking that it is her fault that she is childless. Surveen as Bijli represents an unconventional, free spirited woman, who is bold in front of the world but very soft from inside, at the same time not ready to yield to the men who take her to be an object of desire, passion, sex etc. Lehar as Janki is the representation of young girls, who dreams of studying and be independent, but forced to marry at an early age due to family / societal pressure. Nancy as Naobi represents an educated, balanced woman who intends to extend her help for the upliftment of society. All the female characters have given great moving performances with special mention to Tannishtha, Radhika and Surveen for their outstanding performances. Chandan as Rajesh, Mahesh as Manoj have given very much credible performances. Chandan represents a man, who is spite of loving a woman, might never be able to see her beyond her professions, might not be able to see the real beautiful person who is within that woman. Manoj is a representation of male dominated society. Gulab represents typical young arrogant teenager, who wants to explore in his life, also inherits patriarchic attitude. Summet as Kishan represents a man who respects women for what they are and also believes in being a change catatlyst himself. I don't want to spill the beans by talking about these two actors Adil Hussain and Chetan Sharma and their respective roles in the film, since that is to be watched in the film. Adil Hussain is a mystic lover, a short but very powerful representation of men, who have regard for women and their beauty and also believes that lovemaking is an art. Chetan has less screen time as Heera, but a very significant role and representation of young, educated men respecting the very word love. He is balanced in love and does not go overboard even when he lost his love, did not turn out to be an obsessive lover, but kept his love alive in spite of losing his girl. Both Adil and Chetan have given short but very much remarkable performances. Parched is a brilliant, unconventional, non-preachy and powerful film by Leena Yadav. Every character in the film is etched out so thoughtfully. It showcases the incredible spirits of lead female protagonists even amidst personal loss / sorrows. Irrespective of its characters and the plot set up in the rural India, the film is all about humanity, with which universally people can connect and relate to. The key message of Parched is emancipation, to free from the shackles of so-called unhealthy societal norms.