WATCH: Can India give women safer streets? One short film starring Alia Bhatt says yes
Worried about women's safety?
You're not alone. Following a series of high-profile crimes against the fairer sex in India, there has been a surge in campaigns calling for better protection for them - and more severe punishments against the men who commit the crimes.
Some people like actress Alia Bhatt and director Vikas Bahl are making their voices heard another way: Through a short film.
In the clip titled Going Home, Bhatt is seen driving in the middle of the night.
Her car breaks down. That's when another car drives past, filled with a group of rather menacing-looking men.
Will she be ok? Yes, it turns out, as the men try to fix her car. When that fails, they send her home safely.
The video has since gone viral.
Uploaded on YouTube, it carried a message from Vikas: "I pledge to create a short film titled Going Home, in which we visualise a utopia for women, where, unlike today, mistrust and fear don't dictate actions and decisions.”
Alia thanked to fans for their support.
But not every initiative went well.
In July, Mumbai-based fashion photographer Raj Shetye released a series of photos titled The Wrong Turn.
Critics decried the images - of a fashionably dressed Indian woman surrounded by men on a bus - for depicting the December 2012 New Delhi gang rape.
Photos: YouTube, Twitter
When asked about a possible link, Shetye told BuzzFeed in a phone call: “It is not based on Nirbhaya."
He thought of the idea two years ago, he added. “The message I would like to give is that it doesn’t matter who the girl is. It doesn’t depend on which class she belongs in, it can happen to anyone.”
“We stay in a society where rich people roam in cars, and poor people who roam in public transport are in danger,” he continued.
“It was my intent to mix these two things which are pretty apart from each other and make aesthetically strong images about it.”
Sources: Aplus, Buzzfeed, The Daily Star
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