A team of Bengalureans are out with a short movie, The Dark Night, on women’s safety. Directed by Vinay Kumar, the movie is a take-off from the Nirbhaya incident and has been selected to be played at three film festivals.
It will be screened at The Berlin Flash Film Festival, Direct Short Online Film Festival and Calcutta International Cult Film Festival.
Jyothsna Venkatesh, who plays the lead in the movie, says, “The movie was conceptualised in February 2016 by the director and the work was completed in April 2016.” The actress who runs a jewellery and clothing store, OMG by Jo, is also a model who has just completed a model for Dove.
“Playing the character was really easy,” she says, “because it is what I am in real life too... a corporate woman who is independent and successful”. Jyothsna enjoyed doing the project because the movie leaves the audience with a social message and “documentary movies are short and sweet”.
The movie says that women must defend themselves. In the synopsis, the director says, “while everyone was shocked at the brutality of the episode and helplessness, one thing that struck me was why she gave up, did she not try to escape, did she lose her senses in the panic... did she freeze and stop thinking?” The Dark Night is an attempt to present the fears and other emotions a woman goes through when under assault.
Jyothsna says, “Yes, the movie advocates self-defence. There are situations in which panic causes us to freeze but one must be prepared to act in self-defence”. She adds that a person must not wait for the state to act and wait around for it to protect us. “Every individual has the right to self-defence,” she says. “He or she has to protect their selves when faced with adversity”.
Jyothsna plays the lead and Madhusudhan her husband, and Pradyoth Sharma plays the villain.