BANGALORE: Movies voicing the plight of women have been a part of the Indian film fraternity for decades. The small screen too has had its fair share of success with its women-centric soaps, where it mostly dealt with social stigmas that Indian women face. It took all this while for the film industry to come up with a decent topic that voices the haplessness of countless Indian men and their families.
Section 498A which is one of the most powerful and a highly abused sections of Indian Penal Code is known as a law that has caused more damage than remedy. Thousands of men and women are jailed every year without trial or investigation under this section.
Television personality Suhaib IIyasi has now come up with a movie based on this concept. ‘498A- The Wedding Gift’ was inspired from a real life incident where a Canadian NRI techie, Sayed Makhdoom, commits suicide. He was a victim of the misuse of this section and left four suicide notes. His death was recorded on his mobile phone.
The film which is directed and produced by Suhaib IIyasi, features veteran actors like Farida Jalal,Alok Nath, Sushma Sen and Reema Lagoo among others. The film is a tragi-comedy, and aims at educating the Indian crowd about the ills of the law.
“Men too have issues, and most Indians are not aware of the other side of section 498A. Other than spreading awareness about the issue, we are also requesting the government to amend it. The law is easily misused and is never in the best interest of the family,” said Kumar Jahgirdar, Director of Children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP).