1 x 90 min theatrical feature documentary and Social Impact campaign

Directed by Vikram Dasgupta, produced by Marilyn McFadyen

Country of Production: India, New Zealand, Canada

Language: English

Two hundred and fifty years ago, they simply burned you. They can’t do that any more. Still, after your husband dies, no one wants you. There will be no more colour, no more celebration for you. From now on you will wear only a white sari, you will take off the red bangles you wore on your wedding day, even your hair will be shorn. There will be no more family parties, no birthdays, no weddings to attend. You will banished to a corner of the house, or if your family is poor, even ejected from it completely and left to fend for yourself.

So, you do what thousands of other women have done before you; you hop on a train and you come to Vrindavan. For many of the bereaved women of India, the holy city of Vrindavan is a place of sanctuary; for others, it’s a place of hardship and exile. Some live in ashrams and shelters. Others spend their days begging on the streets, squatting under shop awnings, or sleeping on the steps of temples. 

All have been forced to leave their homes. 

Lord Krishna’s holy city of Vrindavan is the only home for an estimated 15,000 women, cast out by families who consider them cursed or a drain on family finances, or who simply want to prevent them inheriting property. Some arrive voluntarily seeking safety and companionship in the temples of this holy city, the childhood home of Lord Krishna, just 135 km away from the modern capital of New Delhi.

Others are consigned to life on the streets. They are the victims of a harsh cultural practice that seems almost impossible to understand, without knowing the multi layered society that formed it.