Prostitution is often called as one of the oldest profession in the world after farming. Over the years, numerous filmmakers from India have much to tell about society’s excommunication of sex workers. Let’s discuss about few important movies revolving around sex workers and their lives.
Pyasa
Pyaasa directed by Guru Dutt was an iconic movie and only one of three Indian movies on the list of Forbes’ 100 greatest movies of last century. It revolves around Vijay (Guru Dutt) who is an unsuccessful poet. Since he don’t write poems full of entertainment, publishers reject his poems saying people don’t like artistic poems nowadays. Vijay becomes a broken man who leaves his home and wanders here and there. He then meets comes a prostitute, Gulabo played by Waheeda Rahman who supports Vijay while secretly in love with him and aids him to publish his poem. In the climax, Vijay becomes hopless with the hypocrisy of people and leaves everyone with Gulabo.
Chameli
Chameli can be considered as a milestone in her career and one of her best acts. Chameli is a story of a single night. It follows life of Aman Kapoor (Rahul Bose) who is suffering from depression after his wife dies while being pregnant. On a rainy night he stumbles upon a prostitute named Chameli played by Kareena Kapoor. Their meeting shows both of them many facets of the Indian society and its people.
Dev D
Dev D directed by Anurag Kashyap is a modern take on the 1917 novel Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Before Dev D there has been direct adaptation of the novel like Devdas (1958) starring Dilip Kumar and Devdas (2002) starring Shahrukh Khan. Dev D is not a direct adaptation of the novel and it takes place in the present times. Dev D’S story include three characters. Paro (Mahie GillP) Dev (Abhay Deol) and Kalki Koechlin as Leni/Chandramukhi (Chanda). Paro and Dev were childhood friends and the character of Chandramukhi is is not a courtesan but a a prostitute. The story of Leni where is inspired by DPS R.K Puram mms scandal and when Leni was thrown out of her home, circumstances lend her to become a sex worker.
Lakshmi
Lakshmi is a Hindi movie that tells the story about a little girl named Lakshmi who was kidnapped and sold to be a prostitute. This movie realistically showed issues like human trafficking and child prostitution. Lakshmi faces a lot of tussles but she succeeds to break free with the help of fellow prostitutes.
Mandi
Mandi features Shabana Azmi as Rukmani Bai who runs a brothel, in the heart of the city like Mumbai. She runs the brothel single-handedly, shelters and take care of the prostitutes in her brothel as a mother figure. She have compassion for the sex workers when they are sad, looks after them diligently when they are in some problem and reprimands them if the prostitutes do any mistake.
A Pass
B.A Pass is the only movie in this list about a male prostitute It follows the story of Mukesh who is an orphan with two younger sisters who are neglected by their relatives. He had no source of income to take care of himself and his two sisters. On a suggestion by his friends, he becomes a male prostitute known as gigolo. The movie was not a hit but was critically acclaimed.
Chandni Bar
Chandni Bar about a young woman (Tabu) who moves to Mumbai after the death of her parents and starts working as a bar dancer in order to survive in Mumbai. The movie was directed by Madhur Bhandarkar and it also features Atul Kulkarni, a local don and the love interest of Tabu. It portrays the hard reality of the underbelly of Mumbai.
