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What a BEAUTIFUL film! Aside from my fascination with the caste system, Dalits and India, I was captivated by the richness of the relationship between the filmmaker and Lakshmi. I was also emboldened by Lakshmi's assertiveness. nothing in her culture context seemed to inspire such courage- yet her spirit seemed determined to speak her voice.
Although I frequently watch Independent Lens, this is the first time that I felt compelled enough and able to follow through.
Thank you!
This was a great film and absolutely beautifully shot and edited. Can I ask why it is that Thirteen feels the need to keep their logo on the bottom right of the screen throughout the entire film. Everytime there was a subtitle, the end of the line of text was difficult to read because it overlapped with the logo. It's a tribute to the strength of the film that this didn't completely ruin the viewing experience, but come on, public television, show a little respect for the material you're showing!
I had hoped to learn at the end that any profits from the film would be shared with Lakshmi. It worries me that that may not have been the case. If not, the film exploited her and now I feel I have participated.
I loved this beautiful and touching film. In fact, I had to stop and watch it again when it was repeated on my local PBS station. This story just drew me in.
I was touched by how difficult life is for Lakshmi, and women like her. I cannot forget how Lakshmi considered herself less because her skin is dark, unable to see that her dark skin enhanced her natural beauty. It especially hurt to see her husband reject her and their daughter because their daughter was "too light" and accusing Lakshmi of infidelity. This issue of skin color refuses to leave me alone.
I hope Lakshmi's life has improved for her. Because of this film, I am concerned for a fellow sister who I have never personally met, but love still the same.
what a beautiful and touching film. Thank you for sharing this view. It took me to a place and perspective I have never seen before. Despite the hardship and poverty, I was also struck by Lakshmi's inner strength and convictions to set forth her own path. It is a testament to her courage.
Watching this film made me glad I practice Nichiren Buddhism and thus believe one can change their destiny. The fact that "destiny" was offerred as the reason for Lakhsmi plight so often was sad.
I pray her daughter will escape that mindset and percieve her life as limitless based on education and her own efforts, not simply bound by skin color, fate or cast level.
Thanks for making an excellent documentary. Its by pure chance that I started watching it on PBS today. Jut got hooked on to it. As a kid, I always tend to get a little worked up on the inequalities that's quite rampant back home in India. Fortunately, our home was very different in that aspect. My mom always had an amazing relationship with her servant maid. Right from being a good friend / confidante, to being a good teacher to their kids (She used to tutor the kids of our servant maid). I'm really proud of her. This documentary needs to be broadcast back home in India. Hope it will help people change their attitude towards these less fortunate people and treat them with respect they deserve.
Is it necessary to show the poverty of India to rest of the world.Why we are such a negative society.There are lot of good things happening in India.But we always find out bad things as they strike with foreigners easily and they see something which they cannot find out in their society.
I liked the documentry,very well made.But please stop selling India's poverty to western world.Please Indians be positive and be proud on yourself.
We need many more documentaries like this.
The director did a good job uncovering Lakshmi's story. Lakshmi always put up a smiling face despite her problems. Imagine as a child, you are constantly working as a maid 10 hours every day throughout your life. What a cruel world?
I agree with previous comment, that employers exploit them, calling it their destiny and fate. But these employers have the power to change their fate. atleast in an incremental fashion.
What is the root cause of the poverty and unemployment in India? Only one comes to my mind - Population. The current population growth in India is not sustainable and there will be many more Lakshmi's working for peanuts or searching through garbage.
And where are the India's Billionaires and Film Stars? Are these folks doing anything at all? Bill Gates is doing more charity in India than any Indian. Shame to Ambanis of India.
A beautiful documentary, true to real life.
I loved this episode. With all of the talk about Mumbai recently, this show gave a great glimpse into the lives of middle class and not so middle class citizens in India. I felt as if the narrator were talking to me directly and that I was actually in Mumbai while she was telling the story. Wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.
I am a huge fan of Independent Lens and PBS. I greatly enjoyed the film. Lakshimi is "a beautiful soul," with such wonderful energy. She reminds me of my mother. The film did a wonderful job of capturing Lakshimi's quiet strength. I enjoyed the glimpse into Indian culture and found similarities within my own mixed heritage. I found this film to be a very "human" story about the way things are today in 2009 in many parts of the world. I hope this film will serve as a reminder to others to value their own inner strength, the relationships we make, and that how well we treat others will make our lives truly rich.
The documentary is beautifully made.
However, I disagree with "caste" as the defining factor in Lakshmi's status. As a native of Mumbai, I know that the city is not caste-conscious at all. Rather, it is about poverty.
The poverty is definitely a result of the fact that the society was caste-based for hundreds years. However, TODAY, it is primarily about the poverty of opportunity- choices and second chances.
The film was excellent. It's wonderful to be able to look into the windows of other cultures. I certainly hope that the film can aid in better treatment for the women and men in positions like Lakshmi and Krishna. I think the film maker not only did a great job of showing the caste difference between herself and Lakshmi but also how Krishna was not accepted by Lakshmi's family.
Just watched this documentary and I was astounded, but not by Lakshmi's touching story. I was astounded by the exploitative and manipulative filmmaking.
This film breaks almost every rule of ethical documentary filmmaking. The power relationship between the director and her subject is obviously very unequal. Can Lakshmi really give consent to having her private life filmed when she is possibly afraid of losing her job?
Just because Lakshmi's father is an abusive drunk, does that really give the filmmaker the right to stick a camera in his face while he is passed out on the floor?
It was obvious to me that Lakshmi didn't want to talk about a lot of the things she mentions in her film. I cringed each time she looked down with shame as her "didi" coerced her into talking about her private life.
The fetishized close-up shots of the housekeepers hands and feet were the final straw for me. This was just a hypocritical and patronizing upper class woman using her poor servant as a tool for her (inferior) artistic expression.
I was frankly shocked that PBS would put something like this on the air.
Mercy and compassion, is that not what Gandhi would have wanted? I was amazed at what I saw of the film, I was up watching PBS in the wee hours of the morning.
Many lives will be changed as a result of the filmmaker's interactions with the people and the film.
May all be blessed.
Hi,
Whoever took this film is a hypocrite trying to blame the caste system for Lakshmi's problem. The reason is that the employer is as bad as the old caste system, taking advantage of somebody's poverty to do domestic help and pay just peanuts as compensation. It's a shame they use others to do their own chores at home. If they are honestly looking after the poor girl, then they should not ask her to do any of the household chores. What guts they have to comment about
Super job on the documentary, just barely finished watching it. I was born and brought up in a middle class family in New Delhi, tough I haven't been there in past 6 years I could vicariously put myself into your shoes and see Lakshmi. Infact she reminded me of our last maid, Pinki, she too had a dark complexion.
I must commend you on keeping it as real as you could. Sometimes I felt I would have given her a paid maternity leave seeing that she was pregnant, had TB and chickenpox at the same time. But this is coming up from a 23 old boy who hardly got the see the real life when he moved to the America.
The movie reminded me of this novel I read few months back, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. It is true there are many India living side by side one another. Her dreams, her aspirations were so different from mine. I sincerely hope your work bridges this gap.
PS: There's this video I found on youtube, I think it kinda relates to your theme, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0XTPSYdP08
This film cannot compete with Bollywood in commercial terms, but to me it has more than surpasses even Slum Dog. I saw the human condition wraught from peverty and ignorance. How pathetic for all concerned.
If the world is ever to get it right, education and tollerance for all must be the priority for the children of the furure.
I am an Indian and I can relate to the story so well. Hats off to the maker of the film. India , being my home , makes me proud of its positives, but I think ,like any other country, it is dealing with a lot of problems, internally and externally. Its good to see that the Indian youth is determined to bring about a change.I believe that every small step taken in this direction is sure to make a BIG difference.
Awesome film !!
A very honest and self-probing documentary by the film-maker.
An explanation of the caste sytem in India would have been good. Perhaps what was most surprising to me was that Lakhsmi's dad (who I am assuming belongs to a low caste himself) was prejudiced against Karishma because of the latter's (even lower?) caste?!!!
I guess we all feel better about ourselves by feeling superior to somebody! I wonder what the lowest of the lows (in the Indian caste system, and more widely in US and in the world) do to make feel better about themselves!???
I also had an unusual relationship with my maid Banu. She was 21 when she came to us. My husband is Hindu and I am an american Jew. Banu is Muslim. We hired her as a maid and an ayah for our infant daughter.
Slowly she started to tell us stories of her life. I was amazed. Her previous employer, also Muslim, made her sleep in a hallway outside the toilet with only a towel, and she was hardly given food. I could see that she was scared about how things might be with us.
We had trouble with previous maids. They asked for time off and never came back, or asked for pay early then left never to be seen again. We were not eager to do that again, but we felt Banu deserved a fair chance too.
She turned out to be amazing. She was eager to learn about everything. She asked about all my books and the internet. We let her watch TV sometimes, because she liked to see travel shows. We taught her some English. We taught her about caring for babies so that in her next job she could earn more money, instead of mopping floors and cooking. We took her with us out to shopping trips in malls and restaurants to try new foods.
My husband had to travel when our baby was quite young, so Banu stayed with me for 3 days. We let her stay in the guest room, and it was the first time she slept in a bed and not a mat on the floor. When I insisted she stay there, and not a mat on the floor of my own bedroom, she cried. It was the bed I let my own parents sleep in when they came to visit, she said. Was I really going to let her also sleep in it? She was amazed that a Jew and a Hindu would treat a maid, and that too a Muslim so well.
When we left India, we gave her everything we could not take with us. Her father was not part of her family's life and they had little money for dowry. I did not want to see Banu married off to some drunk because they only had a lakh or so to offer. We still call her to check up on her and her mother still thanks us each time we call.
That relationship changed how I view people and really made me value what I have. I think it also gave Banu the self-respect she really needed. She might be a maid, but she is a human. That is so easily lost in India. I saw it every day, the human sea and how many people were adrift.
