Saankal (transl.Shackle) is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language drama and social problem film written and directed by Dedipya Joshii. The film stars Chetan Sharma, Tanima Bhattacharya, Harish Kumar, Jagat Singh, Samarth Shandilya and Milind Gunaji. It focuses on the impact of forced marriage traditions prevalent within rural Indian communities. The film was released in August 2015 and went on to win numerous awards, including Best Female Lead and Best Foreign Film at the 20th Indie Gathering Film Festival.

Background

Director Dedpiya Joshii stated that the film's depiction of forced marriage is based on real-world conditions that are still prevalent in Indian rural communities. These conditions can be traced to prior practices in villages that sought to prevent marrying outside of the community, in order to maintain genealogical purity. In the aftermath of the 1947 Partition of India, marriages between cross-border communities were disrupted, which further limited the marriageable population in these communities. This prompted village councils to force marriages between mature-age women and prepubescent boys in order to prevent population decline.

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