MELBOURNE, 31 March 2022: The heading of this review are the words of Geeta Mohar, who while asleep with her three daughters had acid thrown on them by her husband Indrajeet. The youngest girl (Krishna) died, three years old Neetu was defaced and almost blinded and Geeta was injured. The reason is Geeta gave her only girls. Much more happens. This sad, sordid, and a rather gruesome story, as a documentary shot mainly in Agra (Geeta’a hometown), speaks for itself. The nitty-gritty of this gendered crime is the slice of life often seen in the subcontinent, and in ‘Geeta’ it reflects the horror that keeps repeating.
Australian Director Emma Macey-Storch’s ‘Geeta’ is gusty and despite its starkness, a powerful message documentary. The crowd at St. Kilda’s Astor cinema must have been stunned by the details of the visual lifestyle in an Agra slum amid the tragedy in a family. The city of the Taj Mahal, the global tourist hub, is no exception to the miseries of humanity.
Ninety minutes of details of the family’s life and how a guilty Indrajeet was back home from prison and 23 years later the family keeps living and Neetu after an operation in Chennai (formerly Madras) comes back home with partially restored sight in one eye, is reflective of the courage and resilience against odds.
Neeta has been in Australia for some time and was present at the screening. Neeta says, ” If your way of thinking changes, then a change is possible. My mother believed in change and it made me a free thinker. Everyone should support daughters, sisters, or any female in need and be proactive.”
As part of a bigger social impact strategy associated with the release of ‘Geeta’, Neetu (Geeta’s daughter) has asked Australians (and the world) to ‘wake up’ to gender-based violence against women and girls.
Geeta was financed with support from Film Victoria, Screen Australia, The Post Lounge, Scout Film Finance and Some Kind of Squirrel Productions, alongside private investment.
DIRECTOR – Emma Macey-Storch
YEAR – 2022
CAST – Atul Kumar Singh, Geeta Mahor, Inderjeet Mahor, Neetu Mahor, Poonam Mahor, Sheroes
GENRE – Documentary
DURATION – 90 mins
SITE – www.geetafilm.com
