The menstrual period is a natural body behaviour in women but usually, women and young girls have to face a lot of problems in the society. It is generally considered as taboo in Indian society.
To change the mindset of the people and to spread awareness, a filmmaker from Guwahati, Xahid Khan has done an extraordinary job.
Alert Condition: Red, an Assamese short movie written and directed by Xahid shows what happens to a young girl who steps into her adulthood. The girl gets her first menstrual period in public place and faces some kind of comments from the people regarding the stain on her dress. Xahid’s movie bagged 2nd position in 9th International Guwahati Film Festival and also got an official entry in Jio Filmfare Awards. Recently, the movie gets official entry into Cine Miami Fest in Florida in the United States of America.
Watch the movie below:
Upon asking why he took this sensitive theme, Xahid replied, “We always skip and don’t discuss many important issues like menstrual period as it is considered as Taboo. Last year I came across an article that was based on the struggle of piles patients, then the idea about the struggle of women they faced came into my mind. Then I developed the script. I had a sleepless night thinking about the reaction of the audience when they will watch it. Afterwards, I showed the script to my parents and was quite nervous thinking about their reaction obviously I was thinking about the negative one. But I was surprised about their reactions and they encouraged me to give this untouched theme a touch with love. After a lot of struggle and hard work, our film was awarded in 9th International Guwahati Film Festival and also got an official entry in Jio Filmfare short film Award. I am very thankful to all the audiences for supporting the film and inspiring us to make good films.
Himadri Das, who plays the role of the young girl said, “As a girl, I feel really proud that I got a chance to work on this sensitive issue, I’m thankful to entire team because we are successful in spreading the awareness.”
Xahid and his entire team deserve a grand salute from everyone.