Sister courage

The 23-minute short American-Hindi film ‘Anuja’is a tale of resilience, sisterhood and sacrifice. A gifted nine-year-old Anuja (Sajda Pathan), who works in a garment factory with her elder sister Palak (Ananya Shanbhag), gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study in a well-known boarding school. The dilemma that this young orphan faces is that of the countless poor children who have to choose between aspirations and immediate survival.

The film opens with Palak narrating a story from ‘Panchtantra’ to little Anuja after the orphan sisters are back from the factory of pan-chewing Mr Verma (Nagesh Bhonsle). Palak dreams of becoming a sewing machine operator one day, while Anuja is a maths wizard and can read a newspaper. Her talent is recognised by Mr Mishra (Gulshan Walia), who wants her to appear for an examination that could change her fortune.

Even as the two sisters are able to arrange the test fee of Rs 400, the decision to take the exam isn’t easy for Anuja, who will have to choose studying in the boarding school at the cost of leaving her loving sister.

This film on child labour, which has garnered nomination in the Best Live Action Short Film category at the 97th Academy Awards this year, is the directorial debut of philosophy professor-turned-filmmaker Adam J Graves, who shot it in five days while remotely teaching from India.

While Graves and his wife Suchitra Mattai, a visual artist, did the initial funding, the production was later onboarded by the likes of Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga Kapoor (‘The Elephant Whisperers’), comedian screenwriter Mindy Kaling, besides actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas as its executive producer.

Lead actor Sajda Pathan gives a powerful performance, as do Ananya Shanbhag, Nagesh Bhonsle and Gulshan Walia in supporting roles.

The film has been made in association with the Salaam Baalak Trust, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation, which was set up in 1988 from the proceeds of Mira Nair’s ‘Salaam Bombay!’. Sajda Pathan, who was also a child labourer once, is one of the street children being supported by the Trust. She has previously worked in the 2023 French film ‘The Braid’ (La Tresse), directed by Laetitia Colombani.

Even as the film raises the issue of child labour and the importance of education without overt moralising, it largely adheres to stereotypical narratives of looking at India through the lens of poverty, such as in films like Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Nevertheless, ‘Anuja’ comes across as a stark reminder of the country’s dark reality which has, according to the 2011 Census, over 1 crore working children between the ages of five and 14.