A documentary, titled India's Forbidden Love, on honour killings has been nominated for the International Emmy Awards in the Best Documentary category. The film, directed by Sadhana Subramaniam, captures the fight for justice by a young woman named Kausalya, whose husband was hacked to death on a highway in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur district by a gang hired by her parents. Kausalya was also targeted but she survived the attack. The murder, which was caught on camera, shook the country in 2016. Kausalya's father was sentenced to death by a trial court but her mother and her uncle were acquitted due to lack of evidence. Kausalya's parents, who belong to a powerful upper caste Thevar community, were not happy about their daughter's marriage to Sankar, a man from a scheduled caste.
Following the journey of Kausalya, her family and the alleged perpetrators through the court sessions, India's Forbidden Love captures the pain, dreams, fear and challenges in the mind of Kausalya, who fights for justice to bring the perpetrators, including her parents, to book. She spearheads the campaign to end honour killings in India.
The film reconstructs her memories - like the couple's daily bus ride which brought about a bonding between them. It also takes viewers into the minds of her mother and her brother, throwing light on the deep rooted casteism, which drove them to conspire to kill their daughter and her husband.
This is the first documentary film by Sadhana. The investigative journalist-turned-filmmaker told NDTV that 'gaining access to both sides huge challenge.' She said, "It took me eight months to ensure both sides were comfortable and on board with the idea of me making a film about their lives. I realised that even as India hurtles towards modernity, many traditional and entrenched attitudes such as those that underpin caste, maintain a tight grip on sections of society in this enormous and varied country."
The film was produced by Grain Media UK for worldwide broadcast on Al Jazeera.
Apart from India's Forbidden Love, Netflix India original series Sacred Games and Lust Stories have received nominations in the Best Drama Series and the Best Mini-Series categories, respectively. Actress Radhika Apte too has been nominated for Best Actress for her performance in Lust Stories.
Lust Stories is a collection of four short films on modern day relationships. Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee have each directed a short story in the anthology. Anurag Kashyap directed the short featuring Radhika Apte.
Meanwhile, Kamali, a short film which won the Best Documentary Award at the Atlanta Film Festival, is also qualifying for the 2020 Oscar shortlist. Kamali tells the story of Suganthi's fight against all odds to raise her daughter so she would become a successful skateboarder.
The International Emmy Awards will be held in November this year.
