Top 10 Bollywood Movies That Addressed The Issue Of Child Abuse

The issue of child abuse is a serious social problem in and around the world. It requires proper exposure and education that would make the public aware of the danger of such issues. As movies have a wide reach, it is beneficial if these kinds of issues are addressed in them. In India, a few movies have been made which have engaged with child abuse headlong or have mentioned it in the storyline. Several aspects of these criminal offenses have been highlighted through these films. Ten such movies are listed here.

1. Highway

Directed by Imitiaz Ali, “Highway” is a story of Veera Tripathi (Alia Bhatt), a rich young girl who is kidnapped by Mahabir (Randeep Hooda). The movie reveals us the coming-of-age story of her life through the journey that she takes with Mahabir. Through this journey, a lot of things about her life are exposed. We get to find out that she had been harassed in her childhood by her uncle, who had had a deep impact on her life. The film highlights how child abuse creates an impact on a person’s life, which lasts forever, and often that hurt comes from within the family itself.

2. Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh

This movie is a sequel to the critically acclaimed thriller “Kahaani”. Kahaani 2 is the story of Durga Rani Singh (Vidya Balan), a woman on the run from the law. She had been charged with kidnapping and murder, following which she was living with a fake identity. As the story unfolds, we come across an incident of child abuse and its suppression by the family members of the victim. This film clearly shows how the victim’s family often fails to understand the pain and torture related to the incident.

3. Monsoon Wedding

This film was directed by Mira Nair and portrayed a wedding, where all the relatives of a family have gathered for the celebration. The film begins with a display of the eccentricities involved in a big fat Indian wedding. However, it later developed into a story having darker layers. As family secrets are revealed, an instance of child abuse comes to the forefront. The cast of this movie includes Naseeruddin Shah, Lilette Dubey, Shefali Shah, Vasundhara Das, Parvin Dabas, Rajat Kapoor, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Randeep Hooda, etc.

4. I Am

This is an Indian anthology movie directed by Onir. The movie was critically acclaimed and has won numerous awards at the film festivals. It is an amalgamation of four short stories. One of its story, “I Am Abhimanyu”, talks about the sensitive issue of child abuse. It is the story of a movie director named Abhimanyu whose childhood experiences of abuse have been haunting him in his adulthood as well. It is a story of abuse and sexual identity of an individual. The story is said to be based on designer Ganesh Nallari as well as Harish Iyer, a gay rights activist.

5. Page 3

Directed by Madhur Bhandarkar, “Page 3” is a film about the Indian media and the Page 3 celebrities. The movie was critically acclaimed and is considered one of the finest movies of Madhur Bhandarkar. The movie showed the dark world of Page 3 celebrities, including a scandal of sexual abuse by a renowned industrialist. It also exhibits how such sensitive issues are often buried by the corrupt media people and are never allowed to see the light of day. The film featured Konkona Sen Sharma, Atul Kulkarni, Sandhya Mridul, Tara Sharma, Boman Irani, etc.

6. Gunday

Gunday was an action film directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, starring Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, and Priyanka Chopra. It spoke the story of two orphans, Bikram and Bala, who came to Calcutta after the independence of Bangladesh. The film showcases the sensitive issue of child abuse as it shows an army officer taking in Bikram to abuse him sexually. Bala comes back to save his friend, and they have to escape from the place to avoid being caught. This incident triggers their arrival in Calcutta and beginning their life of coal mafia.

7. Mardaani

Directed by Pradeep Sarkar, “Mardaani” is the story of a tough woman cop, Shivani Shivaji Roy and her fight against the child trafficking gang led by Karan Rastogi. The movie had brilliant acts by Rani Mukherji and Tahir Raj Bhasin. The criminal gang showed in the movie kidnapped young girls and sold them for prostitution. There is a hard-hitting issue of abuse and trafficking. The movie garnered praise for its bold treatment and message of woman empowerment.

8. Water

Deepa Mehta’s film, Water, was based on the life of widows at an ashram in Varanasi, the holy city of India. The problem of child marriage and ill-treatment of widows is closely related to child abuse. This is depicted through the character of Chuyia (Sarala Kariyawasam). She becomes a widow and comes to live in the ashram at the age eight years. She is forced to give up all the pleasures of life. Later, she is forced into prostitution at that tender age to satisfy the benefactors of the ashram. Shakuntala (Seema Biswas), risks her life and freedom to save the child from that terrible fate.

9. Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Bajrangi Bhaijaan, directed by Kabir Khan and starring Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, is a movie about a mute Pakistani girl, Munni, who accidentally got lost in India and the struggle of a kind man, Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi, to get her back home safely. At one point in the film, we find Pawan leaving Munni at a travel agent’s office who promises to take her back to Pakistan. He then finds out that the man took Munni to be sold to a brothel for a hefty sum of money. This enrages Pawan, and he saves her. This movie shows how so many children are abused and sold by untrustworthy people in the guise of help.

10. Komal

Komal is a short film about child abuse, which has won several awards, including the National Film Award. The film aimed to create awareness among children and their parents about recognizing abuse and fighting it. More than a film, it is an educational video which should be shown to every child and parent to make them understand the very real danger of sexual abuse on children. The movie was worthy to be included in this list as it the first of its kind in India that has gained so much recognition and appreciation.