Actress Smita in a still from the film Dying To Be Me. Image courtesy: YouTube/SmitaPop
The statistics invoked in a new short film titled 'Dying To Be Me' are a brutal reminder that it is the economic shackles of being a woman in India that prove the most binding. According to this video, Indian women make up half the country's population, contribute to 70% of its working house and yet just earn 10% of India's salary and a miserable 1% of its wealth.
'Dying To Be Me,' made by Indian-American filmmaker Deva Katta, was released to mark Independence Day and the message it drives home is the importance of economic independence.
The female protagonist in the two-minute film, played by actress-singer Smita, is educated, urban and qualified. Yet, she is as disenfranchised as the poorest, most rustic woman. Financial freedom is hers only when she takes control of her own life, wresting from a husband who seeks to cage her.
"Live free and let live free," is the film's conclusion.
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