Kolkata: As West Bengal’s date with the Lok Sabha election draws near, a doco-feature has focused for the first time on the city’s sex workers as voters.
Titled “The Best Seller”, the film has sex workers sharing their experiences of taking part in previous elections with real-life actresses. Orishita Mukherjee, niece of popular Bengali actor Kharaj Mukherjee, told PTI on the sets of the film that she was playing the role of a brothel owner.
“In the film, I ask the sex-workers employed in my brothel to exercise their franchise in the coming Lok Sabha election,” Mukherjee said.
The characters discuss the importance of electing a candidate who can give them protection against the toughs of political parties who harass them in the plying of their trade.
“We talk about our duties as citizens to send the right candidate to the Lok Sabha and how to balance work and voting on a single day,” the actress said.
The film is directed by Sumon Moitra, an assistant to Hindi film director Vishal Bharadwaj.
Moitra said that the cast and crew of the film spent days in the redlight area to perfect their walk, manner and the typical delivery of speech.
“Even when they stood in a queue waiting for their turn to cast vote, their body language shows their ‘couldn’t careless attitude’,” he said.
The director said he was grateful to NGO “Durbar Samanway Committee” for helping the crew to have a free access to the area for shooting and making it possible for real life ‘arkathis’ or pimps to act in the film.
Moitra said he was making the film in Hindi so that a pan-India audience can enjoy his film. (PTI)