Does she read the Mint newspaper in between giving fleshy men their few moments of paid pleasure? The prostitute in Imtiaz Ali’s latest short film India Tomorrow belongs to Dalal Street rather than Kamathipura. When her latest customer is interrupted by a phone call informing him that all his stock market investments have tanked, the woman lying in bed next to him turns out to be the real financial brain in the room. The aim of the short film seems to be to upend prejudices about sex workers as well as prove that the slogans “I have a dream” and “Tomorrow is mine” can actually become a reality for women who are trafficked as young girls and sold into the fresh trade. How can this happen? For starters, swap your tabloid for a pink paper.
Reading
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1
How the Sassoons of Bombay became one of China’s wealthiest families
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2
‘Lucky to learn and study Bengali’: William Radice (1951-2024) on why and how he translated Tagore
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3
What meditation and mindfulness apps get wrong Buddhist ideals
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4
Why King Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah and devadasi Bhagmati’s marriage is integral to Hyderabad’s history
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5
Fiction: Arijit Basu does not know that he has hired an undocumented migrant as a domestic worker
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6
Hydropower projects worth over Rs 70,000 crore at risk due to extreme weather in Uttarakhand: Report
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7
After Lok Sabha polls setback, how the BJP is trying to make an outreach to Dalit voters
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8
How Supreme Court finally checked ‘bulldozer justice’ – and why it may not be enough
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9
Ashok Gopal wins Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize for his Ambedkar biography ‘A Part Apart’
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10
Gurugram University cancels talk on Palestine, V-C says topic is ‘controversial’