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
‘Send millions of Indian peasants to Brazil to eradicate poverty and starvation’
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2
Foxconn halts equipment, manpower from China to Indian iPhone factories
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3
‘A subject that is guaranteed to make you universally disliked’: Pankaj Mishra on writing about Gaza
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4
The murky, unregulated world of psychological counselling in India
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5
Readers’ comments: TM Krishna’s concerns are valid but he misses uniqueness of Carnatic music
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6
‘Emergency’ review: A parodic Indira Gandhi biopic
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7
Tejashwi Yadav named chief of Rashtriya Janata Dal
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8
How more than 40 workers from Jharkhand found themselves stranded in Cameroon
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9
Food history: How nihari went from being the humble food of the poor to a dish for the high table
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10
This book studies past central governments to analyse the current regime’s push for privatisation