Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Sep 22 (IANS) In the backdrop of skewed sex ratio in Punjab, a filmmaker here is ready with a Punjabi movie “Akhiyan Udeekdian” that takes a hard look at female foeticide prevailing in the state.
“The problem of female foeticide still haunts our society. There are many families who do not want to have a girl child,” Mukesh Gautam, director of “Akhiyan Udeekdian”, told reporters here Tuesday.

He added: “I was inspired to make a film on this sensitive subject after the incident where over 100 female foetuses were recovered from a pit near Sangrur town in Punjab in 2006. The protagonist of my movie echoes concern for this problem and offers a solution for it.”

Punjab has one of the worst sex ratios in the country of just around 800 females per 1000 males.

Much of this is attributed to the illegal abortions being carried out in the state to get rid of unborn girls.

“Akhiyan Udeekdian” that is slated to release Oct 2 will see the debut of singer Lakhwinder Wadali, son of Sufi maestro Ustaad Puran Chand Wadali, and Roshni Singh.

“It is unfortunate that having daughters signifies a disgrace or burden rather than pride. I am very happy and consider myself lucky that my debut film is dealing with such a serious issue,” said Wadali.

In the film, a mother decided to give birth to a girl child, against all odds and pressure from various quarters to abort the baby. She manages to win the battle by giving birth to a girl, but sacrifices her own life.

Gautam is currently working on two other feature films. While one is based on organ transplant the other is based on 1984 riots in Punjab.