Starring:
Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das, Rajeshwari, Surekha, Alka Trivedi, Rajit Kapur, Lalit Tiwari, Srivallabh Vyas /Dolby Digital A C 3/English Subtitles.
Synopsis:
A HEROIC SAGA OF FIVE WOMEN
Hari Bhari is a story of 5 women of a Shaikh Muslim land holding family who live in a Qasba which is a semi rural area of Badayun District, Western Uttar Pradesh. The frame of the story deals with 3 generations of women; grandmother, her two daughter-in-laws, and a grand daughter. Within the frame story are individual episodes dealing with various crises faced by each of them. The film concerns itself with the need of women to develop an awareness of female health problems and their rights over their own bodies as a necessary factor in their empowerment. Although the film is a fictional saga of family, it is based on actual case studies made over a period of time in the region where the film is located.
Hasina is an ailing matriarch in a joint family which is run by her oldest son Khaleel Ahmed and his perpetually pregnant wife Najma. Najma has 2 young sons with a history of miscarriages and children having died in infancy. Hasinas second son Khurshid works in Merut but his conservative wife, Afsana, and her 2 young sons and an infant daughter live in the same house. Hasinas daughter Gahazala, comes to stay with her after being driven out by her husband, Munir, who blames her for not giving him a son. Her teenaged daughter Salma shuttles between her fathers and grandmother HAsinas house depending on Munirs erratic moods. the bittersweet events taking place in the house during the course of several months constitutes the story of the film.
