Parched's top five best moments; from Radhika Apte's performance to portrayal of prostitution

Directed by Leena Yadav, Parched is undoubtedly a movie to look out for this weekend. The movie revolves around thee lives of 3 women in a remote village and is about patriarchy, freedom and liberation. Every single actor in the movie has contributed immensely to this masterpiece. Among hundreds of jaw dropping moments, here are five best moments about the film: 1. Radhika Apte: She has proven her mettle as an actor over and over. While we saw her portray a girl affected by Agoraphobia in Phobia beautifully, here she plays Lajjo, a village girl who is beaten up and thrashed by her husband because she is though to be infertile. She is confident and endearing in her role. The much talked about nude scene was nothing less than grace, beauty and perfection. To say Radhika Apte is one of the best actors we have in this country right now would be an understatement. She is what this industry needs. [caption id=“attachment_3004702” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Still from ‘Parched’[/caption] 2. Surveen Chawla and the portrayal of prostitution: Surveen Chawla’s character Bijli is a prostitute in a film that shows women in their most black and white form. While she is confident and strong, she also dreams about a tomorrow when she probably wouldn’t have to sell her body to earn a living. She is obviously the more adventurous one in her friend circle which includes the other two women characters: Lajjo and Rani played by Radhika Apte and Tannishtha Chatterjee respectively. What stand outs about Parched’s portrayal of prostitution is that it doesn’t seem to apologise for it or give a tragic backstory. 3. Shah Rukh Khan’s phone call: Rani, the character played by Tannishtha Chatterjee, gets a prank call from someone who called himself ‘Shah Rukh Khan’, while she is still learning how to use the phone. While she is scared in the beginning, she enjoys it later. Apart from the fun and humour involved in this scene, there is much passion and pain when she finally talks about her real self to the guy on the phone. “I am Rani, a widow and have not been touched by a man for more than a decade. Will you meet me”, she yells at him. Because a dysfunctional marriage that ended long ago, she yearns for love and affection. This scene shows that it’s completely normal for women to continue to want companionship inspite of having lost a partner 4. Lajjo releasing that men can be impotent too: One of the best moments in the movie is when Bijli tells Lajjo that she should get her husband tested too. Lajjo gets surprised because she didn’t even think that a man could ever be impotent. The village’s idea that the woman is the sole reason for a dysfunctional marriage had engraved in her head that men are always fertile. It’s beautiful and empowering when she says, “I don’t want a baby to complete my womanhood, but if there is a child written in my destiny, I don’t wanna not have it because of my husband’s impotency.” Her character grows stronger and bolder when she decides to have sex with another man. 5. Why ‘M****ch*d and not B***ch*d?’: There is an extremely funny yet through provoking part in the movie where Bijli played by Surveen Chawala, uses an expletive alluding to the mother. She later asks why are only women are a part of these curse words, and goes to a hill top and screams curse words that include men in them. While these are just a few moments from the movie, Parched is full of so many of these beautiful nuances which makes it a must watch.