The hard-hitting film is based on the “water wives” in states like Maharashtra that face an acute water shortage. Women in such areas are married to older men – many of them already married – and their sole purpose is provide the family with a pair of hands that will fetch water, often walking great distances to do so. The video shines an unforgiving light on the patriarchy, polygamy, gender bias and inequality that pervade Indian society.
‘Water Wives’ ends with a message that reads: “They exist everywhere, in our homes, our workplaces, in our minds. Where a woman is unpaid, unheard and unrecognised. Fight inequality and injustice wherever you see it.”
