ShareDoc
Vardibai Meghwal, a Dalit (lower-caste) farmer has farmed legal opium for 50 years. Having faced poverty and untouchability, she is a pragmatist who has made peace with the Narcotics Bureau's corruption as long as it can benefit her family even if she has to live as a criminal under the oppressive Bureau's powers.
Please donate to help the Meghwal family with their mounting debt under the corrupt Narcotics Bureau and keep their fight for justice alive.
Unfortunately we cannot load this video because of your cookie preferences. Please allow functional cookies if you want to view this video.
Visit the Cookie Policy pageShort Synopsis
A son fights corrupt officials while his mother tends their poppy farm in India. As authorities strike back at their lower-caste family, they must choose between keeping food on the table and standing up for what’s right.
Why donate?
Vardibai and Mangilal are operating in a world where the odds are completely stacked up against them. But Mangilal continues to fight against the corruption of the Narcotics Bureau. In doing so, he has raked up huge debt, and with the family's opium license cancelled by the Bureau, the chances of them repaying the debt are slim. Please consider donating as all the money will directly go to the family to help them come out of the debt trap that they find themselves in. With this, the family dynamic will definitely improve and the spirited Mangilal will have fresh wind in his sails to continue speaking truth to power.
Long Synopsis
The divergent paths of poppy farmer Vardibai and her activist son Mangilal intertwine in this powerful documentary about a Dalit family’s resistance against systemic oppression.
As Vardibai nurtures her poppy cultivation with her grandsons, Mangilal fearlessly confronts corrupt officials, his actions contributing to the successful jailing of high-ranking members of the Narcotics Bureau. His campaign brings temporary triumph, then devastating consequences when authorities revoke his mother’s farming licence, plunging the family into deeper hardship.
The film’s cinematography creates a striking visual contrast—Vardibai’s intimate relationship with her crops is juxtaposed with Mangilal’s technology-driven activism. Their moral dilemma crystallizes around a painful choice: continue bribing officials so they can survive, or fight for systemic change at tremendous personal cost. As tensions escalate within the lower-caste household, we witness this profound truth: neither traditional farming nor modern protest alone can address their complex challenges.
This multilayered narrative transcends its Indian context to explore universal themes of justice, family and the human cost of standing up against institutional power.
EN
FR
DE
ES