Anaarkali of Aarah

The film Anaarkali of Aarah revolves around an erotic singer played by Swara Bhaskar. The singer hails from Aarah in Bihar and is popular for her double meaning songs. The story follows her journey as a singer. She is a star performer and dreams of achieving all the riches of the world but all her dreams come crashing down after a confrontation with a very powerful man. The conflict that follows forms the crux of the film. The singer will have to fight misogynists men at every step and battle sexism and gender stereotypes throughout her journey. The film is produced by Priya and Sandiip Kapur and written and directed by Avinash Das. The film which will release on March 24 is a socially relevant film and it comes at a time when the whole world is discussing gender inequality.

The film also made news recently when some bold scenes starring Swara Bhaskar were leaked online. As per reports, the makers of the film had alleged that these scenes were ones that the censor board had asked for deletion from the film. However, the CBFC had revealed that the film had not even been certified so there was no question of deleting or passing any scene. The board had also lashed out at the makers for spreading such rumours and showing the board in a bad light. They alleged that some Bollywood filmmakers are using censor board’s name to divert media’s attention towards their films for easy promotion. The makers of Anarkali of Aarah then apologized for the good up! Swara on the other hand maintained her stand that the censor board needs to be more mature in the way it censors films.

She had also said that this film is special to her and that she has never worked so hard in any of her films. She said in one of her interviews that she has put in a lot of hardwork and heart into the making of this ‘very courageous film’ and she wished that it reaches as many people as possible. The film shows Anarkali as an erotic singer who is judged for what she does and yet she is strong and fights her battles independently and with utmost grace. The film’s team did a lot of research before starting to film the project. In fact, lead star Swara had to spend a few weeks in UP, Bihar, Himachal and meet a lot of street and live event singers to understand their challenges and pick up nuances of their personality to play the part to perfection.