The film OASS, which has one of its producers from Odisha, is all set to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival on May 22. The story of the film is inspired by a true story of Kiku, who is taken away from her village at the age of 11 and sold to a brothel in Delhi.
Drugged, beaten, raped and threatened, Kiku chooses to suffer the atrocities in order to live but escapes one day. OASS brings to light the menace of girl-child trafficking and the perils faced by the millions of Kikus across the globe. OASS is not a movie; it’s a visual journey of a child, a colleen, a woman. It’s the turbulent journey of Kiku from the innocence of childhood to winning the battle of survival.
Thousands of little girls are bartered for money each year to be shoved into the ever-growing sex trade, making it one of the largest contraband businesses today. Kiku is one amongst those girls. She hails from the beautiful hills of Nepal but is dragged into the dingy brothels of Delhi. In the dark corners of the brothel, her innocence may have been snatched and shattered, but she sticks to her faith and determination to reach back home.
For debutante Director Abhinav Tiwari, it is years of hard work, research and dedication to extract information from the victim and various other sufferers of this racket. So moved was he by the narration of the victims that he made up his mind to use this story for his first film, an eye-opener for the “civilised” world. The movie has been shot with utmost conviction. life-like sets and real locations like the brothels of Delhi have infused the film with an element of reality.
Ace technicians have come together to weave a visual tapestry that is as high in cinematic quality as it is in contents. Debasis Bhattacharjee, founder of Kreative Harvest, a Bhubaneswar-based integrated media entertainment and creative company, remarked that a lot of international buyers have evinced interest to buy the film.