Movie :

Madhuri Kumari is a village ‘Pradhan’, an elected village leader in Fakirpuri village, Bahraich District, Uttar Pradesh. Madhuri struggled to go to school when she was young; she was the only girl in a class of 26 boys. Madhuri used to walk six kilometers to school by herself, through the thick forest.

As Madhuri grew, she knew she wanted to stay in school though her father constantly opposed her, so she did odd jobs for her neighbours to be able to pay for her school supplies.

Soon, with the money she saved, she opened a small grocery shop. Everyone in the village knew who Madhuri was, they knew she had struggled to go to school, that with a small shop she had managed to save enough money to build her own house – and she was so helpful to everyone that people soon asked her to be their leader.

When Madhuri stood for elections, she won and she was only 21 years old.

For the past six years, Madhuri has been busy building roads, installing a drainage system in the village, adding new classrooms to the Government School and encouraging children to go to school in her village. If families cannot afford to send their children to school, then Madhuri quietly pays for their supplies.

Madhuri is well respected in her village, today, she is 27 years old.

Accompanying Director :

AYESHA SOOD
Her introduction to film was through the still camera, and she thinks it armed her with certain skills [and an eye] to apply to this highly visual medium. Somebody once said that there are only six basic tales in the world… everything else depends on how you tell it. She subscribes to this school of thought. She thinks her strength lies in being able to tell a story through her eyes. And as a director that is the most important aspect of film making – How an individual tells a story and how you use the various film making tools [camera, costume, art, dialogue etc...] to enhance the same.
After working in the industry for about 8 years – and having gained invaluable experience and knowledge she chose to study direction formally at Kings College in London. This was a huge turning point for her. Largely because it taught her the grammar of film making. And though she does believe she still has a long way to go, she is quite aware that she is beginning to string the sentences together and speak the language of cinema.