Sold (2014 film)

Last updated

Sold
Sold 2014 movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jeffrey D. Brown
Written byJoseph Kwong
Based on Sold
by Patricia McCormick
Produced byJane Charles
Starring Niyar Saikia
Gillian Anderson
David Arquette
Seema Biswas
Sushmita Mukherjee
Parambrata Chatterjee
CinematographySeamus Tierney
Music by John McDowell
Release date
March 7, 2014
CountryUnited States

Sold is a 2014 drama film directed by Jeffrey D. Brown [1] based on Patricia McCormick's novel Sold. [2]

Contents

The film is executive produced by Emma Thompson and produced by Jane Charles. The script was written by Joseph Kwong and Jeffrey D. Brown. [3]

Plot

Lakshmi, a young girl, lives in a mountain side village in rural Nepal with her mother and disabled, unemployed father. She wishes to work and save enough money to buy a tin roof for the house, while her mother encourages her to finish her schooling. A period of heavy rain causes the rice fields to become swamped and damages all remaining crops, leaving the family without a source of income. While attending a village festival, Lakshmi meets Bimla, a foreign woman who entices her with stories of the city and offers her a job in India as a maid. Lakshmi's mother rejects the proposal, but her father reveals that he has already agreed and accepted money from Bimla, out of desperation.

Lakshmi and Bimla pass the border without incident and arrive at their destination, a building known as 'Happiness House', which is a brothel run by a woman named Mumtaz. Unaware that she has been sold into sexual slavery, Lakshmi mingles with the other girls at the brothel, including Shahanna and Anita, who she befriends; and the temperamental Monica. Later that night, she is dressed and prepared for Varun, an important and high-paying customer who has a preference for virgins. Resisting his advances, Lakshmi bites Varun and uses the ensuing chaos to escape the building. On the street, she blindly runs for help but is caught and beaten by Mumtaz's workers, who subsequently lock her in an isolated room. While looking out of the window, Lakshmi is spotted by Sophia, an American photographer who has arrived in India to work with an anti-trafficking organisation, Hope House. Sophia takes pictures of Lakshmi, but she is noticed by a brothel worker, Suren, who breaks her camera. After recovering the photos, Sophia becomes determined to save 'the girl in the window', and requests help from Hope House manager Mrs. Tripathi, and her investigators Vikram and Sam.

After multiple failed attempts to ensure her cooperation, Mumtaz drugs Lakshmi's mango juice and prepares her once again for Varun, who rapes her. The next day, she is drugged again and forced to service multiple men. Sophia asks Vikram to raid Happiness House, but he is reluctant to do so without proper planning. No longer new, Lakshmi is given a bed in the communal living space and made to work as the other women do. She befriends Harish, a young boy living at the brothel with his infant sister Gina and mother Pushpa, who is a sickly prostitute. After witnessing workers bury a body in a shallow grave, Lakshmi contemplates suicide but is stopped by Shahanna. Days pass and soon Lakshmi becomes resigned to her fate. She calculates the number of days needed for her to pay off her debt to Mumtaz, but is discouraged by Shahanna, who warns her that there will be consequences if her notes are found. Anita tries to escape, and is punished by Mumtaz, who shoves chilli peppers into her vagina in front of the others. Lakshmi saves Shahanna after she is attacked by an irate customer, and Bimla informs her that the bodies of those who die on the premises are buried in the garden. Monica, who has managed to pay back her debt to Mumtaz after five years, leaves the brothel and returns to her village, where she expects to be welcomed as a heroine since she has been financially providing for her family. Vikram and Sam arrive at Happiness House, posing as customers. Sam gives Lakshmi a card containing the details of Hope House and informs her that a raid will be held soon. The exchange is overheard by Anita. Lakshmi confides in Shahanna, who is dismissive and claims that American men are sent to kidnap girls and harvest their organs. A bruised and battered Monica returns to Happiness House, having been beaten by her father and thrown out of her village. A week later, the women are taken to see a doctor, who examines them and discovers that Monica has Kaposi's sarcoma, a symptom of HIV/AIDS. She is forced to leave the brothel.

While delivering soft drinks to customers, Harish sees Lakshmi in the garden and offers her a bottle. They hide from Suren, who comes looking for Harish and the missing crate of drinks. Anita witnesses the scene and causes a power outage, which stops the pair being found and punished. Mumtaz confronts the women about the power cut, and finds the Hope House card. Anita falsely claims it is hers and is struck by Mumtaz, but she is able to return the card to Lakshmi and tells her that she lied to buy time for the upcoming raid. The raid begins but the police and Sam find nothing since the younger girls are hidden away by Bimla. Sophia apologizes to Vikram for pushing him to conduct a premature search. Anita is sold by Mumtaz to the Middle East, where she will be a sex slave and never be able to return. Pushpa becomes increasingly sick and is forced to leave with Harish and Gina, since she can no longer work. Lakshmi begins to plan her escape, and manages to slip out of a window while the others are watching a religious festival on TV. She is chased by one of the brothel workers but manages to escape in the thick crowds of worshipers. After initially getting lost, Lakshmi finally makes her way to Hope House and is reunited with Harish. Using her information, the police conduct a surprise raid on Happiness House, and find the hidden girls and buried bodies. Bimla, Suren and others are arrested, but Mumtaz gets away. Later that night, the rescued girls burn their working clothes at Hope House.

Cast

[5]

Reception

‘Sold’, is a must watch film which raises a clarion call for action. If it saves girls from being sold into sexual slavery, it will go down in the annals of cinematic history as a film which made a mighty difference.

The American Bazaar [6]

Awards

Awards
YearAwardCategoryRecipients and nomineesResult
2014 London Indian Film Festival [7] Pure Heaven Audience Award Jeffrey D. Brown and Jane CharlesWon
2014Albuquerque Film and Media Experience [8] Best Narrative FeatureJeffery D. Brown and Jane CharlesWon
2014 River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival Audience AwardJeffery D. Brown and Jane CharlesWon
2015 Sonoma International Film Festival World Cinema Audience AwardJeffrey D. Brown and Jane CharlesWon
2016Washington DC South Asian Film Festival [9] Best PictureJeffery D. Brown and Jane CharlesWon

Related Research Articles

<i>Sethu</i> (film) 1999 Indian film

Sethu is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Bala in his debut. The film stars Vikram and Abitha. The score and soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

<i>Sold</i> (McCormick novel) 2006 novel by Patricia McCormick

Sold is a novel by Patricia McCormick, published in 2006. It tells the story of a girl from Nepal named Lakshmi, who is sold into sexual slavery in India. The novel is written in a series of short, vignette-style chapters, from the point of view of the main character. The 2014 movie Sold by Oscar-winning director Jeffrey D. Brown is based on the same novel.

<i>Mandi</i> (film) 1983 Indian film

Mandi is a 1983 Hindi-language film directed by Shyam Benegal. Based on a classic Urdu short story Aanandi by writer Ghulam Abbas, the film narrates the story of a brothel, situated in the heart of a city, an area that some politicians want for its prime locality. The film is a satirical comedy on politics and prostitution, and stars Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah among others.

<i>The Last Man on Planet Earth</i> 1999 American television film

The Last Man on Planet Earth is a 1999 television film directed by Les Landau and starring Julie Bowen, Paul Francis, Tamlyn Tomita, L. Scott Caldwell, and Cliff DeYoung. The plot concerns a female-dominated society following the death of the majority of the world's men.

<i>Sanjha</i> Pakistani TV series or programme

Sanjha is a Pakistani drama series began to telecast on Hum TV from 17 November 2011. It was written by Samira Fazal and directed Farooq Rind. Focuses on women trafficking, it has Suhaee Abro in the title role of Sanjha who comes to the Karachi city from the Thar Desert and is constrained to work in a brothel; the kotha.

<i>Arasiyal</i> 1997 Indian film

Arasiyal (transl. Politics) is an 1997 Indian Tamil-language political drama film directed by R. K. Selvamani. The film stars Mammootty, Shilpa Shirodkar and Roja. It was released on 12 December 1997.

Phir Subah Hogi is an Indian soap opera series that was being aired on Zee TV from 2012 to 2013. It was mainly about the Bediya community of the Bundelkhand region, Madhya Pradesh. It was shot in Wai village near Mahabaleshwar.

Pyaar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyaara Pyaara is an Indian Hindi-language romantic drama television series produced by Rajshri Productions. It aired from 18 June 2012 to 1 November 2014 on Star Plus. It starred Disha Parmar and Nakuul Mehta as Pankhuri Gupta Kumar and Aditya Kumar.

<i>Lakshmi</i> (2014 film) 2014 Indian film

Lakshmi is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language biographical social problem film written and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. It stars Monali Thakur as the title character alongside Shefali Shah, Ram Kapoor, Satish Kaushik and Kukunoor. The film deals with the harsh realities of human trafficking and child prostitution, which continue behind closed curtains in rural areas of India.

Niyar Saikia is an Indian actress. She played Lakshmi in Jeffrey D. Brown's film Sold.

<i>Jyothi Lakshmi</i> (film) 2015 Indian film

Jyothi Lakshmi is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh starring and presented by Charmy Kaur in the titular role. It was her productional debut. It is produced by Swethalana, Varun, Teja, C. V. Rao and C. Kalyan under the banners Sri Subha Swetha films and C. K. Entertainments. Sunil Kashyap composed the film's music and P.G. Vinda was the film's cinematographer. Production began on 25 February 2015 and principal photography began on 8 March 2015. The story is based on the novel Mrs Parankusam by Malladi Venkata Krishna Murthy. The story is loosely based on the Hindi film Sadak directed by Mahesh Bhatt.

<i>Love Sonia</i> 2018 Indian drama film

Love Sonia is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Tabrez Noorani and produced by David Womark. The film features newcomer Mrunal Thakur as the title character along with Riya Sisodiya, Freida Pinto, Demi Moore, Manoj Bajpayee, Richa Chadda, Anupam Kher, Adil Hussain, Rajkummar Rao, and Sai Tamhankar. Love Sonia had its world premiere at the London Indian Film Festival on 21 June 2018. The film was released in India on 14 September 2018.

<i>Dora</i> (2017 film) 2017 Indian film

Dora is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language supernatural thriller film directed by Doss Ramasamy and produced by A. Sarkunam. It stars Nayanthara along with Thambi Ramaiah, Harish Uthaman and Sulile Kumar. The film's production began in March 2016 and principal photography commenced in June 2016, with Dinesh B. Krishnan working as the cinematographer. The film was released on 31 March 2017 to negative reviews from critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manvita Kamath</span> Indian film actress (born 1992)

Manvita Kamath is an Indian actress who works in Kannada cinema. She started her career as a Radio Jockey in Radio Mirchi and made a switch to acting through the Kannada film Kendasampige (2015) directed by Duniya Soori.

<i>Mister</i> (film) 2017 film by Srinu Vaitla

Mister is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film directed by Srinu Vaitla. It features Varun Tej, Lavanya Tripathi and Hebah Patel in the lead roles.

<i>Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren</i> 2018 film by Arumuga Kumar

Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language black comedy film, written and directed by P. Arumuga Kumar. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi, Gautham Karthik, Gayathrie and Niharika Konidela. Viji Chandrasekhar, Ramesh Thilak, Daniel Annie Pope, and Rajkumar play supporting roles. The music was composed by Justin Prabhakaran with editing by R. Govindaraj and cinematography by Sree Saravanan. Production began in February 2017, and the film released on 2 February 2018.

<i>Lakshmi</i> (2018 film) 2018 film by A. L. Vijay

Lakshmi is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language musical dance film written and directed by A. L. Vijay. The film stars Ditya Bhande as the titular character along with Prabhu Deva and Aishwarya Rajesh in the lead roles alongside a supporting cast including Salman Yusuff Khan and Karunakaran. Produced by Prateek Chakravorty, Shruti Nallappa and R. Ravindran under the banner of Pramod Films and Trident Arts, the film features music composed by Sam C. S. and cinematography by Nirav Shah. The film released on 24 August 2018 on the eve of Varalakshmi Vratam and based on the theme of goddess Lakshmi.

<i>Thappad</i> 2020 Hindi-language drama film by Anubhav Sinha

Thappad (transl.Slap) is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Anubhav Sinha, starring Taapsee Pannu. The film released theatrically on 28 February 2020.This film got positive reviews from both critical and audience.

<i>Dhanusu Raasi Neyargale</i> Indian film

Dhanusu Raasi Neyargale is a 2019 Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Sanjay Bharathi and produced by Gokulam Gopalan. The film stars Harish Kalyan, Digangana Suryavanshi, and Reba Monica John in the lead roles. The music was composed by Ghibran with cinematography by PK Varma and editing by Kubendran. The film released on 6 December 2019.

<i>Aswathama</i> (film) 2020 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film

Aswathama is a 2020 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film directed by Ramana Teja in his directorial debut and written by Naga Shourya. Produced by Usha Mulpuri under Ira Creations banner, the film stars Shourya, Mehreen Pirzada, and Jisshu Sengupta while Sargun Kaur Luthra, Harish Uthaman, Prince Cecil and Jayaprakash play supporting roles. Ghibran scored the film with the composed soundtrack composed by Sricharan Pakala. The film follows a man who sets out to find the culprit behind mysterious impregnations of many women including his own sister.

References

  1. Assamese teenager Niyar Saikia acts in Hollywood movie – Sold, OK North East
  2. India and the US: a new wave of collaborative cinema, The Guardian
  3. How Emma Thompson Got Involved With Sold, A Film On Child Trafficking, Boemagazine.com
  4. Assam girl Niyar Saikia elated after acclaimed role in 'Sold', The Times of India
  5. "Being an Indian American, 'SOLD' was a very personal journey: Seirah Royin". May 11, 2016.
  6. "'Sold', an expose of child trafficking, wins Best feature Film Award at fifth annual DC South Asian Film Festival". The American Bazaar. September 13, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  7. Sold wins Audience Award at London Indian Film Festival, 'Bollyspice.com'
  8. AFME: PAST AWARD RECIPIENTS – BEST FEATURE FILM – 2014 recipient, 'afmxnm.com'
  9. Jane Charles [@producerjanec] (September 12, 2016). "SOLD won Best Picture at the DC South Asian Film Festival! @DCSAFF @SOLDMovie" (Tweet). Retrieved September 13, 2016 via Twitter.