Chingaari

Kalpana Lajmi is an important figure in Indian womens' liberationist filmmaking. After working on documentaries, she began to write some of her own scripts, which centered on independent heroines who were able to make their own life choices. All her films have women protagonists who defy stereotypes associated with marital life and sexuality, which, in theme, treatment and emotional charge, were far ahead of their times—with womens' liberationist and queer characters seen as outcasts in Indian society.