Bollywood actress Mrunal Thakur and survivors of prostitution from Kolkata based NGO, Apne Aap Women Worldwide and Vivel Ab Samjhauta Nahin graced a special press meet in Kolkata. A special screening of Love Sonia’ a feature film on the courage of a young girl, Sonia, battling global sex-trafficking was also shown at the event.

The Kolkata screening of the film was presented by Apne Aap Worldwide and Vivel Ab Samjhauta Nahin and supported by Alliance Francais and Goethe Institute.

The special screening of ‘Love Sonia’ seeks to raise awareness on the perils of global sex trade and the rising vulnerabilities of the girl child. It is a heart wrenching portrayal of the journey of a 17 year old girl from being a victim to a survivor.

Directed by Tabrez Noorani, the movie is inspired from the stories of Apne Aap survivors and incidents from Ms. Ruchira Gupta’s thought provoking documentaries on sex-trafficking in Nepal and India – The Selling of Innocents, and Land of Missing Children.

Ruchira Gupta, Founder of Apne Aap said that the director spent time with the survivors and treated them as knowledge experts. This has led to the making of a film which reflects the dynamics of the sex-trade. She also mentioned that trafficking is a million dollar organized industry and steps have to be taken to eradicate this evil from the society.

Mrunal Thakur, who plays the young protagonist Sonia, mentioned that with the help of the girls who have been survivors she have been easily able to portray the role. “I am a headstrong girl. I never cry easily. But when I listen to the stories, I cried a lot. I never knew that people could be transported in containers. I always thought containers had oil or machine parts. But when I heard their stories, I understood the dehumanization happening in people”.

The survivors of prostitution posed with Vivel’s Ab Samjhauta Nahin placards with the actress at the event.

Priyanka Dutta