Chameli (2000)

Chameli was once a trusting fifteen year old Nepali girl from a remote village in the Himalayas. Like most girls her age, she often dreamt of someday marrying, starting a family, having children around the home, and living her life the way her family had for generations- to fulfill the destiny that was her birth right as a girl born to Nepal. But through a twist in fate, evil in the form of a man named Amar wandered into her village one day and after skillfully manipulating the situation to pay into his favor, within a week, Chameli and Amar became husband and wife. With promises of great riches and security for her entire family, the arrangements were swiftly made by Chameli's unsuspecting parents. As the newly weds left Chameli's village for Amar's home in the Terai, the mystery of the world which had always lay just beyond the hills was revealed to Chameli. Like a new born experiencing the universe for the first time, her expectations of a good life with a man she had come to love, grew by the hour. While his behavior was sometimes unusual to her, she had no way of knowing the extent of the evil which loomed within. Even after departing for Mumbai, Chameli never once suspected that the things were not as they should be.

There are few things more disturbing in life which compare with Amar's ultimate betrayal of Chameli. In a small back room of Kamathipura, a notorious area of Mumbai, Chameli's ultimate fate was decided forever. She was sold like an animal to the owner of the brothel for a mere $200. After being delivered to the house and told to wait, the man she had married and had come to accept as her husband never returned. After being saved from the brothel after many years, Chameli finally reached her home in village Nepal where she was banished. The story reaches a peak near the end where Chameli meets up with her "so-called" husband and the full fury of the injustice she had suffered comes to the surface.

The film was produced and directed by Ravi Baral. The film have received several international and national awards.