A mother sells her baby for rice. This 90-minute gut-punch won't let you look away.
Kamli was actually inspired by a K.N.T. Sastry's award winning documentary harvesting babies. K.N.T. Sastry wanted to make a feature film based on the documentary about the plight of tribal women selling their babies for a pittance. He actually contacted and wanted to make film with Soundarya as the main female lead of Kamli, but she died in a helicopter crash, and finally made the film with Nandita Das.
Acting
Nandita Das delivers silence that screams louder than dialogue.
Direction
Sastry's documentary roots show—no melodrama, just unbearable reality.
Production
Authentic tribal village locations, not sets. You feel the dust.
Director
K.N.T. Sastry
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Soundarya died in a 2004 helicopter crash during Karnataka election campaigning; this was her intended comeback to socially conscious cinema.
Based on real practice in Andhra tribal belt where poverty forces baby selling—Sastry's documentary 'Harvesting Babies' won the National Film Award.
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