The World Before Her

Apr 8 2014 TV-PG 1h 30m
Documentary

Moving between two extremes - the intimate verite drama of the Miss India pageant's rigorous beauty "bootcamp" and the intense regime of a militant Hindu fundamentalist camp for young girls. The World Before Her delivers a provocative portrait of India and its current cultural conflicts during a key transitional era in the country's modern history.

Plot

Ruhi Singh is a small town girl with big city dreams. She sets off to Bombay to win the title of Miss India--a launching pad to fame and a surefire way to stand out in a country of 1.2 billion people. Just hours from the Miss India beauty boot camp is another training ground for girls--that of the Durga Vahini, a Hindu nationalist group exclusively for women. Here we meet Prachi Trivedi, a young, fearsome drill sergeant training Indian girls to fight against Western culture, Islam and Christianity by any means necessary including violence. Gliding back and forth between the action of the two camps, the dreams and conflicts of India and young Indian women are laid bare-- the two opposing worlds aren't as far away from each other as they seem.

Written by

Nisha Pahuja

Directed by

Nisha Pahuja

Production Countries

Canada, Germany, United States of America

Production Companies

ARTE, TVO, Impact Partners, Knowledge, ZDF, Storyline Entertainment

Languages

English

Awards

7 wins & 5 nominations

Scores
# of Votes
865
Average Rating
7.6 out of 10
Metascore
77
Popularity
NA