Write a short summary of what happens in the film

A heart-wrenching film that captures a mother’s journey of realisation to course-correction. The film opens with the mother walking in her son’s room cleaning up while talking to her married daughter on the phone. The son is getting ready to go out. Her daughter is confiding in her that she is quitting her job to take care of household duties. As the mother questions her son-in-law’s lack of knowledge when it comes to household chores, she realises she too has raised her son the same way. The impact of her action hits her hard and she immediately takes a step towards making a change – teaches her son to do his own laundry.

Cultural/Context information for the jury

There is a new India in the making, where daughters are being raised to be independent and contribute to the households (76% of girls being enrolled into secondary education as on 2016 vs. just 37% in 2000. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics). But the way sons are raised remains unchanged. They are pampered and are never expected do the housework-making them dependant at home. Whereas daughters, though excelling professionally today - are always expected to take off from their jobs the moment the housework becomes demanding as their partners have no clue how to do the housework. We decided to challenge this socially corrosive gender bias by creating Sons #ShareTheLoad – a provocative social movement urging parents to inculcate the importance of doing the housework in young boys so that both sons and daughters realise their full potential - washing away the stain of inequality at home starting today.

Provide the full film script in English.

The film begins with the mother on the phone as she talks to her daughter who works and lives in a different city and is married. The mother is seen walking from the kitchen to her son’s room after making Puranpolis (Traditional Indian sweet). Camera follows the mother. She enters her 19-year-old son’s room, that looks visibly messy. He has his headphones on and is busy with his phone, as she gives him the puranpoli. (We catch her in the middle of the conversation) MOM: Me? I am making Puranpoli… your brother’s favourite. She starts to pick up his shoes and socks that are strewn around. There are clothes scattered all around the room. She continues talking with the phone tucked between shoulder and ear, while the son is glued to his Phone. He is playing a game. MOM: The mess he has made of your old room, just don’t ask… You tell me Riu, how come you are calling so early this morning? Didn’t go to the office? Her tone now getting pensive and she slowly sits on the bed, startled. MOM: What? You quit your job? How come? Her daughter tells her she is planning to quit her job because she is unable to manage the housework and office after marriage. This is implied in the mother’s reactions. MOM: (she pauses as she listens to the other side…she looks surprised) You were doing so well… we were all feeling so proud… (her voice drops) Now suddenly this? Riu…why? Her son notices the mother looking tensed, so he whispers to her asking what happened. SON: What happened mom? MOM (Whispering): Your sister quit her job! He asks why as a gesture, she gestures showing her hand as if to say wait, as she listens. The son is the meantime, keeps his plate on bed next to where the mom is sitting and gets up as if getting ready for college. He can hear his mom now. MOM: But Riu… after marriage household responsibilities are bound to increase… but it’s not like you are alone… Akash is also there to help you out. Right? (listens and gets a little upset with the son-in-law) MOM: What do you mean he doesn’t know how to do household work? How can he not know? That’s when we see the brother getting ready for college standing in her line of vision. He removes his shirt and as a matter of habit throws it on the bed carelessly. He sniffs a t-shirt that is in the cupboard and chucks it to the side. The mother sees this and has a moment of realisation as she says, ‘How can he not know?’ while is she talking about her son in law, in front her own son is just the same. The mother is now just noticing her own son as she listens to the other side. Her eyes are fixed on her son. He opens his cupboard to look for what to wear. But the cupboard is in a complete mess with clothes kept in a haphazard manner. She just stares at her son lost in thought. MOM: Hmm, He might not know. (after self- introspection) That’s when, the son who has removed a t-shirt to wear has just worn it and as he pulls the shirt from his head, he notices his mother who is saying something so deep and sounds disturbed. MOM: The mistake is ours. We teach our daughters to stand on their own feet… but we don’t teach our sons to lend a hand. MOM: You think about this once more. Will call you again at night. Mom keeps the phone. The brother doesn’t know what to say. Things start sinking in. We see the mother lost in thought until she suddenly starts picking up the son’s clothes that are lying in various places- his study table, under the bed, on the bed, under where he is sitting etc. and she puts it in a laundry basket. She is hit by the realisation that she has raised her daughter to be strong and independent but living with a man who takes up no share of work. Because she herself has done the same with her son. She has not prepared her son to be a responsible husband in future. All these thoughts are running in her mind but in her action, she is just removing scattered clothes of her son one after another, one after another…. SON: Ma? What happened? Instead of going to the washing machine with the basket, she actually walks towards him. She tells her son extending her hand with a basket of all the(his) clothes in her hand. MOM: I’ve made a mistake… I’m making amends. It’s as if she is asking him to step up, it’s high time. Stumped, he takes the basket from her hand. SUPERS: Are we teaching our sons what we’ve been teaching our daughters? Cut to, they are seen together by the washing machine. She opens the door of the machine & switches it on. He dunks the clothes into the machine as she takes the Ariel Liquid bottle. She is teaching him to pour the liquid into the slot as he looks keenly. Next to the Ariel bottle, we see the super appear: - Sons #ShareTheLoad