| Kamli | |
| Starring: | Nandita Das Tanikella Bharani Shafi L.B. Sriram Roopa Devi |
| Director: | K.N.T. Sastry |
| Producer: | Apoorva Chitra B.C. Hari Charanaprasad Sukanya |
| Cinematography: | Sunny Joseph |
| Editing: | Beena Paul |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Telugu |
| Music: | Isaac Thomas Kottukapally |
Kamli is a 2006 Telugu film directed by K. N. T. Sastry. The film stars Nandita Das in the title role of a Lambada girl. The film's lyrics were written by Suddala Ashok Teja. The film was showcased at the Busan International Film Festival in Korea and the Asian Film Festival in Mumbai.[1]
Kamli tackles the issues of the sale of the girl child (rampant in the community) and the swapping of the male child, a practice fairly common in the urban areas—particularly in the hospitals.
Kamli (Nandita Das) is the focal point of the tale. She is forced to sell her firstborn girl. It is a well-known fact that the girl child is not welcome in most Indian communities and amongst the Lambadas she is considered an ill omen. The boys are wanted as they feed their parents. One gets a peek into her life, how she is married to Redya (Shafi), her toil for a job, how she puts up with an alcoholic husband, how she faces the 'contractors' and other men folk who have lecherous designs on her and so on.
When she delivers a male child, her infant is swapped, and a girl child is placed instead. This incident forces her to fight for her son. The media's role (in the building of hype of Kamli's fight), her dharna and the subsequent outcome with some melodrama are portrayed in a stereotypical manner.
Kamli was inspired by a K.N.T. Sastry's award-winning documentary harvesting babies. Sastry wanted to make a feature film based on the documentary about the plight of tribal women selling their babies for a pittance. He contacted and wanted to film with Soundarya as the main female lead of Kamli, but she died in a helicopter crash, and the role went to Nandita Das.