Film Commission Torino Piemonte

The documentary tells the history of the “Gulabi Gang”, where gulabi is for pink, with special attention to Sampat Pal Devi and Aarti Devi.
The Pink Gang was founded in 1990, but his leader Sampat Devi gave it a name only in 2006.
The gang is based in one of India’s poorest regions, which lies to the south of Dehli, in the Banda district, on the borders with Uttar and Madhya Pradesh.
The peculiarity of the gang is that all of its members are women. They all wear pink saris and are armed with a  lathi, a special stick with an ancient and contradictory origin.
At the beginning the actions did not seem to be made by a gang. They would rather look like isolated and inefficient protests made by some isolated individuals. The oral tradition, which is a basic element of the Indian history and culture, helped in bringing this events to the light, so that more and more women joined the gang of Sampat Devi. Sampat Devi is fifty, she has got a slim face and green eyes, and  some members of the local community compare her to the legendary Queen of Jhansi, Laxmibai.
The gang counts more than 400 women, and many of them are married. Their husbands agree with their decision to join the gang. The living condition in that region is often unbearable for the women, especially for those who belong to the “wrong” caste.
The Pink Gang defends the villages from every abuse, especially against criminals. In this area and in many other areas in India, people are often victim of violent bandits, who steal the few belongings of the people and sometimes abuse the women.
Until the birth of the gang the crimes suffered by the women were not even recorded after they had been declared to the police. No matter who committed the violence (a husband, a brother or a criminal) every official control  would give the same result: no crimes against women.
One of the most important and of the most efficient actions of the Gulabi Gang was the assault of a police office in order to force the policemen to record the violence suffered by the women. The policemen, who are often corrupted, were beaten up and threatened and finally forced to keep a record of the crimes committed on women. The same happened to the large landowners and the entrepreneurs under suspicion of exploitation of the workers, and to the corrupted or violent officials.
Aarti Devi is 22 years old, she has studied and took part to that action.
That one was one of her first actions. Even if she is very young she is very self-confident. She knows that her education is very important for the gang’s future. Sampat Devi knows it too.
Aarti is very interested in running the women’s fabric center that the Gulabi Gang is trying to raise funds for, and she plans to run a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics as well.
Violence is not the best way to see the acknowledgement of a right, but it is often the only possible way.
This is a meaningful example of the Indian situation. The traditional non-violence land is changing its way to consider life. The new generation thinks that rebellion can be the sole solution for a decent life.
In a certain way Aarti represents the future of this gang: she has the opportunity to turn into a reference point not only for the people living in the Banda district and in the surrounding area, but also for many young Indians who do not agree with the new model of development.
Following and interviewing those women, listening to their speeches, looking at their exercises with the lathi, showing the seat of the group (where Sampat Devi lives) and the places they live we will show the strength and the love for justice of those women, who are fighting with a stick for basic rights which should be acknowledged to everyone.