- Directed by Vinod Tiwari, the film stars Vindhya Tiwari, Prateek Shukla, and Ravi Bhatia in the lead.
- A special screening of the film was held at Wide Angle Multiplex in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
GOWRI MANICKAVASAGAM
Amidst ‘love jihad’ and ‘love kesari’ issues rocking the nation, ‘The Conversion’, a film that explores the topic of religious conversion, is set to hit the theatres worldwide on May 6. The director attributed the Censor Board’s rejection first and granting approval after seven months for its much delayed release.
Directed by Vinod Tiwari and produced by Raj Patel, Raj Nostrum, and Vipul Patel, ‘The Conversion’ stars Vindhya Tiwari, Prateek Shukla, and Ravi Bhatia in the lead portraying the triangle love.
The film revolves around the highly sensitive and contemporary social subject of forced religious conversions. It is a captivating drama that shows a girl’s dilemma of what happens in an inter-faith marriage that leads to religious conversion.
“We are seeing and reading about widespread cheating in the name of religion when it comes to inter-faith marriages. The data shows that minor girls in the age group of 12 years and above are the victims in overwhelming cases of such conversions in inter-faith marriages. The film is based on the real-life experiences of many women who had an inter-faith marriage. ‘The Conversion’ will touch a raw nerve of some sections of society but we are confident it will be appreciated by an overwhelming majority for presenting the truth,” says Director Vinod Tiwari.
To a query on inter-caste marriages, the director says that progressive Hindus have started accepting it and thus paving way for caste system.
Talking about her character, ‘Sakshi’, Vindhya Tiwari said, “I feel fortunate to be a part of a film which will bring social awareness especially amongst today’s youth about the religious conversions which happen during love marriages in India.”
She adds, “To choose a life partner is everyone’s right but just like that to stick to what religion you belong to is also one’s right. As the girl leaves her house post marriage, these conversions are forced on her, we hear about them but to see how it really happens and how it affects the girl is the story of Sakshi’s life.”
Prateek Shukla who portrays the character of Bablu said, “I have never played as challenging and vital a role as Bablu in my career. I have tried to give my 100 percent to bring Bablu to life on screen. This character will surely make a deep impact on the audience.”
Ahead of The Conversion’s release, an exclusive screening was organised at the Wide Angle Multiplex in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, which was attended by the director, producers, the star cast, and the who’s who of the Gujarati film and TV industry.
Janakraj Agrawal, President of Hindu Ecosystem, Gujarat, and Bhumika Patel, the Vice President, also attended the special pre-screening.
“Religious conversions or Love Jihad as it is commonly known has assumed worrying proportions with many cases being reported on a near-daily basis in the country. Many states have framed laws to crack down on instances of forced religious conversion in inter-faith marriages. ‘The Conversion’ is our humble attempt to highlight the problem before the masses and serve as a warning for young and adolescent girls before they fall into such a trap,” said Satya Dosapati.
The Conversion also stars Vibha Chibber, Sunita Rajwar, Amit Behl, Sandeep Yadav, Sushil Singh and Manoj Joshi.
It has been written by Vandana Tiwari and Rakesh Tripathi, while Anamik Chauhan has composed the music.
