Bas Ab Bahut Ho Gaya- Enough Is Enough

Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Kapoor, Kiran Karnik and Feroz Abbas Khan to select winners of film contest to eliminate violence against women and girls

College students from across India have stepped up to be part of Bas Ab Bahut Ho Gaya - a campaign to mobilise youth, build awareness and change attitudes on violence, especially against women and girls. The campaign is led by Population Foundation of India, in association with Farhan Akhtar's initiative MARD, and noted director Feroz Abbas Khan. As part of the campaign a digital film contest for college students on the theme of ending violence against women and girls was organized across India. The campaign now has on board a jury of eminent personalities, including film director Shekhar Kapoor, veteran actress Shabana Azmi, Padma Shri and telecommunications veteran Kiran Karnik and national award-winning director Feroz Abbas Khan.

The digital film contest ran from 30 May 15 September 2017. The contest was publicised through online promotion as well as panel discussions in about 600 colleges across the country. The jury will select the three award winners of the contest. The winner gets a cash prize of Rs. 3 lakhs. The second and third prize winners get Rs. 2 lakhs and Rs. 1 lakh respectively. Apart from the jury selection, the campaign will also run a Viewers' Choice' poll for a special prize.

Speaking about the film contest, Feroz Abbas Khan said, "It takes courage to present a sensitive issue after viewing it through the lenses. All the participants have done a fair job and as a jury member, it wasn't easy to narrow down the list to 3 best films. But all the jury members have used their expertise and made this tough decision. We cannot wait to bring the winning films for audience viewing.

Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India said, "We reached out to young people who are the real change-makers of this country to speak out and create awareness on this critical issue. We are looking forward to announcing the winners after the eminent jury members view the films and pick the best ones. The campaign's objective is to foster discussion and generate awareness, thereby creating a groundswell of opinion to end violence against women and girls.

The film-making contest is a part of Bas Ab Bahut Ho Gaya- Enough is Enough, a campaign that aims at generating debate and promoting positive change in cultural and social norms related to the status of women in India. National celebrities have joined this campaign with messages that motivate young girls and women to stand up against violence, and show boys and men that violence is not a sign of masculinity. Apart from the digital film contest, the Bas Ab Bahut Ho Gaya campaign will present six films on topics related to gender-based violence, of which three on Vidya Balan, Sania Mirza and Nirbhaya' have been digitally released. The campaign will culminate with a concert in Mumbai, where the winners of the digital film contest will be awarded.