Actress Salony Luthra's Forbidden to premiere at New York Indian Film Festival

With the festival season on the roll, actress Salony Luthra is excited for the premiere of her film, Forbidden, in the New York Indian Film Festival 2018. Directed by Vibha Gulati, the film revolves around the real life story of Jasleen, a Punjabi woman who fell victim to an honour killing by her family. The film will be screened on 11 May in New York city.

Gulati started her career as assistant to Rajkumar Hirani in Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), before working on films like Bedabrata Pain's Chittagong (2012), Rohan Sippy's Nautanki Saala! (2013) and Prashant Nair's Umrika (2016).

Forbidden stars Salony Luthra as Jasleen, a woman who falls in love with an Indian-American, only to find her vindictive father (Gulshan Grover) on their hunt.

Speaking about the film, Luthra said, "Forbidden is a true love story of a very courageous girl born and raised in the New York City who paid the price to follow her heart. The issue of honour killing is not just a third world problem as they call it but it is present everywhere across borders, religions and sections of the society.

"With this film, I only hope and pray that I have been able to do justice to this courageous girl’s life story and many other girls who have been victims to honour killing. The mission of this film is to end violence against women living outside of their native countries. In addition, it is to ignite a social change that will compel the legal system to take action against criminals who commit heinous crimes against women in the name of family honour."  

The story is also written by Gulati, who based it on a friend's murder.

In the director's statement on the festival website, Gulati wrote, "Forbidden is inspired by the true story of my friend who was brutally murdered for being in love with someone her family did not approve of. This work is my tribute to this amazing woman who had the courage and the conviction to follow her heart and stand up to her family.

"Women from first world countries also face this societal evil, which is growing at an alarming rate. Moreover, sadly, one can belong to any religion, nationality, socio-economic status, and/or education level and still be a victim of this atrocity at the hands of their own family members."

The director added, "The mission of this film is to end violence against women living outside of their native countries. In addition, it is to ignite a social change that will compel the legal system to take action against criminals who commit heinous crimes against women in the name of family honor."