Chote Nawab’s Fauzia represents many young women trying to assert their individuality, says Plabita Borthakur

Plabita Borthakur plays the free-spirited Fauzia in Chote Nawab, a coming-of-age film by Yoodlee Films. The feature film, directed by Kumud Chaudhary, is set in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, and according to the makers, it tells the story about the "secrets that patriarchy breeds in its suffocating confines”.

Borthakur also played a rebel in her debut feature Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017) and was recently seen in the Amazon Prime web-series Breathe: Into The Shadows with Abhishek Bachchan.

Only micro percentage of women are speaking up: Lipstick Under My Burkha actress Plabita Borthakur

The young actress said, “It was very rewarding to play Fauzia because she represents so many young women trying to assert their individuality. She lives fiercely, speaks her mind, flirts with danger but her priorities are very clear. She knows what she wants from life. She has seen the women in her family being oppressed, denied all happiness and she is not willing to settle. This last quality is what bonded me to her. The fact that she is not willing to settle.”

Chote Nawab also stars Svar Kamble, Akshay Oberoi and Lalit Tiwari. Kamble played Saif Ali Khan’s son in Chef (2017) and in this feature, he plays the young London returnee Junaid who tries to fit into this traditional Muslim family and in the process develops a crush on his cousin.

Borthakur enjoyed the experience of working on the film and recalled, “There were so many seasoned actors in the film and it was great learning from them. The film on the surface is about a family wedding but it is also about the challenges women face while dealing with misogyny and patriarchal patterns within their own family.”

“There is so much casual sexism all around and the film makes us aware of how language also dehumanises and objectifies women,” she added.

“The climax is shattering because it brings out all the dormant ugliness within the family structure but also gives us hope that a positive change is imminent.”

Last year, the feature won the Best Feature Film Award at the Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati. The makers of the film have not yet announced a release date for the film.