After the global buzz around Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, actor Taha Shah Badussha is stepping into a far more unsettling narrative with Paro. The film explores the disturbing reality of bride trafficking, where women are stripped of identity and collectively called “Paro.” During an exclusive conversation with Filmfare, Shah reflects on confronting ideas of masculinity and male privilege, researching the lives of trafficked brides through documentaries and interviews, and why the film, backed by actor-producer Trupti Bhoir, aims to spark awareness and dignity for thousands of women who have long remained invisible.
What did you have to unlearn about power, male privilege and masculinity before stepping into the world of Paro?
First of all, an awareness was built where I had to understand the plight of these women. I had to understand what they were going through. Also, my mother has been a single mom she has been taking care of us. So, a lot of it resonated with me because of some of my mother’s experiences as a single mom. I could understand Trupti Bhoir’s take. She is the actress and the producer of the film. She has undergone a lot of research and took interviews of some of the women as well. I was very moved when I saw that. I realised that the only right choice after Heeramandi would be this. It should do something good for me and I should utilise my acting abilities to send a message across which may help all these women.
We are so lucky that we could take this project to places. In fact, 60,000 of the women who are in the community of Paro are going to be getting identification. They are going to get the respect that they deserve. It’s a win. So it has definitely changed me. It has made me get in touch with my more vulnerable side. I am knowing my empathetic and compassionate sides as well.
What does Paro mean?
Paro is the community of white slaves. They are known as Paro. There are hundreds in some village. Everyone is called Paro. They have no name, which is extremely sad. This is the fight to give them the honour of having their own name.
Did you engage yourself with real accounts of bride trafficking? How did the research go?
The research was mostly all the documentaries and a couple of interviews, which were shot by Trupti extensively. And more than that, there was a documentary made on BBC. We watched that. We are also all aware of things from different films and the news too. We know about enslavement or trafficking too. But then getting trafficked, getting married to a man and still being called a Paro, then not having the rights over your children, over your family or over your earnings – it means you are basically a slave. But you are a bride slave. That is next level of horror.
How did Trupti’s performance affect the way you approached your character?
I think it’s always a give and take. It depends on how we perform each scene and what the director tells us to do. But as performers, we feed off each other mostly.
How was the response at film festivals?
When a film ends at least film festivals, people start clapping. But after Paro was shown, we saw that people just went very numb. It took a while for everyone to snap out of it. That kind of reaction means that we have shaken something from within. When we were promoting the film in Chicago, we saw many shed a tear or two as well. That says something.
There is often a pressure to package social films in accordance with global validation and what global audiences would like. How did Paro resist that?
I think it’s an honest story. And the subject is very hard hitting. It hasn’t been spoken about. It is going to build awareness. It is not just a movie for entertainment purposes, it is also something which leaves a message and a moral. It travels through languages and barriers.
Also Read:Â EXCLUSIVE: Taha Shah on Heeramandi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and more
