Ave Maria Short Film Review: Vanita Omung Kumar Showcases Important Issue of Child Sexual Abuse

Director: Vanita Omung Kumar
Cast: Annup Sonii, Lin Laishram, Shivika Rishi, Nitinn R Miranni
Language: English/ Goan Konkani
Duration: 24 minutes

Story: The short film aims at spreading awareness about child abuse and its effects on children's mental health. It follows Maria who is being abused by a family member but is having a hard time expressing it to her parents until she feels safe enough to do so.

Review: Directed by Vanita Omung Kumar, the short film is a cry for the victims of child abuse and their untold stories. Bollywood too has made efforts to tackle the issue in the past with films like Page 3 talking about authorities' neglect towards child abuse while the 2001 release Monsoon Wedding brought up the need for family's support for the victim. In recent times, we have had big stars taking on the subject, while Alia Bhatt played a victim herself in Highway, Vidya Balan's Kahaani 2 had her fighting for the child's right from her own family who failed to understand the pain related to the incident. Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh's Gunday talked about people with power exploiting orphaned children for sexual abuse.

In Ave Maria, early on, we meet Maria, a shy young child who clings on to her mother as they head home from church. While it seems like a regular day for them, the cinematography rightly depicts the mood of the film and its characters. Maria is known to shy away from people unnaturally and remains aloof from all family members and friends. While stressed by her behaviour, her parents usually have disagreements, but Maria has her own story to tell which she is hiding deep down.

Maria sees the world differently because of her experiences and is unable to make sense of everything as others do. It can be seen as part of the film's theme and location, as well. It quickly takes a turn to a more chilling space when we start to see what she is going through until she finally opens up to her close companion, a doll. Ave Maria limits the presence of other characters with minimum dialogues and makes Maria's pain the running force, but at times, those few dialogues take away the film's strong presence and add an unwanted awkwardness. The leading child actress, Shivika Rishi does her best as the victim. While she has almost no dialogues to speak, she does the best with a depressed face that seems like a cry for help from the start.

The film ends by sharing child abuse statistics in the country and the need for parents to be more sensitive towards their children. The short film is presented in association with Aarambh India, which started the Break the Silence initiative with an aim in safeguarding children from abuse. Overall, the short film is a heavy burden on the young child actress, but she gets the point across beautifully. It is a well-guarded effort, aiming to bring light to the issue of child abuse.

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