''Meena'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the ...

in India that

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

d on June 26, 2014, in New York City. This film marks the directorial debut of

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award. Liu has star ...

, Colin K. Gray, and Megan Raney.

Premise

The film is based on the true story Meena Khatun, a girl from India, who was forced into sex slavery since age 11. In the film, the character is titled Meena Hasina and is shown to be of age 8 instead of the original 11.

Cast

Tannishtha Chatterjee Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress and director best known in the west for her performance in the British film ''Brick Lane'' (2007), the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name Sparsh Khanchandani Sparsh Khanchandani is an Indian film and television child actress. She debuted with lead character of Young Ichcha in successful and long-running show ''Uttaran'' for which she received fame and critical acclaim for her performance in the ser ...

as young Meena Hasina *

Himani Shivpuri Himani Bhatt Shivpuri (born 24 October 1960) is an Indian actress known for her character roles in Bollywood films and Hindi soap operas. Her films include '' Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!'' (1994), ''Raja'' (1995), '' Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1 ...

as Ainul Bibi *

Vikas Shrivastav Vikas Shrivastav is an Indian actor who has appeared primarily in Hindi films. Career Vikas Shrivasatav was born in Bihar and grew up in Uttar Pradesh. He worked in theatre since he was young. He started his career as an actor with ''Gangaajal' ...

as Manooj *Prerna Punjabi as Naina *Almaas as Kamala

Production

Filming began in Mumbai, India in 2010 and is based on the first chapter of ''

Half the Sky ''Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide'' is a nonfiction book by husband and wife team Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn published by Knopf in September 2009. The book argues that the oppression of women world ...

'' by

Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof was ...

and

Sheryl WuDunn Sheryl WuDunn (born November 16, 1959) is an American business executive, writer, lecturer, and Pulitzer Prize winner. A senior banker focusing on growth companies in technology, new media and the emerging markets, WuDunn also works with doubl ...

References

External links

''Meena''
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Meena the Movie official website
American documentary films American crime films Documentary films about organized crime Films about pedophilia Documentary films about child abuse 2010s crime films 2014 documentary films Documentary films about slavery Documentary films about prostitution in India Works about sex trafficking Forced prostitution Films about child prostitution Documentary films about poverty 2014 films 2010s Hindi-language films Women in India 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{bio-documentary-film-stub