It seems that scandals these days don’t become ‘real’ until they’re on a ‘reel’.

Turki Al-Dakheel, writing in the Arabic daily Al-Watan, discusses a film being shot in India about the plight of an Indian domestic servant who goes to work in Saudi Arabia. Not matter how Saudis see themselves, Al-Dakheel says, people don’t see themselves until they see their reflection in the eyes of others. Domestic servants see the inside of Saudi society. While they may keep their counsel during the period of their employment, there’s nothing to stop them from talking frankly once they’re back home. Talking frankly about the problems of domestics is something too many Saudis are still reluctant to do.

Were I to bet, I’d wager that this film will be available in the Kingdom only as a bootleg.

Our scandal in celluloid
TURKI AL-DAKHEEL | AL-WATAN

PEOPLE here are split in their opinion regarding the issue of housemaids. While some of them consider defending housemaids as justification for their crimes, others look at them as underdogs and say the injustice done to them by their sponsors cannot be condoned at all.

They say the mistakes committed by housemaids can be rectified through the law and the courts and police, not by beating and suppressing them.

Today, the issue has been picked up by cinema world. The brutal aggression against housemaids has become the theme of an Indian movie called “Gaddama,” which tells the story of an Indian housemaid working in Saudi Arabia and who is tortured by her employers.

Indian actress Kavya Madhavan, who played the role of the housemaid, said she was deeply affected by the role to the point of depression. She said it was difficult to obtain a license to shoot the film in Saudi Arabia, so many scenes were filmed in the United Arab Emirates.
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