Of India's 1.4 billion people, less than 5% live in the most developed, most "modern" cities such as Mumbai and Delhi. The rest of the population resides in rural and semi-rural areas, and "still-developing" cities. In "The Newlyweds," journalist Mansi Choksi focuses on the lives and loves in this 95% of the country where ancient hierarchies, traditions and belief systems persist alongside the growing ubiquity of mobile phones and social media.
Over half a decade, Choksi follows three couples who oppose their community-enforced systems of caste, religion and heteronormativity to be with their chosen partners. They endanger not only their own lives but also those of their families. In the end, some of these family members also become their worst enemies.
All three couples are under the age of 35, which, as Choksi reminds us, is the case for two in every three Indians. That her project coincides with the rise of Hindu fundamentalism since the 2014 election of Narendra Modi as the country's prime minister is no accident. As she tracks the highs and lows of these young lives, we see how, despite changes such as the strikedown of Section 377 (the British-era penal code that criminalized homosexuality), fundamentalism is rooted deep within all parts of the country.
