ParchedMovies like Parched
- Key Features:
- Female friendship, Cultural misunderstanding, Rural setting, Womens rights, Social issues, Personal growth, Tradition vs modernity, Empowerment, India
- Tone:
- serious, earnest
- Target Audience:
- Feminist film viewers, World cinema enthusiasts, Social issue documentary fans, Character-driven drama viewers
- Emotional Arc:
- Oppression → Resilience → Liberation
Parched

In the arid landscape of Rajasthan, four women navigate their way through personal and cultural difficulties.
Parched
A young woman's life is shattered into pieces when her husband slaps her at a party, causing her to question what this relationship stands for.

Four ordinary women, inflicted by silly societal norms, have to steal, lie, cheat and hide in order to lead the lives that they rightfully deserve.

An anthology of four stories that sheds light on modern relationships from the viewpoint of the Indian woman.

A poverty-stricken woman raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, always sticks to her own moral code.

Four lives intersect along the Ganges: a low caste boy in hopeless love, a daughter ridden with guilt of a sexual encounter ending in a tragedy, a hapless father with fading morality, and a spirited child yearning for a family, long to escape the moral constructs of a small-town.

A government scheme sees newly widowed Santosh inherit her husband’s job as a police constable in the rural badlands of Northern India. When a low-caste girl is found raped and murdered, she is pulled into the investigation under the wing of charismatic feminist inspector Sharma.

A woman threatens to leave her husband unless he installs a toilet in their home. To win back her love and respect, he heads out on a journey to fight against the backward society.

Four friends from a sleepy little village in Punjab share a common dream: to go to England. Their problem is that they have neither the visa nor the ticket. A soldier alights from a train one day, and their lives change. He gives them a soldier's promise: He will take them to the land of their dreams. What follows is a hilarious and heartwarming tale of a perilous journey through the desert and the sea, but most crucially through the hinterlands of their mind.

In an effort to improve feminine hygiene, a machine that creates low-cost biodegradable sanitary pads is installed in a rural village in Northern India. Using the machine, a group of local women is employed to produce and sell pads, offering them newfound independence and helping to destigmatize menstruation for all.

A small-town boy needs to break through the class divide to gain acceptance from his childhood sweetheart who is in love with big city ideals.

An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Quran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.

A comedy/drama set in a village and centered on a battle of the sexes, where women threaten to withhold sexual favours as long as the men refuse to install a water pipe.

After a group of friends graduate from Delhi University, they listlessly haunt their old campus, until a British filmmaker casts them in a film she's making about freedom fighters under British rule. Although the group is largely apolitical, the tragic death of a friend owing to local government corruption awakens their patriotism. Inspired by the freedom fighters they represent in the film, the friends collectively decide to avenge the killing.

Poonam, a traditionally brought-up young woman, is to marry Prem, a groom chosen by her uncle. Poonam and Prem's faith and love are to be tested however, when an accident occurs and Poonam might be scarred for life.

A lonely 40-ish man, likely to remain a bachelor, has a chance to find the love of his life when he falls for a vivacious young woman.

The year is 1938, and Mahatma Gandhi's groundbreaking philosophies are sweeping across India, but 8-year-old Chuyia, newly widowed, must go to live with other outcast widows on an ashram. Her presence transforms the ashram as she befriends two of her compatriots.

Bitti Mishra is a bohemian Bareilly girl who falls deeply in love with Pritam Vidrohi, an author because she admires his progressive way of thinking. Finding him though proves to be as hard as looking for a needle in the haystack. So Bitti seeks the help of the local printing press-owner, Chirag Dubey on her journey of love.

Impoverished priest Harihar Ray leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. His wife, Sarbojaya, looks after their rebellious daughter, Durga, and young son, Apu. The children enjoy the small pleasures of their difficult life.

In vivid images, the documentary-like story of a drover and his family in the northern badlands of Brazil during the drought. A family in the search of new hope and destiny.

An aspiring actress in a small town in Rajasthan agrees to bear a child for a visiting couple seeking a surrogate mother, but her experience takes an unexpected turn when they refuse to have the child anymore.

Upon realizing the extent to which women are affected by their menses, a man sets out to create a sanitary pad machine and to provide inexpensive sanitary pads to the women of rural India.

In 2001, somewhere in rural India, two young brides get accidentally swapped on a train. In the ensuing chaos, they both encounter a host of colourful characters, resulting in hilarious and unexpected consequences.

In 1900s India, Calcuttan zamindar Devdas Mukherjee — unable to marry his lover — takes up alcohol and the company of a courtesan to alleviate the pain.

After his wife passes away trying to cross a mountain, Manjhi, out of sheer rage, sets on a quest to carve a road through the treacherous mountain.

Indian migrant worker Najeeb Muhammad goes to Saudi Arabia to earn money. However, in a twist of fate, he finds himself living a slave-like existence, herding goats in the middle of the desert.

When her father is killed in a road accident, Trishna's family expect her to provide for them. The rich son of an entrepreneur starts to restlessly pursue her affections, but are his intentions as pure as they seem?

A vibrant, hopelessly romantic physiotherapist meets a handsome young Rajput prince who is the complete opposite of her – and is engaged to someone else.

On a trekking trip, an introverted Naina falls for a charming ex-classmate, whose thirst for adventure drives them apart. Years later, their paths cross again.

Roshan, an NRI, arrives in Old Delhi with his ailing grandmother and starts to rediscover himself before getting caught in a religious dispute that shakes the once peaceful neighborhood.

A young, aspiring filmmaker falls in love with a girl who moves into the house above his, but her sophisticated nature does more harm than good to him.

A young IPS officer’s new posting in rural India has him confronting caste disparities and uncomfortable truths in the face of a gruesome crime. When three girls go missing in the fictional village of Lalgaon, two of them are found dead and there is no trace of the third one. Where is she and who is responsible for this heinous act?

Five teenage girls navigate the twists and turns of their complicated emotional lives, and learn the secrets of the heart through their friendship.

A shy simple traditional girl leaves her family in India for her new husband in London, where she meets a shameless flirt and a complicated party girl.

Kasi and Suni are close friends who studied together in an engineering college. Assi, who comes to Kerala to study engineering under the North East quota falls in love with Kasi. Certain incidents that follow set Kasi and Suni on a road trip to Nagaland on two motorcycles. The incidents that happen during this road adventure forms the film.

Yogi and Jaya, who have polar opposite personalities and sensibilities, meet via an online dating app. This encounter turns into so much more when the two travel to Rishikesh.

Chitti Babu begins to suspect his elder brother's life is in danger after they team up to lock horns with their village president and overthrow his unlawful 30 year old regime.

A small-town girl finally realizes her dream of becoming a famous supermodel but soon finds out that there's a price for her glamorous new life.

A man pursues a woman who is already engaged and eventually gets married to her. Differences between the two lead to a bitter separation that threatens to destroy their relationship forever.

A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.

Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.

In the Old West, a 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman with whom he is infatuated.

A sexual assault victim, unjustly tried for the attempted murder of her attacker, is defended by a retired lawyer who challenges India's rape culture.

Rani, a 24-year-old homely girl, decides to go on her honeymoon alone when her fiancé calls off the wedding. Traveling around Europe, she finds joy, makes friends, and gains new-found independence.

A journey of three restless young people who junk the society's syllabus for finding love and decide to follow their heart.

A poor young woman, who dreams of Bollywood fame, is caught in a love triangle between her childhood friend and a famous actor.

Three best friends juggle life as 20-somethings in Mumbai, where romance, ambition and heartbreak collide with the addictive draw of social media.

Three strong-willed women strive to forge their own paths amidst the wide-open plains of the American Northwest: a lawyer forced to subdue a troubled client; a wife and mother whose plans to construct her dream home reveal fissures in her marriage; and a lonely ranch hand who forms an ambiguous bond with a young law student.

Sweety has to contend with her over-enthusiastic family that wants her to get married but the ultimate truth is that her love might not find acceptance in her family and society.

Three ordinary air hostesses from Mumbai embark on a journey to pursue their dreams but find themselves caught up in unexpected misfortunes.

Avinash, a dejected soul stuck in a dead-end job shares a strange relationship with his father. He holds him responsible for crushing his dreams. However, he is left pondering upon this longstanding hatred when he hears of his father’s untimely demise.

A Hindu man and a Muslim woman fall in love in a small village and move to Mumbai, where they have two children. However, growing religious tensions and erupting riots threaten to tear the family apart.

Duped and sold to a brothel, a young woman fearlessly reclaims her power, using underworld connections to preside over the world she was once a pawn in.

Gym-freak brat Rocky falls in love with Rani, who comes from a well-educated Bengali family. Being from polar opposite worlds, the two decide to switch their families to adjust to each other's cultures and backgrounds and to know if their marriage will survive. Rocky and Rani are trapped in a world where they are united by love but divided by families and the ultimate question is will they fit in?

Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown to attend a tragic funeral. But his return opens a decades-old wound - the unsolved death of a teenage girl.

A pregnant woman from a primitive tribal community, searches desperately for her husband, who is missing from police custody. So as to find her husband and seek justice for them, as their voice, a High Court advocate rises in support. Will their battle for justice succeed?

Raj is a heartbreaker. His love stories with Mahi, Radhika and Gayatri finally teach him about love and life in their own sweet, sexy and sassy way.

A petty thief is put on trial for the attempted murder of a lawyer. Through a series of flashbacks, the intertwining lives of the thief, the lawyer, and the thief's defense lawyer are illustrated.

Manu comes to India to find a bride for himself and falls for Tanu at first sight but she is a free spirited girl has no plans of marrying him.

An old villager deeply in love with his cow goes to the capital for a while. While he's there, the cow dies and now the villagers are afraid of his possible reaction to it when he returns.

A gay cop and a lesbian teacher enter a sham marriage to pacify their families but find that relationships — both real and fake — aren't all that easy.

An unconventional thinker helps a budding cinematographer gain a new perspective on life.

India, 1918. On the outskirts of Tumbbad, a cursed village where it always rains, Vinayak, along with his mother and his brother, care of a mysterious old woman who keeps the secret of an ancestral treasure that Vinayak gets obsessed with.

Dev and Maya are both married to different people. Settled into a life of domestic ritual, and convinced that they are happy in their respective relationships, they still yearn for something deeper and more meaningful, which is precisely what they find in each other.

A man and a woman come from two very different cultural backgrounds, and decide that they won't get married until they convince their parents. As feared, differences between the families pose a hurdle.

Filmmaker Jafar Panahi and actor Behnaz Jafari travel to a tiny village after receiving a plea for help from a girl whose family has forbidden her from studying acting. Amusing encounters abound, but they soon discover that the local hospitality is rivaled by the desire to protect old traditions.

A 25-year-old man tries to suppress his embarrassment when his mother announces that she is pregnant.

Quique, Clara and little Lucas are vacationing in northern India. One night, sleeping outside during a storm, they are brutally attacked. Hours later, Quique is rescued by a native and taken to a remote isolated village in the mountains.

A group of women in an isolated religious colony struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony's men.

The film captures the daily duality of three young Palestinian women in Tel Aviv, caught between hometown tradition and big city abandon, and the price they must pay for a lifestyle that seems obvious to many: the freedom to work, party, have sex, and choose.

Martial artist-in-training Ria Khan believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

Mrs. Bakshi is eager to find suitors for her four unmarried daughters when a family friend introduces them to handsome American Will Darcy. A Bollywood-style modern adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel.

As the romantic monsoon rains loom, the extended Verma family reunites from around the globe for a last-minute arranged marriage in New Delhi. This film traces five intersecting stories, each navigating different aspects of love as they cross boundaries of class, continent and morality.

A woman is taken along with her mother in 1910 to a far-away desert by her husband, and after his passing, is forced to spend the next 59 years of her life hopelessly trying to escape it.

A vet returns home to his father's elephant reserve where he encounters and fights an international poacher's racket.

Sandy, a geologist, finds herself stuck on a field trip to the Pilbara desert with a Japanese man she finds inscrutable, annoying and decidedly arrogant. Hiromitsu's view of her is not much better. Things go from bad to worse when they become stranded in one of the most remote regions on Earth.

After encountering a group of bandits with plans to rape and steal from her, a young widow ventures into the wilderness in search of justice.

A 50-year-old single father faces disapproval from his family and his ex-wife when he falls in love with a 26-year-old woman.

A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's newfound conservatism.

Edee, in the aftermath of an unfathomable event, finds herself unable to stay connected to the world she once knew and in the face of that uncertainty, retreats to the magnificent, but unforgiving, wilds of the Rockies. After a local hunter brings her back from the brink of death, she must find a way to live again.

Upon returning to his industrial hometown, a young man must decide whether to follow his own dreams or acquiesce to his father's plans for his future.

Childhood sweethearts Lalita and Shekhar wish to get married someday. However, Shekhar's growing suspicions about Lalita coupled with his conniving father's antics threaten to tear them apart.

When her husband is kicked in the groin by the village head, Qiu Ju, a peasant woman, despite her pregnancy, travels to a nearby town, and later a big city to deal with its bureaucrats and find justice.

Badru hopes her volatile husband will reform if he stops drinking. But when his rage goes too far, she and her mom boldly, albeit clumsily, seek revenge.

After her husband loses his job, a housewife from a middle-class, conservative family in Calcutta gets a job as a salesperson.

Eager to provide a better future for her son, Fadi, divorcée Muna Farah leaves her Palestinian homeland and takes up residence in rural Illinois -- just in time to encounter the domestic repercussions of America's disastrous war in Iraq. Now, the duo must reinvent their lives with some help from Muna's sister, Raghda, and brother-in-law, Nabeel.

A Bedouin village in Northern Israel. When Jalila's husband marries a second woman, Jalila and her daughter's world is shattered, and the women are torn between their commitment to the patriarchal rules and being true to themselves.

The story of a family and a love affair told through the journey of a young woman called Suzanne.

A scheming tobacco farmer sets out to ruin his competition by diverting the local water to his own property.

Four women in their thirties reevaluate their relationships, both shared and private, after a startling revelation concerning one's marriage forces each of them to ask one of life's biggest questions: "Am I who I want to be?"

After destroying his older brother's motorbike in retaliation for his constant bullying, 11-year-old Krishna is sent to a traveling circus to earn money to pay for the bike's repairs, but soon winds up in the streets of Bombay's poorest slums. There, he befriends the drug dealer Chillum and young prostitute Sola Saal, while trying to make enough money at a neighborhood tea stall to repay his debt to his family.

While fighting for the political supremacy of their respective families, a Hindu man and a Muslim woman share a forbidden romance.

Sayen follows a lead to the picturesque desolation of the Atacama Desert. There, she reluctantly teams up with a young Atacameño girl, Quimal, looking to clear her father’s name and save her town from becoming an arid wasteland due to Acteon’s exploitative water usage.

A struggling street photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother, convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develops a connection that transforms them in ways that they could not expect.

Owing to the condition that the girls of the neighborhood should be treated like one's own sister, Gattu works to capture Binny's heart and the approval of his community.

Three inseparable childhood friends are just out of college. Nothing comes between them - until they each fall in love, and their wildly different approaches to relationships creates tension.

To escape her abusive boyfriend, Kat joins a wilderness expedition with a group of women, all of whom are struggling with the uncertainty of life. What was supposed to be an opportunity for personal discovery quickly becomes a fight for survival, forcing each one to discover the strength within themselves that they didn't even know they possessed. While being brazenly chased by a pack of predators, the strong quickly set themselves apart from the weak. In a battle of will, stamina, and heart, these very virtues present themselves at the most crucial moment. With death looming, each is left with what is truly important - the strength within oneself.

A depressed wealthy businessman and a spunky carefree young woman embark on an unexpected journey that changes their lives.

A man belongs to a middle-class family and is intent on pursuing his career with a music group, despite his dad's disapproval. He is also in love with the lead singer, but she sees him mainly as a friend.

