How India's social and economic structures were influenced by religion and how Hinduism survives and flourishes in a secular state. The film is set in the 1930s and is about the plight of Hindu widows and child widows in particular, and is said to portray them as exploited and sometimes as forced into prostitution. She has made it clear that her film will not be anti-Hindu, and that the script had been cleared by the Indian government, and by religious leaders. Various Indian states have either declined to host the film maker, or indicated that she would be welcome. Meanwhile a debate is raging in India over the dangers of religious censorship of artistic endeavours.
Mistreatment continues even today.
Sensitivities are clearly heightened by the fact that even in the 21st century thousands of widows are forced out by their families, and go to holy cities in search of a charitable place to live. At the present time around 2,000 abandoned widows live in Varanasi. Many widows in India are still ill-treated. A 1999 study showed that young widows are likely to be sexually exploited.