Kaanchli (2020)

Kaanchli is a 2020 Hindi drama set in rural Rajasthan, based on a story by Vijaydan Detha, the Rajasthani writer whose folk-tale-inspired work also gave rise to Mani Kaul's Duvidha and Shah Rukh Khan's Paheli. Shikha Malhotra plays a spirited young village wife, and the film follows her longing for love and freedom in a closed, patriarchal world, with Sanjay Mishra and Lalit Parimoo in important roles. The title refers to the bodice worn by Rajasthani women and plays on the image of a snake shedding its skin. Its folk setting and Detha's source story are the main attractions.