I’M NOT YOUR BABYGIRL
by Aakash Chhabra
Panipat, Haryana
Project Description
I’M NOT YOUR BABYGIRL is a short film set on a bus, where a young woman confronts a man grooming a girl—revealing the quiet threats and power dynamics women face in public spaces.
Expected Impact
I'M NOT YOUR BABYGIRL confronts a violence that often begins quietly — through small, calculated acts disguised as kindness. Ritika, 13, is approached by ARUN, a well-dressed, middle-aged man who engages with her in seemingly harmless conversation. To the untrained eye, Arun’s gestures may seem harmless at first glance, but they build into a sinister pattern — one that many women recognize intuitively, long before it becomes explicit. Arun addresses Ritika as is his granddaughter, even makes her speak to his wife on the phone and offers her a snack. But to KUDRAT, 25, a reclusive young woman sitting a few seats away, something feels deeply wrong. Kudrat, herself used to navigating public space with caution, begins to observe closely. Ritika grows visibly uncomfortable as Arun increasingly invades her personal space — brushing against her, whispering too softly, placing a hand where it doesn’t belong. No one else seems to notice, or care. Kudrat wrestles with doubt and fear: is she misreading the situation, or is something insidious unfolding before her eyes? When Kudrat finally confronts Arun, the situation turns volatile. Arun, humiliated and angry, feigns throwing a liquid at her — a threatening gesture laced with the possibility of acid. The bus ride ends, but the danger doesn’t. I was compelled to tell this story because grooming — and the way it thrives in public — remains largely invisible. It is something I experienced first hand as queer man during an overnight bus ride in my late teens. It hides behind politeness, age, and male authority. And in our silence, in our discomfort, we often let it pass. This film asks: What does it take to intervene? And what does it cost? In the final act Kudrat stabs another man who follows her home. It is not a twist of vengeance. It is a reflection of the relentless fear women carry with them, even after the bus has stopped. It is the lingering cost of confrontation in a world where the danger does not end with the ride. It follows you. By placing this narrative in a bus — a space of shared silence, unspoken rules, and everyday negotiations — I wanted to amplify the claustrophobia of being watched, followed, judged, and targeted. This is a film about grooming, yes — but it’s also about the emotional toll of vigilance, the thin line between safety and survival, and the violence that shadows women in public.
Applicant Background
I'm a queer writer and director based in Panipat, India. I'm an an alumnus of the Red Sea Directors’ Program 2025 led by Spike Lee, CHANEL X BIFF Asian Film Academy 2024 - Motion Picture Association Award, Torino Film Lab - Red Sea Lodge 2024 and Reality Exploration Academy of Locarno 2019. My work has screened at film festivals and museums in Busan, Winterthur, Tehran, Kerala, Oberhausen and Dharamshala. MINTGUMRI (2021), my debut short, was nominated for the Film Critics Guild of India Critics' Choice Awards 2022. I followed it with A WINTER'S ELEGY (2022) which featured on the BFI X Sight and Sound Magazine's list of Best Video Essays 2022. ERRANDS (2024), a day in the life of an Indian nanny in Seoul, was produced by the Busan International Film Festival while WARM SHADOWS (2025), my latest short fiction, about a mother's coming out to her thirty-year-old son, is scheduled to premiere on Nowness this summer. I'm presently working on my debut feature fiction I'LL SMILE IN SEPTEMBER which was developed at the Torino Film Lab 2024, Ho Chi Minh City Autumn Meeting 2024 and Produire au Sud Nantes 2022. It has participated in the BIFF Asian Project Market 2023, NFDC Film Bazaar Co-production Market 2023 and QCinema Project Market 2024 - Barebones Post-production Award. Apart from this, I'm a recipient of the reFrame Genderalities film fellowship 2021-22 and the Rough Edges Uncode Fellowship 2022-23.
Resources Needed
- Funding
- Mentorship
- Visibility
Support This Project
Connect with Aakash or learn more about the project or support in making this come to life.