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ACT TWO: SHASHI'S DECISION Act two returns to present day Ahmadabad, where
a crisis has hit the Chhabria family. 25-year-old Shashi Chhabria- the filmmaker's
cousin- has gone against her family's wishes that she has an arranged marriage
with another Sindhi. Instead, she is marrying a Gujarati man that she has
secretly dated for three years. Some of the older generation feel this is
a betrayal. Other's point to Sirchand, saying at least the boy she has chosen
is Indian. The younger generation sees this as a precedent to follow their
hearts. Some of the older generation see it as a Pandora's box that will
only dilute their heritage further. This act focuses on telling Shashi's
story through two voices: her own story of falling in love and deciding
to go against her family's expectations and the story as seen by the family
patriarch Gidari, who is violently opposed to the marriage. These two interviews
are intercut with cinema verite footage of the many rituals leading up to
the wedding, and film and still images representing Shashi's expectations
of family and love. Shashi's story tells how this younger generation still
feels the pull of caste and familial obligation, but also has a sense of
individuality and tolerance which allows them to break cultural taboos.
The opposing view of the elders is explained from a surprising point of
view- that of 26- year-old Anjali Chhabria who came to the United States
only a year ago to be married and who is the strongest and most forward
thinking family member of her generation. She married a Sindhi man who was
raised in New Jersey, and recently had her first child. Although she supp
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