Way to the Oscars’: Vadodara girl stars in an Oscar-nominated short film based on the life of a highway sex-worker

Mazel Vyas, a Vadodara native, starred alongside experienced producer, writer, and director Prakash Jha in the short film Highway Nights, lined up in the nomination list for the Oscar 2023 in the Short Films category. The story follows an underage highway sex prostitute and a father-daughter relationship with a truck driver. 

Prakash Jha, an Indian filmmaker, and actor known for his socio-political features describes his works as pure entertainment rather than parallel cinema. He was introduced to cinema while studying to be a painter in Mumbai. In 1975, while still in the middle of his film editing course, he made his first documentary, Under the Blue. Faces After Storm (1984), his documentary on the ‘Bihar Sharif riots,’ was banned within 4-5 days of its publication, yet it won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film for the year.

The film, of nineteen minutes duration, was shot in Bhiwandi at night over the course of two days. It depicts the life of an adolescent highway sex prostitute on the lookout for a client and how she finds refuge in the companionship of a noble-hearted truck driver.

Mazel remarks, “It is about the life of highway sex workers in Gujarat and North highways. She is jolly and becomes comfortable in the company of a truck driver played by Prakash Jha.  The film showcases the bonding between the two like father and daughter and gives a strong positive message to everyone.”

Chosen from over 2500 submissions across the globe, and its theatrical release in Hollywood, this film will be considered for the Oscar Awards’- 2023 in the Short Films category.