"Anuja" the Oscar nominated short film arrives on Netflix

The Real Perspectives

Published January 5, 2025

Netflix

Anuja is the 2024 critically acclaimed short film making its streaming Netflix debut on February 5. Starring Sajda Pathan as Anuja, it follows a brilliant nine-year-old working in a garment factory sweatshop in Delhi, India, who must make the difficult choice of accepting the rare opportunity to attend an elite boarding school and get an education or continue working at the tender age of 9. Faced with the difficult decision, the film is anchored by the heartwarming relationship with her sister, Palak (Ananya Shanbhag) showcasing the powerful story of sisterhood and hope.

Anuja held its world premiere in June 2024 and was instantly met with critical acclaim for its thought provoking storyline, winning the Best Live Action Short award at the HollyShorts Film Festival and nominated for the Best Live Action Short Film at the 97th Academy Awards. Statistically, one in ten kids is globally engaged in child labor. The writer and director of the film, Adam J. Graves, said during the film's initial press release he wanted to bring social awareness, shining a spotlight on the realities and horror of child labor. Further stating, "I felt it was important to make a film that was true to their experiences but was also something they would want to watch and discuss themselves, one that drew from reality, but without focusing excessively on the doom-and-gloom... I wanted to capture that wondrous combination of magic and emotion, of innocence and mischief, which is part of childhood itself. These are kids, after all, not statistics."

Producers for Anuja include Suchitra Mattai, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Mindy Kaling, with production companies Shine Global, Inc and Salaam Baalak Trust, the nonprofit organization that works to improve the lives of underprivileged children in the Delhi region.

Netflix

The series stars:

• Sajda Pathan as Anuja

• Ananya Shanbhag as Palak

• Nagesh Bhonsle as Mr. Verma

• Gulshan Walia Mr. Mishra

• Sushil Parwana

• Sunita Bhadauria

• Rudolfo Rajeev Hubert

• Jugal Kishore

• Pankaj Gupta

Don't miss this award-winning film. The film offers the realism of poverty that far too many children face governed by their limited and impoverished circumstances but who can still find happiness and optimism captured by the wonderful performance of its leads.

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Anuja is currently streaming on Netflix.

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