Anuja is not just a story of two sisters’ struggling for survival and education in a street-slum area in the capital city of India. But, it’s a real-life story of several underprivileged slum children in India’s capital, whose talent and strength are wasted daily due to poverty and lack of educational resources. They struggle every day for survival, education, and a better future. Sajda Pathan is the lead actor in the short film Anuja.
They struggle every day for survival, education, and a better future. Sajda Pathan is the lead actor in the short film Anuja.
The story of Anuja is somehow linked to the real-life story of Sajda Pathan. Sajda is a 10-year-old girl; she was rescued by the Salaam Baalak Trust (Since 1988, Salaam Baalak Trust has been engaged with street and working children in Delhi-NCR), she grew up living with her older sister in a slum in old Delhi. She spent her days begging outside a Hanuman temple before being rescued by The Salaam Baalak Trust.
What is the story of the Netflix short film Anuja?
Anuja is a 23-minute short film on Netflix, directed and written by Adam J. Graves. It is an Indian short film that was nominated for the 97th Academy Awards in the category of the Best live-action short film in 2025. The story of the short film revolves around a nine-year-old girl, Anuja (Sajda Pathan), who struggles along with her elder sister Palak (Ananya Shanbhag) in the street slum of India’s capital for money, survival, and education.
Although she has a bright mind but due to poverty and lack of resources, she was compelled to work at a garment factory for subsistence. As she had a sharp and bright mind, she got a chance to attend an elite boarding school with the help of a school teacher and her elder sister Palak.
The portrayal of Anuja in the short film is the ground reality of several children who are being compelled to work in hazardous factories at a very young age due to poverty and the lack of educational resources in the capital city. The story of Anuja also reminds us of the reality of child labour in India. Several children like Anuja are involved in factory work instead of attending school for their subsistence even in the capital city of India.
Anuja also highlights the sisterhood, courage, and struggle of young girls in society.
Anuja also highlights the sisterhood, courage, and struggle of young girls in society. The reason this short film was nominated for an Oscar is its powerful narration, which, in a very short time, only 22 minutes, shows the huge reality of the street-slum children, and their struggle for survival and education in a metropolitan city of India.
How does the short film Anuja highlight the real-life struggle of underprivileged street-slums children?
Anuja is not merely a tale but the reality of the many children of the street slums of Delhi. They are being forced to work at a factory at a very young age, which is both ethically and legally a crime in India. Still, they are working instead of attending school. In the short film, the reality of child labour is highlighted, when a school teacher comes to a garment factory office and asks Anuja (Sajda Pathan), in front of the garment factory manager, ‘How old are you?‘ The manager of the factory replies ‘14 years‘, to hide the child labour at the factory.
The Kailash Satyarthi Foundation under its ”Bachpan Bachao Andolan”, between 2005 to 2019 rescued a total of 8,408 children from child labour in India’s capital city, Delhi as per the report, The Extent of Child Labour in the NCT of Delh and their Safety. Through this, we can understand how many street slum children work in factories at a very young age by giving false data for their date of birth. While they have sharp and bright minds, still they are forced into child labour.
According to a Times of India report, a survey conducted by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in Delhi, displays a gloomy picture of street children in the city of Delhi. The DCPCR survey report shows that there are 70,000 children on the streets of Delhi. According to Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation survey report ”Street Children in NCT of Delhi: A Rapid Assessment” only 29% of total surveyed street children in Delhi reported having ever gone to school. Anuja is the reality of these underprivileged street-slum children of India’s capital who are struggling because of poverty in the streets and slums.
Sajda Pathan’s real-life struggle
In the short film, Sajda, who plays Anuja is not a trained child actor but one slum child among the 70,000 children on the streets of Delhi. Her name is Sajda Pathan. She was rescued from the Yamuna Bazar slum in Delhi by the Salaam Balak Trust. She was living with her sister and brother-in-law. Her everyday routine was to beg for a few rupees from the devotees who came to the temple. She wandered around the temple complex before being rescued by the Salaam Baalak Trust.
With their help, Sajda started attending the informal educational classes at SBT’s Yamuna Bazaar center and equally participated in other co-curricular activities. Because of her bright mind and talent, Sajda Pathan did her first film The Braid. The director Laetitia Colombani casted her in the lead role. Her performance in the film was awarded by the production house of the film who took responsibility for her education until she becomes an adult.
Her performance in the film was awarded by the production house of the film who took responsibility for her education until she becomes an adult.
The Oscar-nominated Netflix short film Anuja is her second film where she again proved herself with a stellar performance. The real-life story of the Sajda Pathan is as inspiring than the Netflix short film Anuja. The real-life story of Sajda has both the inspiration for many underprivileged slum children and a message to society and the political system of India that if every child is given equal opportunity, they can do amazing things.
As our First Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said, ‘The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country.’
Sajda Pathan currently resides at the Salaam Balaak Trust Udaan Home for Girls. The Salaam Baalak Trust was set up in 1988 from the proceeds of Mira Nair’s Oscar-nominated film Salaam Bombay.
References:
https://www.netflix.com/in/title/82009864?s=a&trkid=13747225&trg=wha&vlang=en&clip=82013022
Oscar®-Shortlisted Short Film ‘Anuja’ Finds its Home on Netflix – About Netflix
https://salaambaalaktrust.com/assets/downloads/newsletter/newsletter-Feb-2022-Apr-2022.pdf
About the author(s)
She has completed her Master’s degree in History from Lady Shri Ram
College for Women, University of Delhi with a specialisation in ancient history. She has a keen
interest in ancient texts, and with their help, she wants to explore women's role and status in
ancient households and society. Therefore, her interest lies in ancient literature, Gender,
Caste, and society. With all these ancient texts, like Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jain, she wants
to understand the actual rights and status of women in ancient households, such as being a wife,
daughter, and others. What was their role in ancient civilization and culture, and their
unspoken contribution which these texts did not mention properly.
