On November 30th, HBO2 will release Pink Saris, a documentary about the life and fight of Sampat Pal and her gang of independent women. The award-winning Kim Longinotto directs this moving story.

Sampat Pal was born into a lower-class family and quickly married off. Her husband and his family beat her and worked her to the bone until she escaped them to become a public speaker. She formed the Gulabi Gang (or Pink Gang), a group of several hundred women who travel India and speak out against domestic abuse. They are known by their trademark, pink saris.

Abuse is illegal in India, but it is very common. Most women never escape it due to strict laws keeping them from having any say in their own lives. Pal and her Gulabi Gang are exceptions, fearless women who want to see the practice end. Many young women see them as the only beacon of hope in dark times.

Pink Saris will both highlight Pal’s strength as a leader and study her personal troubles. The in-depth documentary will shed light on many subjects related to the Gulabi Gang.

Pink Saris is one of four documentaries debuting on HBO and HBO2 this month. The others are Marathon Boy, the story of a four-year-old marathon runner who goes from rags to riches and back again; The Bengali Detective, where a man is both an investigator and a dancer; and The Sound of Mumbai, a concert event featuring the musically-inclined children of India.

By Bryan Kluger

Former husky model, real-life Comic Book Guy, genre-bending screenwriter, nude filmmaker, hairy podcaster, pro-wrestling idiot-savant, who has a penchant for solving Rubik's Cubes and rolling candy cigarettes on unreleased bootlegs of Frank Zappa records.

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