Family based prostitution which exists in many districts. But unfortunately our law and order system does not consider this as a major issue. The system which started as a community tradition (rivaaz) is now operating as a money-making trade within the knowledge of the lawmakers and protectors. Rivaaz is a film against exploitation, a film about dignity, about hope of women who are traded in the name of tradition.
We set the story in one such village where this tradition is a mockery to the Indian independence. Those who dared defy tradition and want to marry and settle down without consenting to engage in prostitution, are tortured and killed to set an example.The family consists of mother Deepti Naval and daughters Ritisha Vijayvargiya, Meghna Naidu and Sadhika Randhawa and the atrocities committed on the women by the men.
Ritisha who essays Bela dares to fall in love. And has to face the wrath of her father, the local police and everyone connected, waiting to pimp off her, and of course, the local rich man waiting for her to turn 18 so that he can put a price to her flesh! Her mother has also buried her dreams once after her love is killed mercilessly by the villagers. Will tradition repeat itself? Through the tears of this family, we showcase the tears of the millions of girls who are caught in the web of tradition, helpless and unable to escape.
Even today, in our midst villages where every mother, sister and daughter are forced to engage in prostitution to help their men folk live a life of luxury. Where there are no daughters, girls are purchased from poor starving villages India, adopted and brought up to fend for the men. The pimps are none other than their own fathers and brothers.