Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj is an Indian Journalist, Documentary Filmmaker & a Men’s Rights Activist from New Delhi, India. In times when everyone’s emphatically talking about women’s rights, Deepika makes a strong case for protection of rights of men too whether it’s false accusations or domestic violence or sexual crimes. She has become a prominent voice for men’s rights in India after her documentary film “Martyrs of Marriage ” which is about abuse of section 498a (Anti-dowry law) of Indian Penal Code by brides and their families. A typical rebel child of the national capital region, Deepika did her B.Tech and then got into TV journalism for her Post graduation from Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media.
It was when she witnessed, in her personal life, the abuse of the Anti-dowry law by women against their husbands, that she started thinking about the other side of the story. The more she dug into it the more she realized how biased and lopsided the system is, and how easy it is to ruin someone’s life. Her first documentary short “Gramin Dak Sevak’ was Jeevika All Asia Livelihood Film Festival Student Film Winner in 2009. In 2010, Deepika was selected as one of the ten journalists from around the world to attend “Future Media Leaders Course” By Thomson Foundation. Deepika’s personal story was covered by BBC as part of their series “Asian women to watch for in 2017”.
Martyrs of Marriage got a global release on NETFLIX in 2018. She has given various TEDx talks bringing to light injustice faced by men in India & continue to spread awareness around this subject. She’s now working on her second documentary feature “India’s Sons” which tells tales of men who were falsely accused of rape.
