Two cops prance around a police station doing their best dance moves, singing a catchy tune, the refrain of which goes, “Aika to the Baika” which translates to “I listen to the woman”. As three women walk in with complaints, it becomes abundantly clear that the police officers assume more than they listen, pulling out the usual excuses – domestic violence? It’s a private matter between man and wife. Being groped and harassed by an ex-boyfriend? Well, you’re not all that innocent yourself. Were you drinking? It’s not like its rape. And then comes in an aggrieved mother, complaining that her daughter has run away with her lover, ruining their family’s honour. The male cop runs off (well, flies off), yelling that he “is Beti Bachao” and video calls the mother to make sure he has the right couple, who of course ran away consensually.This scene is from a lavani, which uses the sensual Marathi folk music and dance form to talk about women’s experiences making complaints at police stations. Paromita Vohra , filmmaker and founder of Agents of Ishq, is the creative brains behind the music video, which stars lavani artistes Shakuntala Nagarkar, recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Megha Ghadge, popular television and stage lavani performer, and Akanksha Kadam. The video has been released to mark International Women’s Day.Made in collaboration with the legal NGO Majlis, who have decades of experience dealing with women’s legal cases, they used real experiences to make the video true-to-life. Vohra says they chose the playful medium of the lavani deliberately. “We already know that women hesitate to go the police station because of the biases they will confront and because the chances of getting justice are low. When we’re talking about changing attitudes, we can’t just rely on analysis and facts. Cultural products that don’t lecture or scold people are important.” On average, at least one woman files a complaint against police apathy every two hours, according to National Commission for Women data.The video sees two cops – a man and a woman – proclaiming how much they listen to women and help them while doing everything but. So, what does it mean to listen to women, to believe them? “Don’t think you already know what her story means before listening to it. Tell women what the law is. Instead of discouraging them from reporting the incident, respond with empathy and factuality.”An interesting element in the video is the role of the female cop. While she attempts to tell the women which law their complaints come under, her male colleague constantly brushes her off, insisting these aren’t “genuine cases”. She goes along with it, telling the woman suffering from domestic violence that useless cases only add to their workload. Vohra says, “We wanted to talk about the patriarchal system. She is part of that institution, but also feels a bit differently as a woman and individual.” She’s deliberately in-between, oscillating between being a woman and a cop.Their conversations with the people over at Majlis gave them insight into the kinds of experiences women have when they attempt to report sexual violence or harassment. “In the video, the police officer makes a video call when he finds the couple to verify it’s the same boy. This is something they had seen happening in real life,” Vohra says, adding that the police officer constantly looking at his phone while women were talking was rooted in her own experience reporting a theft. “We had to listen to all these stories, find the common patterns, and boil them down to three scenarios. We chose not to choose stories that are extremely dire, like ones including underage children, because those require complex and different treatment.”Towards the end of the colourful video, the women tell the cops what they’re doing wrong. They tell them how they were already nervous when they came in, and they should have listened to them with care, to explain to them the relevant laws. “At the end, the women say enough of you, now listen to us. The experience of that equality is very cathartic. It’s an inclusive way of talking to men about their biases,” says Vohra.