Filmmaker Prerana Agarwal delves into serious themes like child labour and child trafficking in her directorial debut, Sold. The film, based on real incidents, is disturbing, but allows the core message to come across.

Sold revolves around Raghu (Deepam Kohli), who is forced to resign from his regular job to join his family’s illegal business of child trafficking. His father, Lal Singh (Hanumanthe Gowda), gives him a task to abduct a child, Rashmi (Shivani Ballakuraya), and strike a deal with a Sheikh.

Cast: Kavya Shetty, Deepam Kohli, Hanumanthe Gowda, Siddharth Madyamika, and Bhavani Prakash

Directed by: Prerana Agarwal

Ruchita (Kavya Shetty), an investigative journalist, gets to hear the news and sets out to find the missing child. Ruchita takes the help of Siddharth (Danish Sait), a cop, and her husband with whom she is not on good terms. She pulls all strings to crack down and destroy all those behind the misery of the missing child.  

With Sold, Prerana Agarwal joins the band of filmmakers who highlight sensitive topics in their works. The background score elevates the cat-and-mouse narrative that revolves around the journalist, gangsters, and the child.

While Kavya Shetty has played her part well, Deepam Kohli, also the producer, has showcased the dilemma of a son, who is caught in the clutches of his father and is forced to put his own life at stake. We also have an earnest performance by Shivani Ballakuraya, who holds her own in a film that has noteworthy performances by Siddhtakesarth Madhyamika, Bhavani Prakash, Hanumanthe Gowda, and Danish Sait.

Sold is definitely a grim tale but it is a reality that should not, and more importantly, cannot be ignored.