Mehndi (1998)

Gone are the days (and the movies) when the Indian daughter-in-law stood by silently and got abused and slapped around by her mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, et al. Here, the daughter-in-law has not only her cruel and intimidating mom-in-law, but also her equally cruel, sister-in-law by the hair, and some may say, well under her thumb. A glaring and perhaps a light-hearted look at the evil of dowry, and lack of which still does result in cruelties being inflicted even on well educated and cultured women in modern yet secular and tradition-bond India.