New Delhi: One of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's former girlfriend Somy Ali will soon be seen in a discovery+ docu series highlighting fallout of abuse.
Titled "Fight or Flight", it documents Somy's intense, complex, and sometimes heartbreaking work as it ventures into the darkness and heaviness of emotional trauma while working on illuminating the stories of those who retake control of their lives and refuse to be defined by their abuse.
The first three episodes will be available to stream on discovery+ beginning May 26. Three remaining episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays.
The show will intimately follow Somy's work as she illustrates the horrors and frequency of abuse, profiling the very real dangers and the emotional impact of such horrors, and the process of turning a victim into a survivor.
For more than 15 years, the former Bollywood star herself has been working in the field of social activism working with her nonprofit No More Tears organization for the betterment and rehabilitation of victims of sexual harassment, violence and rape.
"With every episode, the clock is ticking as Somy works with real victims in a race against time to extricate them from the situations from which they so ever badly seek to escape; secure legal, medical and educational counsel; and, find them a safe place to stay while working alongside them to rebuild their lives to give them the independence they've been denied for so long. "Shot as a follow-style docu-series, the show takes viewers on a harrowing journey with Somy as she explores the horrors of sexual assault, trafficking and abuse while navigating the best way to help these victims, experiences the emotional highs and lows of advocacy, and discusses her own journey as she reckons with her traumatic past and the abuse she herself suffered as a young woman," a statement from discovery+ said.
In the premiere episode, Somy works alongside law enforcement to bring a woman and her son to safety from an alleged volatile abuser, meets with a sex trafficking victim who wants to rebuild her life entirely, and assists a woman in a fight for financial freedom.
“Having our cameras capture the painfully important and intense work that Somy does is an incredible honor, hopefully empowering many victims of abuse and trafficking to realize that they do not need to suffer in silence,” said Jason Sarlanis, President of Crime and Investigative Content, Linear and Streaming.
“Somy's mission is driven by her personal passion and unparalleled devotion to turning victims into survivors. With instances of domestic abuse unfortunately skyrocketing during the pandemic it's more critical than ever that we bring much-needed attention to this issue,” Sarlanis added.
“Fight or Flight is a raw and intense docu-series that follows the work at my nonprofit, No More Tears. Through discovery+, I now have an international platform to shine a spotlight on what victims of domestic violence and human trafficking experience. It took me over 40 years to tell my own story of abuse and I think it's time we all start to truly understand the ramifications of these epidemics and that everyone deals with their own journey on their own time, and that it's never too late to speak out, no matter what. Sharing my journey has been extremely cathartic, and perhaps the most liberated I have ever felt,” said Somy Ali.
“My purpose in life is to save as many lives as possible, and I hope that through this docuseries, more victims will understand that they are not alone, that they don't have to suffer in silence, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” she added.
In 2011, Somy was honored with the American Heritage Award from the American Immigration Council for her work with NMT. She was further awarded The Daily Point of Light Award by President George H. W. Bush in 2015, and The National Domestic Violence Month "A Proclamation" by President Barack Obama.
Somy, a Pakistani actress have worked in a number of Bollywood flicks, including "Anth", "Andolan" and "Aao Pyar Karen". (UNI)