Lindsay Lohan's Indian Journey is a 2010 British documentary film directed and produced by Maninderpal Sahota. It is presented and narrated by American actress Lindsay Lohan. In the hour long documentary, Lohan talks to victims of human trafficking in Delhi, Kolkata and a village in West Bengal. She also talks to a former trafficker, parents of trafficked children and visits the Sanlaap women's and children's shelter in Kolkata. The documentary was filmed in India over a period of a week in December 2009. Lohan became involved in the project after meeting Sahota at a social event and expressing an interest in participating.
Lindsay Lohan's Indian Journey received extensive negative media coverage since its inception. The BBC were heavily criticized for hiring Lohan despite her then recent widely publicized drink-driving conviction and "party lifestyle". BBC said they chose Lohan to attract an audience that might otherwise not watch. Indian non-governmental organization, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, criticized Lohan for a Twitter post where she appeared to take credit for one of their raids, something BBC said was a misinterpretation. The media coverage did not translate to high ratings. In its original broadcast on BBC Three on 1 April 2010, it was viewed by 224,000 households, a 0.9% share of the audience. Critics complimented the documentary for being well researched and compelling, but found Lohan's presence to be odd and distracting.
Synopsis
In Lindsay Lohan's Indian Journey, Lohan meets and interviews victims of human trafficking in Delhi, Kolkata and a village in West Bengal. They talk about the exploitation and abuse they have experienced, describing sexual slavery, physical abuse and difficulties in bringing their traffickers to justice. She also talks to a former trafficker and parents of trafficked children. One trafficked boy says that he can not go back home because his mother is ill. A mother who trafficked her daughter describes how her family did not have enough food, and how even though they never received the promised payments for her daughter's work, at least she was fed.
Lohan visits the Sanlaap centre, a women's and children's shelter in Kolkata. The centre offers dance therapy as part of their treatment and a group of girls perform a dance they have rehearsed. She talks to girls who had been held at a brothel and they describe being raped and drugged. The director of the Sanlaap centre describes how Lohan taking an interest in trafficking might inspire other young people to get involved in counteracting exploitation. Bharti Ali, director of the Non-governmental organization Centre for Child Rights, criticizes the government for not prioritizing child protection. Returning home, Lohan and the film crew are chased by paparazzi photographers at the airport. Two months later, Lohan is in London, England talking to Kate Redman, from Save the Children UK, who describes how one of the issues with government intervention is that only sex and drug trafficking is illegal. She also advocates raising awareness of the issues with trafficking.
Production
Lohan spent a week in December 2009 in India filming Lindsay Lohan's Indian Journey with a BBC crew consisting of four people. Lohan became involved in the documentary after meeting Sahota at a social event and expressing her interest in doing it. Sahota stated that he was under the impression that Lohan chose to participate in the documentary "as a result of working in an adult world since she was ten, she feels childhood is precious, and when you lose one you can never replace those years". He also stated that the people they met in rural India were not previously familiar with Lohan.