Friday, November 5, 2010

Movie Review: Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (The lady who created her own future)

Contributed by ~ Niilesh A Raje


Nilesh Raje, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author


There goes an old adage, “Education is one of the surest ways to escape from poverty”. Many individuals have taken this route in their odyssey of life and SindhuTai Sapkal was no exception. But, the realness compelled Sindhutai to give up her education after fourth standard and settle down for an early marriage at the age of 12 to a man more than twice her age.

Her passion towards the discipline of reading continued even after her espousal but her partner in marriage was of the opinion that his wife was trying to demonstrate that she was more educated than him. The end result was the hands of destiny put Sindhutai through failure for a purpose. By coming out of the woods of a broken home and marriage the only obvious choice Sindhutai witnessed was her two failed attempts of suicide.

Directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan and produced by Sachin and Bindiya Khanolkar the director’s first Marathi film reveals the reality of life based on the Book “Mee Vanvasi" by Sindhutai Sapkal.

Even before its release the film has been greeted with applause in the community of International Film Festivals. “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal” had its world premiere at the 54th London Film Festival last month followed by screening at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York. It was also the closing film at the Third Eye Ninth Asian Film Festival, Mumbai. Tejaswini Pandit from the cast gets nominated for the Best Actress Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards to be decided by international jury in December 2010 in Brisbane.

The biographical movie showcases the journey of survival of Sindhutai Sapkal who grew up in the interiors of Vidharbha who had to beg for money and food to earn a living for herself as well as for her young daughter. While all was lost in the battles of life the only thing that propelled Sindhutai in the forward direction was the lamp of hope.

Today, this sexagenarian is a proud mother to more than 1000 orphaned kids who gives speeches to earn livelihood for the orphans as Sindhutai firmly believes “Bhashan hai to rashan hai”. Her one big success (commitment towards the orphanage) made her wipe out all her previous failures.

The climatic stage portrays Sindhutai now at the age of 60 is invited to address her first ever Marathi Vishwa Sammelan in San Francisco. On the humor side it is equally interesting to see the journey of first time air traveler Sindhutai across the seven seas.

Rightly said, behind every success there lies an untold pain in ones heart and this pain is usually revealed when the individual rises to the top. Today, Sindhutai Sapkal with benchmark of authority says if there is someone who needs a mother there is a helping hand of “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal”.

Cast and Crew

Director (Ananth Narayan Mahadevan), Producer (Sachin Khanolkar and Bindiya Khanolkar), Screenplay (Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, Sanjay Pawar) Cinematography (K.Raj Kumar), Cast (Tejaswini Pandit - Sindhutai 24 to 40 years, Jyoti Chandekar - Sindhutai 60 years, Pranjal Shetye - Sindhutai 12 years, Upendra Limaye, Suhas Palshikar, Neena Kulkarni, Charusheela Sable and Ganesh Yadav.