DIRECTOR ANANTH Mahdevan, famous for scripting and directing Bollywood films, decided to use Marathi for his film about the life of Maharashtrian social worker Sindhutai Sapkal. Mee Sindhutai Sapkal, a biographical film based on the life of Sapkal, had its world premiere at the 54th London Film Festival in London. The film will also be screened at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York in October.
Based on a book written by Sapkal, the film was difficult to script, said Mahadevan. “The film was not easy to write. The screenplay was quite tricky. It is based on the life of a woman who lives in Hadapsar in Pune and picks up abandoned newborn children from the streets and takes care of them,” he said. “That is not what the film is about, it is about the incredible journey of survival she had up till that point.”
The director said his meeting with Sapkal was amazing. “I realised that her life was a real-life story imitating as fiction.” “It was a life that was incredible, it was a life that was amazing, and a life that was absurd. It was difficult to believe that it had actually happened.”
The decision to make the film in Marathi was fairly easy, Mahadevan told this newspaper. “This was a lady from Wardha, the interiors of Maharashtra, who had lived speaking colloquial Marathi all her life. If I had made it in any other language the authenticity of the story would have been lost,” he added. The film was not made for a specific target audience, Mahadevan said. “I made it for real people who want to know about other real people,” he explained. Sapkal watched the film sitting next to the producer, Bindiya Khanolkar, said Mahadevan, adding that he did not have the courage to watch it with her. “When the film got over, Sindhutai came up to me and said, ‘I thought my tears had dried up, but I am weeping all over again. You made me come alive,” Mahadevan said.
The director said he cast three actresses to play Sapkal — as a 12-year-old, a young woman and a 60-year-old — to retain the authenticity of the story. The film, produced by Sachin Khanolkar and Bindiya Khanolkar, will be released worldwide on November 12, he revealed.