Shashank Udapurkar‘s Marathi film ‘Prawaas’ [read review] starring Ashok Saraf, Padmini Kolhapure and himself, in the lead roles; which was released early this year, has been selected for 51^st The International Film Festival of India ( IFFI) in the Indian Panorama Feature Film 2020 section. The other two Marathi films selected by the Jury in this section comprising of 23 films are, ‘Karkhanisanchi Wari’ directed by Mangesh Joshi and ‘June’ directed by Vaibhav Khisti and Surhud Godbole.

It may be recalled that ‘Prawaas’ was lucky to reach out to the people through cinema halls, as it was released little before the closure of theatres due to spread of corona pandemic. And the film was highly appreciated by the critics and film lovers, for its sensible subject and fine performances by the lead artistes. Reacting to this news, writer- director of this film Shashank Udapurkar has expressed his happiness and has called it a big honour. Producer Om Changani feels that this film will make its presence felt even at this prestigious film festival.