‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’ with English Sub-titles
Looking at the popularity the film has gained also among Non-Maharashtrian film lovers, the makers of this film have released 4 prints with English sub titles at the following theatres in Mumbai. Ms. Samrruddhi Porey made this announcement today, while speaking to Marathi Movie World.
The following theatres/ multiplexes will show the film with English Sub-titles.
Movie Star – Goregaon- 6.15 PM
Huma ( Kanjur Marg) 2.30 PM
R. City ( Ghatkoper) – 12.30 PM
24 Karat ( Jogeshwari) – 3.30 PM
‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’ – A Thought provoking film
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Rating: na
Presenter: Samruoddhi Cine World Writter, Director & Producer: Advocate Samruoddhi Porey Camera: Rahul Jadhav Music: Ashok Patki Singer: Kunal Ganjawala, Vaishali Samant Cast: Urmila Kanitkar, Stacy Bee, Aiden Barkely, Samruoddhi Porey, Vivek Raut, Sulabha Deshpane, Suchitra Bandekar Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
“The mother loves her child most divinely, not when she surrounds him with comfort and anticipates his wants, but when she resolutely holds him to the highest standards and is content with nothing less than his best.” But, Samrruddhi Porey’s new Marathi film ‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’ ( I want to be a Mother) goes much beyond this thought, with a punch line, ‘A child gives birth to a mother’. In this film, the vibrant advocate turned director has dealt with the delicate issue of surrogate child and his mother, who actually gives birth to him.
Yashoda( Urmila kanetkar)a poor woman living in a village, is chosen by an NGO to be a surrogate mother for a model- Mary (Stacy Bee) who comes from a foreign country, in search of a healthy mother. When Yashoda is explained about the procedure, she agrees to be a surrogate mother for Mary, as she wants to spend towards the medical treatment of her daughter, who is handicapped.
When it is discovered in the check up during the sixth moth that the child to be born may be born with some handicap, Mary leaves back home, after making arrangements with an orphanage by paying a huge sum. She also instructs Yashoda, to hand over the child to an Orphanage. Yashoda is upset with this strange behaviour of Mary and she suggests the social worker at the clinic( Suchitra Bandekar)that she would take care of the child, even if born with handicap.
But, the child born to Yashoda turns out to be a normal child. The kid( Madhav) with brown hair and blue eyes grows up in the village and speaks Varhadi Marathi. Whenthe child turns four,in comes Mary to take back her child. What happens thereafter is a drama, but it concludes with happy ending. There is no legal battle as expected. Perhaps, it was an amicable settlement over the issue of custody of the child, in such a delicate situation.
‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’ does have a strong issue about a Surrogate child, well presented by Writer- director Ms. Samrruddhi Porey, in her debut film. But, she has also tried to support thismain theme with certain other issues like suicide of farmers and issues related to women folks. In the process, she has consumed a little more time than required. There is a character of Ganpat (Vivek Raut),who initially flirts with Mary and later maries his beloved from village. Though this character has performed extremely well, his parallel story consumes a little more time. The director herself has enacted the role of a farmer’s wife, who commits suicide to invite the attention of the country that it is not only the farmer who commit suicide, but it could be his wife too and she too deserves a compensation. It would have been better, if irrelevant parts were omitted to focus on the main theme.
But, looking at her approach and sincerity to deal with this so called true story, she certainly deserves a pat on her shoulder to make this sensible thought provoking film that too in Marathi. Her selection of artistes is good. Both Stacy Bee as Mary and Aiden Barkely as Madhav have lived up to the expectation of the audience, though it was their debut too. Other artistes in the cast like Sulbha Deshpande, Suchitra Bandekar, Samrruddhi herself, her two daughters Shruti & Shreya have supported well. But, it is Urmila Kanetkar in the role of Yashoda, who impresses the most with her extra-ordinary acting skills. She had as many as four most difficult scenes, which only an experienced and matured actress would have done; but young Urmila performs with authority. Music score and background music goes well with the village backdrop. Cinematography by Rahul Jadhav is good and so is the art direction by Santosh Phutane.
To make a film on this subject and that too in Marathi, certainly requires guts; but Ms. Samrruddhi Porey has marketed the film well, covering English media too, which is generally neglected by Marathi films. After ‘Shwaas’ we did have two films, ‘Pratisaad’ and ‘Aaghaat’ based on medical science; but, this one is different, as it deals more with emotions of a surrogate child and mother. With ‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’ Marathi cinema has opened the doors for sensible thought provoking films, which would be universally accepted
Two more awards for ‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’.
Writer-Producer-director Samrruddhi Porey’s film ‘Mala aai Vhaychay’ (I want to be a Mother) is very much in the news before its official release on 11th February 2011. Having bagged 7 awards so far at international festivals, the film has won two more awards at the recently concluded Jaipur film festival.
While Ms. Samrruddhi Porey was adjudged the best director for this film, the American actress Stacy Bee, who plays a Model in this film has bagged the best debut award. This film is the first American-Indian Marathi film.
Samrruddhi Porey – An Advocate and a film maker
She is an advocate by profession , but film making is her passion. We have witnessed Doctors, Architects and Engineers turning into writers, actors and filmmakers; then why not an advocate make a film? Not long ago, Samrruddhi Porey wrote scripts on honour killing titled Palisades of Silence & Brrrr and registered them with Hollywood. Then, in India she registered one script ‘Apni Dil Ki Baat Suno’, which is in the process of production. But, for a long time, there was one such case that she came across, that created a deep impact on her mind. It was about the legal implication arising out of an agreement with a Surrogate mother, in case something unexpected happened.
In India, Surrogate Mothers are doing a big business especially in villages, where they are exploited by the foreigners and the middle men, who take advantage of their poverty. Taking up one such sensitive tale of a Surrogate mother and the surrogate child, Samrruddhi made a film ‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’ ( I want to be a Mother), which is first of its kind in the world. And, the best thing is that it is a Marathi film. This film has already invited attention at about 8 film festivals, where it was released, inviting attention and bagging awards in various categories. ‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’ is now due for release all over Maharashtra on 11th February 2011. Marathi Movie world spoke to Sammruddhi Porey, the Writer- Producer-director of this film, to know more about her venture. Excerpts from an interview:
Q: What is so special about your film?
A: My film is based on a real life incident and it is the first film in the world on the subject of Surrogate Mother and child. Some people are well aware of this subject, but they are not aware of the legal implications. I have made all possible efforts to convey this message in a cinematic form, so that it reaches not only to the small villages in India, but even to smallest village anywhere in the world, where even an illiterate woman would be able to understand this subject. After all, ‘Mother‘ has an universal identity.
Q: You are an Advocate by profession. How did you manage to enter this area of film making?
A: It does not matter, which profession you belong to. If you have something very interesting to share with the people, that you yourself have experienced or seen happening in real life, then why can’t it be in a cinematic form ? I already had the passion for writing and I have already registered two of my scripts with Hollywood and one with Bollywood. This particular case of Surrogate mother and the child born
to her had a deep impact on my mind and I had decided to make a film. While playing my role as a legal consultant, I was already in touch with many Marathi film makers and even used to share with them some improvisation on scripts, during the course of film’s shooting. One day, I thought that I would be able to make my own film on this subject and it just happened.
Q: How are you going to distribute this film? Did you face any problems?
A: I was myself sure about the quality of my film and my target audience. Now, as far as distribution is concerned, I have to believe in what they feel is right. But, my film will surely be released in multiplexes and single screen theatres. In fact, I am also going to explore the possibility of reaching out to rural audience later on.
“I was always passionate about dancing”- Urmila Kanetkar
“Dance is a delicate balance between perfection and beauty.” If you are a good dancer, acting becomes much easier. Many film actresses possess this ability, but they don’t get an opportunity to combine both together. Today, not many roles in films or on television are meant for actresses with dancing skills. In Marathi films in particular there are few songs or no songs and the only item number is performed by a guest artiste. On television, When we watch the dance reality show ‘Ekapeksha Ek – Apasaras’ on Zee Marathi channel, we do notice some of the finest acting talents performing different forms of dance. One of them, a strong contender for the crown, is obviously Urmila kanetkar. Marathi Movie World caught up with Urmila to know about her objectives and passion in life. The modest and talented young actress spoke freely, giving a brief account of her career.
Passionate about dancing, Urmila who has learnt her classical dancing from Ashatai Joglekar and Archana Joglekar is pursuing her MA in Kathak. Being a graduate in Sociology and Anthropology from Mumbai’s St. Xavier’s College, she makes good use of these subject background while performing different characters. We have seen this happen in popular TV serial ‘Asambhav’ and recently released film
Urmila is an intense actress, who gets quickly into her character to give her best, no matter whoever is there on the opposite side. For her, the camera lenses are her close observers. With her expressive eyes, she has many a times emoted so well. It will not be surprising to see her win the best actress award in most of the prestigious awards to be declared soon.
With her recent success through the role of Yashoda in ‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’, Urmila has established herself as a complete film actress. This author backed role has certainly given her the required exposure to reckon her among the best actresses in Marathi film industry. She was just waiting for a role with Gavran accent and the role of Yashoda came to her at the most appropriate time. Only few years ago when she made her TV debut through ‘Tujhya Veena’ and into films through ‘Shubhamangal Savadhaan’, her talent went unnoticed, as the kind of roles she played were not very prominent. But, then the role of Shubhra in ‘Asambhav’ brought a big change in her career. Through this role, she had an opportunity to present two different characters from different eras and that came to her advantage.
In ‘Asambhav’ Urmila learnt a lot under the direction of Satish Rajwade and she does attribute all the credit to him. “Performing in ‘Asambhav’ was almost like taking acting lessons from Mr. Rajwade,” she quips. Urmila doesn’t forget Sangeet Kulkarni, because of whom she got her first break in ‘Tujya Veena’. For her entry into films through Mahesh Kothare’s film ‘Shubha Mangal Sawadhan’ she says that it was on the basis of her audition that she was selected. But, her selection for the role of Yashoda in ‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’ was her real luck. The director was very keen on finding someone of the caliber of Smita Patil. But, when she noticed the talent in Urmila, she openly admitted that she had found her Smita in Urmila.
“Dancing has always been my passion and I always wanted to perform my own solo shows in different forms. When I presented my first ballet few years ago, I said to myself that one day, I would present a form of dance with variety into it. Luckily for me, today I have got a platform through ‘Zee Marathi’s reality show ‘Ekapeksha Ek- Apsara Aali’. But, here it is in a competition form,” says Urmila.
Her acting career which is now shaping well , Urmila attributes all the credit to her parents Shrikant and Nilima Kanetkar. “It is because of their support that I could enter this field and today they are with me to encourage at my every step,” she adds.
Having signed another film of Mahesh Kothare, Urmila is now starring with his son Adinath in ‘Dubhang’ which is a love story. Having already declared Adinath as her Valentine in real life on the Valentine’s day this year, their chemistry seems to be blooming in real life. Now, it remains to be seen, how it works in the film ‘Dubhang’. Shooting of this film is in progress. But, there are few more films like ‘Thenga’, ‘Thodi Khatti Thodi Meethi’ and ‘Khel Mandla’ in the pipeline. In all, year 2011 is going to be a good time for Urmila, having made a good beginning of this year with a an outstanding performance in ‘Mala Aai Vhaychay’.
She has also displayed her dancing talents in the popular reality dance show ‘Ekapeksha Ek-Apsara Aali’ and is considered to be a favourite in this competition. Talking about this show, Urmila admits that there is a big competition from other artistes, who are also good performers. “Many a times, I get tensed up during the show, as I have other commitments also. It is like running from one set to the other to give my best. It is hard work, but, I am enjoying every moment,” she concludes.