‘Platform’ addresses issues beyond female foeticide

Writer-producer-director Veena Lokur was all smiles today to see a big turnout of media persons for the press conference to announce the release date of her forthcoming Marathi film ‘Platform’. The film will be released initially at Mumbai and Pune on 15th July 2011. Having already won the State Government’s award for best film and best direction, the film was also shown at Asian International Film festival and MAMI film festival and was well received.

Having been associated with Marathi Theatre in Belgaum for the past 30 years, ‘Platform’ is her second Marathi film as a producer. The first being ‘Mission Champion’ which won 14 awards. Through this film she makes her debut as a director. Through this film Veena is also launching her daughter Sai Lokur and therefore she was looking for a powerful script which she found after witnessing an incident while travelling in a train.

The film deals with the sensational subject of female foeticide indicating gross violation of women’s rights. As a film maker, Veena has gone beyond this subject to send across a strong message to the world. “When I thought that it was the right time
to launch my daughter, I was looking for a strong subject. I was well aware of her abilities, as she had worked with me in theatre for the past few years. When I finalised this script, we began work on it and successfully completed it with a good team work,” she said.

Present on the occasion were Sharad Ponkshe, Sai Lokur, Astad Kale, Prashant Patil, Lyricist Ashwini Shende, Music director Nilesh Moharir and Cinematographer Suresh Deshmane. Promo of the film was also shown, giving a clear hint that through the film, she wanted to send across a message. The film does have some moments of love, sacrifice and commitment to the society. There are total four songs in the film to meet the requirement of music for its commercial success too.

When Actor Sharad Ponkshe, was poked by a media person, asking him as to how he managed working in different areas at the same time, the straightforward and frank actor replied, stating that he was not Aamir Khan to act in one project at a time. “I am not that big to make a choice. I take whatever roles that come to me, whether it is television or films. May be some roles are bad, but I can’t help. Actually, I feel, this system of offering subsidy to all Marathi film makers should be stopped. It is for this reason, there is no quality. Anyone, who can raise Rs.30-35 lakhs, makes a film and recovers the same by selling different rights and claims the subsidy to recover the cost. Personally, I am of the opinion that there should be less number but quality Marathi films produced instead of 70-80 ordinary films a year,” he reacted spontaneously.

While speaking to MMW, after the press meet, Ms. Veena Lokur stated that she was confident about what she was offering and looked forward to media support. “I have decided my release date, which will not be changed, even if any big banner Bollywood movie is released around that time,” she added.