Legendary saint Sakhubai on celluloid again

“She may not have written literary works like the famous male saints such as Sant Tukaram,Sant Kabir,Sant Dnyaneshwar,Samarth Ramdas and Namdev,yet she is popular in Maharashtra as well as other parts of the country,” says the director,adding that films have been made in Telugu and Kannada on the life of Sant Sakhubai.

Sharma says he took the risk of making a film on a subject that is already explored in the past because of the conviction he had about his own portrayal of the story. “My film is set in 2013 and yet traces the story of Sakhubai. Without being preachy,the film explores the faith of the devotees in Lord Vitthal and the age-old yatra,” says Sharma,an alumnus of Film and Television Institute of Indian,Pune. The challenge,he says,was that he was breaking away from the old story and portraying it in a unique manner. The film hits the theatres on May 17.

The director got an inspiration for his film three years ago when he saw a Marathi film,Sant Sakhu,by Prabhat Films,directed by Vishnupant Govind Damle in 1941. His further research revealed that apart from filmmakers in the South,the subject was also taken up by Dadasaheb Phalke in a silent film in 1922.

“Though nothing in written,people give various versions of the saint’s life story,” says Sharma,adding that the most famous legend has it that Sakhubai was born in a poor family of Pandharpur and was a devotee of Lord Vitthal. She got married into a rich family but her in-laws were unkind to her. They beat her up,gave her leftover food and took away all her jewellery. Sakhubai suffered all the pain and asked her Lord to help her. One day,the Lord Vitthal in the guise of a woman told Sakhubai to go to Pandharpur to see Him. He took the place of Sakhubai in her house and did all her work. Sakhubai,at the temple,forgot everything in devotion and died while praying. “However,seeing her devotion,Lord Vitthal brought her back to life and the in-laws repented their deeds. Each and every household in Maharashtra knows the story of Sakhubai,” says Sharma,adding that the music recordings of folk songs narrating the story of the woman saint helped him in his homework for the film.

The film stars Sulbha Deshapande,Sudhir Dalvi,Milind Gawali and Varsha Dandle. The role of the protagonist Sakhubai is being essayed by Nisha Parulekar (Sakhu). The film was shot in Mumbai,Gujarat and Kolhapur in May-June 2012.