When Shala spells success

A coming-of-age Marathi film is steadily gaining ground amidst Bollywood blockbusters.

It was in 2005 that Sujay S Dahake first read Milind Bokils Marathi novel Shaala. Nineteen years old then,not only did Dahake internalise the character of the protagonist Joshi,but also kept going back to the book over the years,almost as if to seek answers to his dilemmas about growing up. The book stayed with him,literally,even when in 2009,he went to Philippines for his post graduation in filmmaking.

Today,the 26-year-old filmmakers directorial debut,the Marathi film Shala,an adaptation of the very book,has been running successfully across theatres in Pune and Mumbai,among other cities of Maharashtra,for close to four weeks since its release on January 20. Set in a small village in the 70s,Shala is a romantic coming-of-age film that revolves around four Class IX students and how a year in their lives change everything. Joshi is in love with his classmate Shirodkar,following her around in hope that some day he will be able to express his feelings. His friends from varying backgrounds meanwhile,have their own issues to deal with. While Surya is a lazy dreamer and a bully,Chitrya is a geek,and the naïve Favdya from a family of poor means,has loyalty as his biggest asset.

I had been waiting all these years to be able to adapt the film for the big screen audience, says Dahake,who did three post-graduate courses in filmmaking before he thought he was ready. By the time I decided it was time to make this film,the 2004 book was already a bestseller and also had a successful stage adaptation in Ga Ma Bha Na, he adds.

Unlike most screen adaptations of novels,Dahake has remained as close to the book as possible in the story,the setting and dialogues. He,however,has changed the narrative structure. The film already had a Bollywood adaptation in Humne Jeena Seekh Liya,where the characters were set in contemporary times,faced with present-day issues. The fact that this film had failed to connect with audiences whereas the book had,was a clear indication that the setting should not change, explains the Pune-based filmmaker.

This,says Bokil,is what convinced him to sell the books rights to Dahake. When he approached me,he had already worked on the script for close to two years. His passion for and connection with the book was evident. But the fact that he wanted to retain the essence and language were the deciding factors for me. However,the director felt that he was too emotionally connected to the book to be able to write the screenplay objectively. He,therefore,roped in his professor,Avinash Deshpande,for scriptwriting.

The success of the film can be attributed to the storys universal appeal. With school as the setting and a sensitive handling of the common issues of adolescence,the story connect helps the audience instantly. This has also ensured Shalas presence in the international festival circuit.

Locally,the response to the film has grown over the weeks. To the directors relief,most fans of the book have appreciated the screen adaptation too. Word-of-mouth publicity has helped it reach out to more cities in Maharashtra.

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We received a good response to the one-show-per-day that we had in four theatres across Mumbai last week, says a Cinemax representative.

This week,we have close to 15 shows across the city,even though Agneepath and Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu are also running in our theatres, he says.

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Film Making