Filming research

A student of Cultural Anthropology in Berlin,she is currently writing her thesis on Marathi cinema. “The research is named Construction of Cultural Identity Through Marathi Cinema. When I arrived in Pune,the topic was new to me. But I read a lot of scientific as well as non-scientific literature about Marathi cinema. I must say there is nearly no literature available currently from an anthropological point of view. Veronique Benei is the only person I know of who conducted research on Marathi cinema. She investigated the cinema of Bhalji Pendhalkar and his films on Shivaji. But there are a lot of social anthropologists who did research in Indian cinema. I watched some Marathi movies including Tingya,Shwaas,Valu,Sade Made Teen,Kadachit,Savar Re and Nirop,” she adds.

Having questioned filmmakers,including Umesh Kulkarni and Sachin Kundalkar on various facets of the cinema,Shefer has also spoken to moviegoers at Prabhat Theatre. “Although my research was in the single-screen-theatre Prabhat,I did a lot of interviews with the filmgoing audience,distributors and so on. I also accompanied Umesh Kulkarni and his team to the village where Valu was shot. Valu was a very interesting part of my research. I wrote an analysis from an anthropological point of view and described what the audience thought was the plot of the film,the director’s intention,my anthropological analysis and what Marathi cinema means to them. I also explored the current condition of Marathi cinema,its history,if there is a change,since when did it change,how often do they go to the movies,which films do they like most,which not.”

In the final stages of her thesis,while she says that many students come to research on various topics in the country,Schefer was in the city for two months and observed that Marathi cinema plays a more important role in the city than Bollywood movies do. “It is growing constantly and for me it’s quiet interesting writing on this topic,because nearly nobody knows in Germany what Marathi cinema is and that there is anything other than Bollywood,” she adds.