Marathi cinema brings home laurels

Students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) bagged five awards at the 58th National Awards that were announced in May. Arunima Sharma’s Shyam Raat Seher won an award for best direction,while the film’s cameraman,Murli G,won the cinematography award. Kal 15 August Dukan Band Rahegi,directed by Pratik Vats,won the Best Short Fiction award.

Pistulya,a short film by city-based Nagraj Manjule won two national awards this year. “The film won 15 more awards at film festivals in Kerala,Kolkata,Hyderabad,Ahmedabad,Goa and other places. As far as Marathi cinema is concerned,Pune seems to have outshone Mumbai,” said Manjule.

The recently concluded 42nd International Film Festival of India 2011 (IFFI) in Panaji (Goa) showcased city-based Mithunchandra Chaudhuri’s short film Compulsory Hell Mate. It was the only Marathi film amongst 21 shorts that were showcased at the festival. “Marathi cinema has matured in the past few years and is gaining recognition at serious platforms. The year has been encouraging for new entrants like me,” Chaudhuri said.

On the theatre front,the play Zimmad by city-based theatre group Shabdamegh made it to the 19th India Theatre Olympiad — International Theatre Festival held in Cuttack,Orissa,this September. “The year has been immensely encouraging. I have seen many experiments happening in the Pune theatre world. At the festival,we interacted with theatre personalities from Sweden,Italy,Bangladesh,Sri Lanka and elsewhere. The international exposure taught us that language is never a barrier in performing arts,” says Swanand Barve,director of Zimmad,who is already gearing up to send his play for another festival,‘Meet The Masters’,to be held in Kerala in 2012.

Another Marathi play,The Last Color,was recently selected for Kolkata’s Shantipur Natya Mela 2011. Directed by city-based Shrikant Bhide,the play deals with wildlife in India and is the only one selected from Maharashtra.