
Marathi film Oxygen-Jeev Gudmartoy narrates the story of a woman who fights for her honour
She is the one whose dignity has been bruised and blistered. And as she chokes with the realisation that the one plundering her self 8211; respect is her father 8211; in 8211; law, the film progresses to bring alive on screen one of the bitter realities of the society. Marathi movie Oxygen8230;Jeev Gudmartoy is about the suffocation of a newly married girl as she is sexually harassed by her father-in-law. The protagonist of Oxygen8230; Jeev Gudmartoy, Sharvari fights against her father-in-law to prove her chastity to her husband. The film is produced by Status Films whose earlier productions include Hirva Kunku, Shambhu Maza Navsacha etc have been hits in rural Maharashtra.
Says Neeta Devkar, the producer of the film, 8220;Along with entertainment, movies serve an important purpose, that is of bringing to light the dark side of society. Oxygen is one such attempt where we have tried to give a wake-up call to our society. Sexual harassment is one over-talked but less addressed issue. By putting the message across through my film, I feel satisfied.8221;
Most of the time, in hundreds of registered cases of sexual harassment, it8217;s someone from the family who is the culprit. And this puts the girl in a piquant situation where the family8217;s honour and fear stops her from fighting back. The story of the film is based on same lines.
The story revolves around four people 8211; Sharvari, the protagonist, Annasaheb, Sharvari8217;s father-in-law, Sameer, Sharvari8217;s husband, Veeru, Sameer8217;s friend and one who helps Sharvari take revenge and. The character of Sharvari slowly advances towards self-empowerment, from being a bubbly little girl to a strong-willed woman.
When Sharvari tells that Annasaheb is sexually harassing her to her husband, he doesn8217;t believe her and asks her to leave the house for alleging his father of such behaviour.
A disappointed Sharvari decides to take revenge from her father-in-law. Although Annasaheb tries his level best to crush her advances for revenge, however he fails because his rival Rama Jagdale and social worker Sarala Lokhande help Sharvari against him. Sharvari8217;s husband Sameer is caught between his love for his wife and his respect for his father.
Teja Devkar, who plays Sharvari, says, 8220;I particularly liked the part where my character had to do some stunts, I was thrilled because I always wanted to do that and I got a chance in this film.8221; Stunt master T Satish, who has worked in films of nine different languages, trained Teja for the stunts on the insistence of Sayaji Shinde.
Although the film revolves around a very serious fact, there are no court scenes in the film. Talking about this Neeta Devakar says, 8220;I am a lawyer by profession but I know if I would have included court scenes, my film would have been one among many socialistic message containing film, which I wanted to avoid.8221; she says, 8220;Marathi films are watched more in rural areas and since this is a women oriented film I want women to see it.8221;