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Shrihari Sathe’s directorial debut ‘1000 Rupee Note’, a Marathi film with English subtitles, opening in New York’s Village East Cinema next week, is a telling commentary on the current socio-political system in India where everyday corruption often goes unnoticed in the midst of embezzlement of billions of rupees by the powerful and influential people.
The film, released in India in 2014, revolves around Budhi, a widow living in a small village in Maharashtra. Her only son, a young farmer, has committed suicide, rendering her poor and leaving her alone in the world, but she leads a cheerful life. Budhi, played by veteran Marathi film actress Usha Naik, is particularly fond of her neighbor, young Sudama with whom she shares the small pleasures of life.
When a local politician gives her a few 1000 rupee notes at an election rally to vote for a particular politician, she and Sudama go shopping with her newfound wealth, but despite their lofty ambitions reality has other plans for them.
“That is something that turns her modest life upside down. The story of the film is sort of a dark fairy tale, but it is also about the resilience of the contemporary rural society in India where, despite all the hardship, somehow people find a way to develop a bond of family even though there are no blood relations like in the case of Budhi and Sudama,” Sathe, a professor in the film department in the School of Arts at Columbia, told Desi Talk in an interview.
For the 90-minute fiction film ‘Ek Hazarachi Note’, Sathe has received special jury award and centenary award for best film at the International Film Festival of India. The New York and Mumbai-based independent filmmaker has won over 30 awards from film festivals around the world, and has swept the Maharashtra State Film awards for 1000 Rupee Note.
Based on a story by Srikant Bojewar, resident editor of Maharashtra Times, the film touches upon the issue of corruption in the backdrop of farmers’ suicides in the Maharashtra region of India which hit newspaper headlines a couple of years ago. Srihari, however, insists that the film is not about farmers’ suicide which only serves as a backdrop in the film. “It’s a social satire, a commentary on the current social political system in India and is not a documentary,” he said.
To a question he said that the film which is a narrative fiction transcends the boundaries of India because of its universal appeal. He said that it received good audience response in places like South Africa, Italy, Spain and Australia, because despite its Indian setting, people could emotionally connect to the emotions of the characters.
“Even in the U.S. where it was shown in one of the theaters outside New York, the audience were able to connect themselves to the plight of Budhi on various levels – one on the loss of her son, her struggle on meeting her both ends and finding a bond with a “surrogate son”. That way, the film cuts across the geographical boundaries,” he said.
“It’s not my intention to bring to light the plight of farmers, but to have a conversational piece about this issue, but not basically hitting the nail on the head,” he said, adding that he did not want to make a the film a big social issue. “I have always found that when social issues are camouflaged in narrative story-telling, they become more of a talking point and stays with people much longer,” he said in the interview.
The film is entirely shot in a place near Pune, and the music has been scored by national award- winning composer Shailendra Barve.
The post N.Y. Filmmaker’s ‘1000 Rupee Note’ Opens In Theaters Sept. 23 appeared first on News India Times.
