Marathi director finds distributors elusive

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Although her debut venture "Maati Maay" has been critically acclaimed overseas, Marathi director Chitra Palekar is facing difficulties finding distributors for the movie in her own country.

Palekar's "Maati Maay" starring Nandita Das and Atul Kulkarni was recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and received an overwhelming response with all its shows displaying a houseful board.

The film has been released in a limited way in Pune and similarly it is to be released in Mumbai Nov 17.

"No filmmaker wants to make a movie for the festival circuit only. Every filmmaker wants his movie to be seen by more and more people. I am trying to convince people to screen my movie. Let's hope it reaches out to a larger audience," Palekar, here to promote her film, told bollywoodcountry.com.

Nandita echoed similar views and said: "When so many multiplexes were opening up, we thought at least one would be dedicated to movies of our kind, which are not mainstream but tell a deeply moving human story. But nothing of that sort has happened."

"Maati Maay" is based on a story by Mahasweta Devi and tells the tale of a woman who works in a graveyard. Her job is to bury the bodies of small children.

"A myth had perpetuated about these movies lacking an audience. The fact is that there is a large audience for this kind of alternate cinema too. Such movies should be given a screening at least once to see the impact," said Nandita.

Palekar is happy that not just Indians, a lot of non-Indians too came to see her movie at Toronto and appreciated it.

According to her, any movie depicting a human tale, which is touchy and true to life, is bound to be appreciated by people around the world, as human feelings are same everywhere.

Palekar does not believe in categorising movies into art or commercial movies. She said: "My film can be best described as alternate cinema and there is an audience for these movies in the country."

On being queried about her choice of Nandita to play the lead role, Palekar said: "We need to cast actors who are genuinely interested in my kind of cinema and roles so that the performance of the actor is not superficial. Besides, Nandita is an excellent actress and has given an excellent performance in the movie."

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Maati Maay