Picture this, Ken-ya? It's along the Mutha

<div class="section1"><div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="32.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/940645.cms" alt="/photo/940645.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">PUNE: The 90-minute movie is being simultaneously made in Marathi, Hindi, English and Swahili.The star cast includes a small group of Kenyan actors and one actor each from Britain, Iran and Mumbai, and the mercurial Dilip Prabhavalkar.<br /><br />The plot unfolds in British colonial Kenya, but is being shot in Pune''s backyard - to be precise, along the waters of the incomplete Temghar dam, 50 km from Pune.<br /><br />As if that wasn''t ambitious enough, there''s a shoestring budget of Rs 25 lakh, and the multi-award-winning cinematographer of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Shwaas</span> fame, Sanjay Memane, to work with.<br /><br />The spirit of adventure seems to have been truly fired in a new generation of Marathi film-makers, following the success of low-budget Oscar wonder <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Shwaas</span> (Breath). Jatin Wagle, with his Manoj ''Night'' Shyamalan impression Chakwa, Gajendra Ahire with his suspense film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Saeel</span> (Loose) and comedy king Kedar Shinde with his <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Agabai Arrecha</span> are some of them.<br /><br />But the film in question is being made by Pramod Prabhulkar, who recently had a reasonable success with his debut film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Goad Gupeet</span> (Sweet Secret) — a cute comedy about a few children trying to find a suitable granny for a grandpa.<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic=""><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></span><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">"The new film is tentatively titled <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Phoenix</span> (it may be changed to <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Anamik</span>, or anonymous) and salutes unsung heroes of the freedom struggle," says Prabhulkar.<br /><br />It''s the story of an anonymous Indian freedom fighter, who escapes from London, only to be caught in Kenya. It starts a few days ahead of Independence, when British captors leave the chained freedom fighter (Prabhavalkar) in the custody of two Kenyan guards and a caretaker.<br /><br />The caretaker''s 7-year-old daughter turns up on the scene and starts asking everyone uneasy questions about the meaning of independence, freedom fighters and the chains. The story, written by the director himself, also alludes to the connection between the Kenyan and Indian freedom movements.<br /><br />"At India House in London, I saw group pictures of freedom fighters like Madanlal Dhingra and Savarkar as students. But there are so many others in the pictures, who must have all fought and perished unsung for Independence. Phoenix is a tribute to them all," explains Prabhulkar.<br /><br />The two other crew members, who have a tough challenge on hand, is first time producer Pushkar Shikarkhane and art director Raju More, who had to reconstruct a little bit of Kenya along the Mutha river.<br /><br />A practising doctor, Shikarkhane says, "I am an advocate of total health, which includes emotional health. I decided to produce the film because for me, the spontaneous little Kenyan girl is a symbol of good emotional health."</div> </div>