Mahesh's answer to Schindler’s List

Mahesh Manjrekar’s City of Gold produced by Dar Motion Pictures could well be B-wood’s answer to Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List.
While Spielberg addressed the genocide of Jews by Germans, Mahesh’s film releasing today talks of the mill worker genocide that hit Mumbai in the last 28 years. And it has a stellar cast including names likes Seema Biswas and Sachin Khedekar.
The filmmaker who has received accolades for Astitva, Vaastav and Me Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy, recalls how he was distressed when he saw a Marathi play titled Aadhantar based on mill strikes.“It was written brilliantly by senior journalist Jayant Pawar of the Maharashtra Times,’’ says Mahesh. “And though the play comprised just eight scenes, it left an indelible mark on me.’’
Years later, Jayant approached Mahesh with a film script on the same subject. “But I wasn’t looking to make a film on it because the subject was too stark and disturbing,” admits Mahesh. “But the script lingered in my mind through the time I was making my other Marathi cinema. And then I found it was too hard to ignore. So I collaborated with Jayant and decided to bring to life City of Gold that tells you what happened to the families of some of those nine lakh people whose lives went up in shambles. Approximately 56 mills have ground to a standstill in the last three decades.’’
According to Mahesh, Mumbai’s changing skyline of skyscrapers are built on the destroyed edifices of these mills. And the film narrates the story of the apathy of India’s financial capital towards its mill workers. “I don’t think many Mumbaiites even stopped to think what happened to these workers who lost their livelihood in one blow,’’ adds Mahesh, who also gives an account of the birth of the true underbelly of organised crime in Mumbai, a subject he is an expert on.
Arun Rangachari of Dar Motion Pictures says, “The single most important driver that will define the growth in the media and entertainment sector is going to be superior and distinctive content. Content that pushes the envelope and creates new benchmarks, that has widespread international appeal, and is not just restricted to the Indian diaspora. City of Gold matches these exacting standards and we had no hesitation in choosing it as our first project.”
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