Shetgaonkar wants to win an award

Joining the league of commercial Hindi films like Road Movie, Delhi-6, What���������������������������s Your Raashee? and Dil Bole Hadippa! at the recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was the small-time, NFDC-backed Konkani film Paltadacho Munis (The Man Beyond The Bridge).
Directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, the man behind the National Award-winning Marathi short film Eka Sagar Kinar, the film won the International Federation of Film Critics prize in the Discovery section of the fest.
And while Laxmikant is elated at the recognition his film has received, he says its making was no easy task. ���������������������������Paltadacho Munis was rejected by the screening committee of the department of information and publicity for selecting scripts under the Film Finance Scheme of the state government,��������������������������� says the director. Luckily, though, his script was picked up by the NFDC during a scriptwriting workshop at the NFDC Film Bazar. Loosely based on Goan writer Mahabaleshwar Sail���������������������������s story, Paltadacho Munis is about a widowed forest ranger Vinayak, who develops an intimate relationship with a mentally ill woman, risking becoming an outcast in the process.
Making the film in the Konkani language was a gamble that paid off well eventually, says the film-maker. ���������������������������I could have made this film in Hindi for a wider mass appeal, but I am attached to my mother tongue. The Toronto recognition just goes to show that beyond the language, it���������������������������s all about good film-making,��������������������������� he says. Sticking to Konkani, though, could have been the reason it took him a long time to make the film. ���������������������������It is difficult to make films in Goa. There is very little local support and the members of the film financing committee are not from the local film industry. They don���������������������������t understand anything about film-making,��������������������������� he laments.
Back in Goa after the successful stint at the TIFF, the film-maker is now looking at ways to promote his film in the country. ���������������������������I want the film to be shown across the country, particularly in Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka. To me, this is even more important than taking it to film festivals,��������������������������� he says.