A Hindi film Malli was screened at Madhya Pradesh State Tribal museum here on Thursday. The movie was screened under the Ullas series of films.

The film is directed by Santosh Sivan. The original language is Tamil and it was 1998 and the running time is 90 minutes.

Malli, a poor tribal girl in Kerala, loves yarns spun by the village storyteller Monu.

Being a child, she believes her tale about the magical blue bead which grants wishes.

Malli wants it to cure her dumb friend. Once while helping an injured fawn in the forest, she finds the bead. Malli rushes to give it to her friend, who is going away.

Would she reach on time?

Inspired by a true incident and starring the real dumb girl, this multiple award winning film both in India and abroad by celebrated director Santosh Sivan is beautifully and evocatively shot in Kerala and means to inspire in kids the love for a simple life and nature.

An FTII alumnus in cinematography, Santosh Sivan is one of India’s most prolific cinematographers having shot some of the most beautifully shot features and documentaries in the country including ‘Raakh’, ‘Roja’, ‘Dalapathi’, ‘Rudaali’ and ‘Kala Pani’ among many others.

Both his films for CFSI, the debut ‘Halo’ and his second film ‘Malli’ won National Awards, besides international recognition.

His next ‘The Terrorist’ brought him international recognition. Santosh has since directed and shot many feature films and documentaries in Hindi, Tamil Kannada and Malayalam languages and has won numerous national and international awards.

The film has won many awards including Best Film on Environment Conservation/ preservation at 46th National Film Festival India in1998, Best Child Artist 46th National Film Festival,

India 1998, Second Prize in Feature and Video Section 16th Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, USA in 1999, Silver Elephant For Best Live Action at 11th International children’s film Festival, India 1999 and many more.