Under weekly film screenings a Marathi film Shwaas was screened at Abhirang Auditorium of Bharat Bhavan here on Sunday.
Shwaas meaning The Breath was released in 2004. It was India’s official entry to the 2004 Oscars and was ranked 6th in the Academy Award for Best Foreign language Film category. Its storyline is based on real-life incident in Pune.
This story is about how an old man tried to show his grandson the preciousness and beauty of life in a no win situation such as cancer. It is about keeping a positive attitude towards life.
Notably, Shwaas won the National Award for best film in 2004, nearly 50 years since a Marathi film (Shyamchi Aai) last earned this title. Directed by debutant Sandeep Sawant, the film was shot in 30 days at Sindhudurg, Konkan, Pune and at KEM Hospital in Mumbai. The post-production took one and half years to complete. Shwaas was acknowledged as a “significant turn for Marathi cinema” which had been going through a low patch. After its success, it was released in Hindi, Bengali and Tamil languages.
Vishwanath Nayak, one of the eight producers, a chartered accountant for Arun Nalawade, a Marathi stage actor, suggested him to make a film. later, Arun came across a story by writer Madhavi Gharpure, published in the Diwali edition of a magazine and thought that it would make a wonderful film storyline. The distribution plan for Shwaas was in place even before production began. In the initial stages, the film was taken to as many villages as the team could manage; marriage halls, school auditoriums and makeshift venues were all used for screening. All this despite the fact, the film has no songs, no heroes, heroines or recognisable stars of Marathi film industry.
A whole lot of crowd was seen at the screening and enjoyed the movie. Notably, the film was screened in the regional language with English subtitles, but was enjoyed much by the audience.