“The first time I met her was in 2010 just a while before I made Mee Sindhutai Sapkal. I remember reading a very bold headline in the newspaper which said ‘The woman who has a thousand daughters and a thousand sons-in-law’ and that was quite intriguing. I met her at Hadapsar, Pune where her ashram was just coming up. My idea was to meet this lady who was so strong and resilient despite all the humiliation and the hardships that she went through but despite all of it, her enterprising and never say die attitude was really amazing for someone who has taken so many knocks in life. It was really inspiring for me as a person.
Deciding to make a film
It was in the first meeting itself that I had decided to make a film. I recall that initially she was a bit hesitant about opening up. Her apprehension was, why somebody from the Hindi Film Industry wanted to make a film on her. She had heard enough about exploitation by filmmakers, I had to convince her that I did not belong to that tribe of filmmakers who wanted to exploit her life. Instead I wanted to pay tribute to her. I also convinced her that it will be done in the most uncompromising way and she would be the consultant on the film and would be present throughout the making of it. After an hour the ice broke, and she suddenly started talking, pouring her heart out as she was waiting for someone to come who she could really open up to. I remember she narrated the incident where she was nine months pregnant and thrown out of the house by her husband. She gave birth to the child in a cow shed. Later she took a sharp-edged stone and hit the umbilical cord many times and it finally snapped from her body. Then, she walked a few kilometers to her mother’s home with her just-born infant. But sadly her mother did not help her either. She later took shelter in a crematorium that night where a dead body was being burnt. Being extremely hungry and unable to feed her baby she picked up the flour offered to the corpse, kneaded it and baked a chapati over the fire of the burning corpse and ate. It was one of the most gut-wrenching scenes and it did not go out of my mind.
Filming Mee Sindhutai Sapkal
We decided to make the film in Marathi as the milieu was set in Vidarbha. We referred to her autobiography Aamchi Mai and also extensively spoke to her. We shot the film from April to June and it was a quick process because we were clear what we wanted in the screenplay and did not want to fall into the regular trappings. The idea was not to make a film about the woman who gave shelter to orphans. I wanted to show what it was that drove this strong woman to take some tough decisions and do what she was doing. I wanted to probe in her life and tell the story about this lady who fought against all odds and become the epitome of empowerment and give life and instead of taking life because she herself had attempted suicide twice. We purposely did not show the film in a chronological order as it would be really boring. We started the film with her amazing journey to San Jose to address the first ever Marathi Sammelan and it was the first time she was traveling by a plane.
Mee Sindhutai Sapkal winning four National Awards
Before winning the National Awards, our film had traveled to many international festivals. We first got selected at the London International Film Festival and I remember Sindhutai was really elated. In India too we got to many festivals where I took her including IFFI (International Film Festival of India). It was also the first time I had applied to National Awards as the film wouldn’t be worth it, you wouldn’t dare to do it. I remember when the awards started getting announced, the first award for the film went to Suresh Wadkar who had such a great body of work but it was the first time he was conferred National Award. Then came the screenplay and the dialogue and I thought that was it. I never imagined that we would win the Special Jury award. I vividly remember taking her to the National Award ceremony. Generally there is no speech after you get the award but I whispered into the ears of then president Pratibha Patil that Sindhutai was present and if she would allow her to speak a few words. She actually let her talk and she brought the entire house down and I believe that is also when a lot of people across the globe realised why the film was so important.
Memories of Sindhutai Sapkal
She would call me ‘Bala’ which in Marathi means son and I would refer to her as Mai which means mother. We actually shared a mother and son relationship. We were in touch. Whenever she was in Mumbai she would call and meet me and whenever I was in Pune, I would go to meet her. Mr. Amitabh Bachchan was present during the music launch of the film and later she was also a part of one the episodes of Kaun Banega Crorepati. She would always call me on Gudi Padwa. The last time I spoke to her was last April on Gudi Padwa. She was legendary and a pillar of strength. I am still trying to come to terms with her death. She was sabki mai and a farishta (angel).
(As told to News18.com)
