Lalit Marathe’s debut feature Shabri is finally going to release on 26th August. Starring Eesha Koppikhar, and produced by Ram Gopal Varma, the film was made long back, and was ready for release since last 2-3 years. But for some weird reasons it never manage to reach the theatres.
Lalit also directed the tv serial Rajuben, which seems to be similar to Shabri, at least the basic story. Haven’t seen Rajuben, so can’t comment much.
At a time when RGV’s films are all about horny camera movements and ear blasting sound, Shabri looks like it’s back to the old school of story telling. Do check it out.
And here’s the director’s note on the film…bit surprising…
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
Gangster films do not interest me including the ones Mr. Ramgopal Varma has made. I have never known a gangster in my life, man or woman. But the process of a tormented mind resorting to violence, the moral choices made in taking the first step on the path of no return have always fascinated me.
The intensity, the concentration of intent in these choices can be scorching. But if we see a ‘to be’ gangster in a room making that choice, withdraw and include his neighbour bathing her child, step further away to see a man selling his wares on the street beyond the wall, traffic piling up, kids going to school and so forth, the magnitude of that choice can be devastating. Shabri is an effort to portray a woman next door who has made this choice and where that choice leads her.
Shabri supports a family by working in a flour mill in a slum. She becomes this girl with a gun in a man’s world and ends up threatening the biggest corridors of power in the Matka gambling underworld of Mumbai. Shabri’s quest in the film is similar to a resourceful working woman rising to challenge a superior. Despite her daily struggle to survive and keep her family afloat deep within all that Shabri has desperately wanted to do is to stand up and be counted. And this is the biggest trigger for the fateful choice she makes.
Most achievements are directly proportionate to the ferocity of hunger and the finality of the pangs. Shabri feels raw hunger. She is driven as much by the passion for vengeance as the terrible desire to live her life her own way.
When inspired nothing in the world can stop what must rise. When everything is at stake there is nothing to lose. Shabri is an underdog whose stubbornness to have her way against all odds will touch a chord in all those who dream to soar.
May the force of Shabri be with you!
– Lalit Marathe
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 