Lakhan Sonawane wanted to show the plight of the children in some parts of Maharashtra through his film Viras. The children are forced to work after school hours. He made this film for them and has been successful in his endeavor to help. Making the film was not easy for him, yet he did it as he has huge dreams of making it big in Marathi cinema.

Your Film has an emotional concept that is touching. How did you arrive at this story?

This is a common story that you will find in the villages of Maharashtra. When I used to travel I would hear such stories. Many children would attend school and after school hours they would work. Mostly they would graze buffaloes. Since buffalo milk would fetch good price, this practice is rampant in those areas. I wanted to show the plight of these young children and that is how I formulated this story.

Tell us about your journey into short films?

Initially I was pursuing diploma in mechanical engineering. I had some backlogs as I was least interested in studying. Slowly I started concentrating on film making as I have a creative side to myself. I took formal training in this as well. I have worked with many reputed filmmakers as an assistant.

What were you looking to convey with this movie?

Like I told you earlier about the problems that children face. Many kids interacted with me and each one had different problems. I wanted to convey the big problems on these young shoulders.

What roadblocks did you face, when you made Your Film?

Challenges were many. We had the entire team ready for the shoot. Most of them were my college mates. I assigned a task for each of my friend. Except for 2-3 of them the others deserted me. They were bored and this film did not interest them. Three of us made this film. Also the cameraman man whom I had hired did not come to the shoot. Then we got someone else and completed the film.

What preparations went into making Viras?

I made lot of preparations but nothing worked. I told you already how we were deserted. The thing is the rest of us were passionate about making this film and just went ahead with it. The passion resulted in the end product.

Did people relate to the story of this film?

Many such comments came in. The bets one was a teacher opined that this story should be printed in the Maharashtra school text books. This will inspire many parents and students.

Tell us about your lead cast and technical team?

My lead actors are having theatre background. Sunanda Digholkar played the role of step mother. She is the wife of a teacher. Trymbak Wadaskar acted as the father. He is also a teacher. Limbaji’s role was played by Hanuman Bhalerao. He helped us during the location hunting and used to be with is always. Hanuman has amazing leadership qualities. Lokesh Sonule was the art director and DOP is by Shree Sarang.

Any unforgettable or cherished memory associated with this film?

The first day of the shoot we got a call from the cameraman that he won’t turn up. Many big people were invited. I was really worried. No equipment would also come. He wanted more payment. Shree Sarang came in and helped us. We also went to another cameraman, but he advised us to concentrate on our education and should abandon this idea of making short films. All this was very demotivating. Yet we went ahead and made this film

Tell us about your future projects?

Another short film titled Weekend is ready. Also a film titled Sunday is on the editing table. I am working on a web series as a director. Post that I will look at feature films.

Which film-maker has been a strong influence on you and your style of film making?

Nagraj Manjule and Umesh Kulkarni have had a huge impact on me.

If you got the opportunity to remake a classic, which one would that be?

I will never do remakes. See it is like a mother gives birth to her child and it is her child. She knows all the pain. Similarly an artist gives birth to an art form. Only a mother knows the pain of rearing her child. So the artist will know the pains he went through to make a film. Remakes should never be made.

Tell us your opinion about Fillum and how it will help the upcoming filmmakers?

For me it is a huge thing that my film Viras will be featured in this app. I never thought that my film would go into this app and many people abroad will see it. Youtube has become common now. I think Fillum will make it big like the other digital platforms. Short films have a right to be on digital platforms and Fillum has given these films that honour.

Viras is now playing on FILLUM App

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