Tejaswini Pandit, who plays the title role of Sindhutai Sapkal – the lady who rewrites her destiny after being ostracized by her husband – was named the best actress.
'The Way Home', dealing with contradictions and consequences of terrorism, was adjudged the best film while its maker Biju Kumar was named the best director at the festival that was held in Madrid.
Daniela Creutz's 'Arranged Happiness', which is about inter-racial relationship and arranged marriages in Kashmir, won the prize for the third best film.
Vijanath Biradar's role of a gravedigger in Girish Kasaravalli's 'Riding the Stallion of Dreams' won him the best actor award while Ramesh Narayan bagged the best music award for his score in 'The Way Home'.
Mahadevan's film has been in the news for its good show in the festival circuit and the rave reviews it has received.
"My film had two good screenings with the one at the Psychology Institute ending in an interesting Q&A session. The best actress and best film (runner-up) completed a successful visit and festival," Mahadevan told PTI.
Born into a poor, cattle-grazing family in Wardha in Maharashtra, Sindhutai was married at 12 to a 30-year-old man, but abandoned by her husband and her own family, following false accusations of infidelity.
About to commit suicide, she notices a tree which, though axed, still gives shelter. Moved, she sets out on a journey towards dignity, setting up five orphanages for abandoned children eventually ending up in San Jose in the US to give fund-raising speeches.
When her aging husband turns up at the orphanage, she graciously 'adopts' him. The film's deep humanism in the face of injustice and humiliation gives it a universal resonance.
According to Mahadevan, Madrid - the seat of art and culture was a revelation. To commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary, the festival presented four iconic films – Satyajit Ray's 'Teen Kanya", 'Charulata' and 'Ghare Baire' and 'Char Adhyay' by Kumar Shahani.
"It was a pleasant surprise to see the Imagineindia fest authorities organise a reading of Tagore's poems. That too without any material! I had to download a few poems in English from the net and I translated one of them into Hindi to give them a different flavour," he says.
The Indian section was represented in by eight films by directors from India, Italy, England and Germany.
In the Classics sections, films like 'Barsaat' (Raj Kapoor), 'Pyaasa' (Guru Dutt), 'Shahib Bibi Aur Gulam' (Abrar Albi), 'Mahanagar' (Satyajit Ray) and 'Nagarik' (Ritwick Ghatak) were shown.
