Film on Phule-Ambedkar seeks crowdfunding

Lack of funds has stalled the shoot. The team is now ready to shooting and is seeking support

Here’s a film that has been shot on crowdfunding. Jayanti, a film on the anti-caste ideas of Jotiba Phule, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and Dr B R Ambedkar, is about a youth’s reformation journey. It’s shooting and editing has been completed and the makers are going to start its post-production in September 2020.

Jayanti’s writer-director Shailesh Narwade said, “It is difficult for an independent filmmaker to find a producer for such kind of films. And it becomes tougher especially when the film talks about caste.”

The project was rolled out in October 2019 after a few like-minded friends decided to fund it. This two-hour feature film in Marathi, with English subtitles, was slated to release in April 2020 but late funding had delayed its shooting early this year.

And then the lockdown brought the work to a complete halt. The team is now gearing up to take the project to its completion.

“There is a huge gap of this kind of content. Only a few filmmakers are making such films. We met several people, who liked the project but not all of them are capable of funding it. We need support from like-minded people in India and abroad,” Shailesh added.

A team of experts and celebrities are involved in this ambitious film. Internationally acclaimed music director Mangesh Dhakde, lyricist Guru Thakur, singer Javed Ali, cinematographer Yogesh Koli, sound recordist Ashish Shinde and makeup designer Santosh Gilbile are a part of this project.

Well-known actors such as Milind Shinde, Kishor Kadam, Paddy Kamble, Anjali Joglekar and Amar Upadhyay have played the lead roles. “Half of the journey is complete. Now we want to reach the destination,” said Shailesh, a playwright, whose recent Hindi play ‘Maseeha’ was invited to IPTA’s national festival.

His Marathi film ‘Roommates’ – a crime thriller - will soon be available on an OTT platform.

The makers of Jayanti are crowdfunding for Rs 1.5 crore. They immediately need Rs 60 lakh to complete the post-production and to pay for the expenses already incurred on production.

Remaining funds will be used for distribution. The campaign on gocrowdera.com has so far raised around Rs 9.5 lakh.

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