A 41-minute ‘dark’ Marathi film makes the Slumdog cut
Manjha is the sharp thread used to fly Kite (in Marathi)
Ranka and Chimi are Mumbai street kids like Jamaal, Salim and Latika. Except, their story is darker and they are not as famous as the Slumdog Millionaire children. But they are getting there.
They are the stars of Manjha, 28-year-old Marathi filmmaker Rahi Anil Barve’s first film, which released in 2007 at the Mumbai International Film Festival, where it picked up the Golden Conch for best national film and later won the Indian Documentary Producers Association award for best first film by the director. Forgotten soon after, it is now being resurrected for a global DVD audience on March 31, thanks to Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle.
When 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment releases the DVD version of the multi-Oscar winner, riding alongside will be Manjha—a 41-minute Marathi tale from the streets and slums of Mumbai. Shot in black and white, the short film tells the story of Ranka (played by Gaurav Kamble) who, after his sister Chimi (Parvati Shankar Nimbalkar) is raped by a cop, is hell bent on revenge.