Dinesh Kamath's column on movie 'Gangoobai' that was published in Newsband

Gangoobai is a film directed by Priya Krishnaswamy. The film has Sarita Joshi, Purab Kohli, Meeta Vasisht, Raj Zutshi, Gopi Desai, Rushad Rana, Nidhi Sunil, Behram Rana, Ankita Shrivastav and Aparna Khanekar. Music is by Ved Nair.

Gangoobai, a childless, elderly widow, has lived her whole life in the tiny colonial hill station of Matheran, set in the spectacularly beautiful Sahyadri mountain range about 4 hours' drive from Mumbai.

Her world consists of tending to her beloved flowers and working as domestic help in a few homes, among them that of the wealthy Hodiwala family who own a weekend bungalow in Matheran, an eco-sensitive zone where no vehicles are allowed, not even bicycles.

Gangoobai's quiet life is suddenly disrupted when, one day, she sees the Hodiwala's teenage daughter wearing a magnificent designer Parsi sari of white Chinese motifs embroidered on a background of purple silk.

The old woman falls instantly in love with this exotic, expensive, custom-made creation - and longs to own one herself.

Driven by this unlikely obsession, Gangoobai manages, against all odds, to save the money over 4 years of hard work and despite some wrong judgments, and finally finds herself in the big, polluted, overcrowded city of Mumbai - an urban nightmare she is utterly unprepared for.

Here, filled with fears and misgivings, she is pleasantly surprised to find that people are the same everywhere, despite all outward appearances to the contrary, and that even the hardest heart can be transformed by kindness and love.

Finally, one day, Gangoobai collects her designer sari and attains her dream, only to face ultimate failure and betrayal at home by one whom she holds closest to her heart.

Yet, her essential goodness and unfailing generosity to life redeem the destruction of her dreams, and set her life on a path that surpasses anything that she could ever have imagined...

Gangoobai, a drama, is produced by National film Development Corporation Limited (NFDC). Directed and written by Priya Krishnaswamy, the film stars Sarita Joshi, essaying an author-backed character.

The script was selected for NFDC's Screenwriters' Lab in 2009, which picked 6 scripts to be mentored by the Binger Film Lab, Amsterdam. The first leg of the lab was at the Locarno International Film Festival, 2009. The final stage was at the Film Bazaar in Goa, 2009.

Gangoobai premiered at the MAMI 2012, in the New Faces in Indian Cinema section. It then went to the South Asian Film Festival in Canada and the Hanoi International Film Festival, Vietnam, where it was in the Panorama section. It was also in the Indian Panorama at the IFFI, 2012 in Goa.

The film has been released in PVR, BIG cinemas and INOX theaters in Mumbai and Pune on January 11, 2013.

Gangoobai is the story of the unlikeliest of heroines in search of a dream sari. Set between Matheran and Mumbai, the film is about journeys and destinations, about generosity, goodness, determination and grit, and about the strength of a dream.

Sarita Joshi as Gangoobai, Purab Kohli as Waman Ponkshe, Meeta Vasisht as Daksha, Raj Zutshi as Rohan, Gopi Desai as Mrs. Tahiliani, Rushad Rana as Khushru Mistry, Nidhi Sunil as Monisha, Behram Rana as Jamshyd Mistry and Ankita Shrivastav as Santripti have done good job.

Priya Krishnaswamy, Director of the film Gangoobai, drew inspiration from the Parsi community. Gangoobai is about an old woman who is based in Matheran and through this film, Priya wanted to talk about dreams, definition, a journey and what happens when the destination of the journey changes. This film is about the journey of a woman and what happens on that journey. It’s about the way we conceive our journey in life.

A typical maid’s life is circumscribed by my circumstances. How many times have you heard the story of a maid who works at an IIT firm and whose son too studies there? This film is about Gangoobai’s journey.

Her character is really fascinated by a particular kind of Parsi saree, and Priya chose this particular kind of saree in the film mainly because, she had edited a Parsi film way back when she came to Mumbai and she had edited the only Parsi film made in this country by the NFDC. She has grown up among the Parsis and she had a Parsi friend working with her on the script of this film. And her mother had a very deep connection with the Parsis when she was a student in Hyderabad.  So they come from a place where the Parsi community is very strong, like in Hyderabad. So all the theatre Priya did in Hyderabad was governed by the Parsi community.

This film is Priya’s tribute to the senior citizens of India too. And she made this film in Hindi, English and Marathi since in Matheran, a Marathi-speaking bai will speak in Marathi; in Mumbai, she will speak Hindi; and after working with elite people they also speak in English.

Arranging finance for her first film was never easy and she did tell two to three producers about this film and they all said they didn’t think it would happen. So she too took a backseat with this film. One day, she got a call from Nina Gupta of NFDC and she asked Priya what was happening with her film and she told her it had all come to a standstill. She then asked Priya about the budget of the film and Priya told her it would cost Rs 4-5 crore. She asked Priya to make the film within Rs 1.8 crore. Priya was in a fix but she gathered the courage to ask her if she wanted to make it? She said ‘yes’ and that’s how it happened.

The Mumbai Film Festival also served as a valuable platform to showcase her film. Priya is a big fan of the MFF and she thinks it’s awesome. She attended MAMI three years ago and she was blown away by it. In fact, they had a screening of their film at the festival and the turnout was quite impressive. There were people talking among themselves about how much they liked the film and the way they were connected with the characters. This was the greatest compliment Priya had received for a film she had made.

So Gangoobai is a film which is really worth watching. So do watch it.