A short film on Sati gets recognised globally

Sati, a silent short film made by Nilesh Desai, won the second prize for best short film, in Iconoclast, 2014, (a national level short film festival). The film was awarded the first prize as the best short film at the Melbourne Film Festival. It also won the award for the best child actor at the Dada Saheb Palkhe award. The film also got nominated for best editing at the Grand Off Independant Film Awards in Poland. Talking about the film, Nilesh says, " I was very happy that my short film got recognition globally. As a director it is always a good feeling to get recognition."

Talking more about the film Desai said, "The idea came to mind when I had gone to my village for Ganesh Chaturti. My uncles often used to tell me about Sati and it had a deep impact on me. Also during the Sativrata, where a boy is dressed in saree and goes from house to house to seek food, the music played during that time is very rustic and very scary, and it inspired me to make the film. My film also has the same music."

Desai says he was both impressed and curious by what he had heard, and that is when the idea to make a short film on Sati came up. "Executing the whole idea was very challenging. The narration is not very clear, it is very surreal and as the film was a silent film, it was more challenging. I wanted to show the plight of the Indian women. Although people have become more knowledgeable, social evils against the women is still very much prevalent in our country."

Talking more about the film, Desai says, "The story revolves around a mother and a daughter, where the mother in her dreams is haunted by the fact that her daughter will also be perished in the Sati. It is a film not only about Sati, but also other social evils that are prevailing in our so called modern day society."