Medical-based films take centre stage in Marathi cinema

Cancer, surrogacy, HIV/Aids, schizophrenia and many other medical issues are increasingly taking centre stage in Marathi films. And what’s interesting to note is, it’s all being done sans the filmy melodrama.

In such films the protagonist fights a disease ferociously and coming out as a winner. This plot never fails to tug the strings of our heart.

From the classic film Anand to the recent Paa, the trend of films based on hardcore medical subject is not new in Bollywood. But what has changed entirely is the treatment given to such storylines. Recent Marathi movies such as Janma, Mala Aai Vhaychaay, Aaghat, and Pratisaad revolve around medical subjects.

While Mala Aai Vhaychaay deals with the issue of surrogacy, Janma is the story of a mother’s fight to obtain stem cells to save her elder daughter struck by leukemia (blood cancer). Aaghaat was a hard-hitting drama that revolved around medical profession and Pratisaad was about the influence and power of homeopathy.

Earlier, filmmaker duo Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar have made films such as Zindagi Zindabad on HIV/Aids, Devrai on schizophrenia and Nital on vitiligo. Amarsinha Nikam, a homeopathy doctor who produced Pratisaad said, “Since there are many misconceptions about homeopathy, I decided to make a film to clear the air and create awareness about it. Pratisaad was a first-of-its-kind film on homeopathy. Since visual medium is very powerful, one can educate the layman through such films.”

Filmmaker Sunil Sukthankar feels that while making a movie on a medical subject, he and his partner Sumitra Bhave ensure that the film goes beyond the disease.

“We take care that the film shouldn’t look like a documentary. While in Zindagi Zindabad instead of focusing on just HIV, we highlighted how such people need compassion and how one shouldn’t judge them,” he said.

Mala Aai Vhhaychy deals with surrogacy in a rather innovative manner. Director of the film, Samruddhi Pore, said, “The film deals with advantages and disadvantages of being a surrogate mother and how it has has become a big business in our country.”

Sukthankar feels that the current trend of making socially relevant films is very distinct in Marathi film industry. “Now there is a new and sensible audience which is interested in such films. That could be the reason why more and more Marathi filmmakers are showing courage to handle such strong, serious and issue-based subjects.”