The city’s erstwhile textile mill workers — their trials and tribulations — will be captured forever on celluloid with film-maker Mahesh Manjrekar all set to make a Hindi and Marathi film on them.
The title of the Marathi movie Lalbaug Parel was unveiled in Parel on Tuesday. The Hindi version is called City of Gold — Mumbai 1982: Ek Ankahi Kahani.
Hundreds of mill workers were present at the unveiling. For many of them talking about their lives was like reopening old wounds. While some have rebuilt their lives, a majority of them are still groping in the dark.
Kishan Salunkhe, 59, a former textile mill worker, is an estate agent now. “It’s good to know someone is making a movie on us. I’m fortunate to be an estate agent. But there are many still doing odd jobs,” Salunkhe said.
“Every textile mill worker has his/her own story. Can one movie encapsulate three lakh people and 28 years? I am an unauthorised hawker at Dadar TT. My days are spent running from the BMC van,” said Janardhan Deshmukh, a former mill-worker.
Laxmi Dhamansi, who spun yarn at the mills, said, “I sew clothes for a living, so was able to educate my children. But, there are so many unable to fend for themselves.”
The movie will focus on the saga of one family, and will depict how organised crime grew after mills shut down.
“There is an immense sense of injustice and outrage. Our research found that the mill workers’ saga gave birth to a new crime wave. Children were forced into crime, some committed suicide,” said Arun Rangachary, chairman, DAR Motion Pictures.
“The film will make people introspect and question the establishment. We have tried to give a balanced portrayal of their lives,” said Rangachary.
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