When there is a death in a house, the gloom seems to envelop
the entire household. Amidst the grieving will be a bunch of people who seem
oblivious to the goings on as they will be busy with the task at hand,
completing the funeral arrangements. Despite offering a valuable service, this
lot will usually face criticism from the public as they benefit from the death
of a person. Exploring these occurrences and the emotions and drama behind them
is the film ‘Mortoo’. Directed by
Jitendra Shikerkar, the film will premiere all over the state on January 30,
2015 at 6pm.
‘Mortoo’ is a black comedy about a villager, played by Bharat Ganeshpuri, who cremates the dead with the help of his brother-in-law, played by Rajdeep Naik. With story, screenplay and direction by Jitendra Shikerkar, the film has been produced by Atrey Sawant under the banner Arohee Creations.
The cast includes Saish Poi Panandikar, Swati Rajput, Prashanti Talpankar and Prince Jacob in a very surprising role. The DOP is Surendra Singh, with sound by Abhijeet Deo, music by Ajay Naik, dialogues by Saish Poi Panandikar with background music by Shri-Shishir.
“Through this film, we have tried to explore a new subject in Konkani cinema with black comedy. In real life too, there are many people who are more than happy to help for a funeral. Mortoo is that person who turns his hobby into a profession. Earlier, in villages, when children of one family would die at child birth consecutively, the next child would be named Mortoo, to ward off the evil eye. That is how the lead character got his name,” explains Jitendra.
The film was shot in 18 days in villages in Canacona and Ponda to take viewers through a typical village setting. The film was ready in 2013 and has been travelling to film festivals like International Film Festival of India and the Melbourne International Film Festival of India in the Beyond Bollywood category. “We wanted the film to be screened for film festivals and then reach out to a wider audience in Goa through its theatre release. We had a great response in Melbourne as people, especially Goans settled there, felt the film was realistic and took them back to Goa,” says Jitendra.
“We wanted to experiment and bring something new to the screen for Konkani cinema. This is a family entertainer which can attract a bigger audience and the film is so enjoyable that you will feel like watching it again and again. For the promotions, we already have advertisements running and we are planning to have young boys with dhol and tashe making announcements. We are also planning to have open screenings in villages during the festival season,” says Atrey.
Rajdeep Naik, delighted with the success of ‘Home Sweet Home’, is looking forward to the release of ‘Mortoo’. “This was my first film in a major role. I have attended a lot of funerals and I knew how people react. This movie will stand out and touch the hearts of the audience because they will be able to connect with the characters,” says Rajdeep.
The film will be screened in theatres across Goa including Cine Samrat (Panjim), Cine Mahalasa (Ponda), Cine Vishant (Margao), Cine Heera Talkies (Bicholim), Cine Shivam (Vasco), Cine Nandi (Pernem) and Cine World (Marcel)