The week began on a good note as a Goan Konkani film ‘Kaajro’ (Bitter Tree) won the National Award as the Best Konkani Film at the 67th National Film Awards. The announcement was made by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation that comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Delhi.
Kaajro, the film which is directed by Nitin Bhaskar speaks about the class and caste discrimination practiced in society globally cutting across international boundaries. It is produced by de Goan Studio which is co-founded by Gayatri and Rajesh R. Pednekar. This is their second feature film which has won a national award, the first being ‘K Sera Sera’ (2016). The film premiered in the Indian Panorama Section at the 47thIFFI (International Film Festival of India) at Goa and at several film festivals in India and internationally.
Expressing delight at the announcement, Creative Producer Rajesh R. Pednekar says, “We were ecstatic to hear that the film won the national award. This is a proud moment for all of us in Goa and the Konkani film fraternity in particular which has produced excellent films over the past years.”
Kaajro which was produced in the year 2019 was also screened at the 50th IFFI under the ‘Goa Premiere’ section and also at Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival in October 2019, Bengaluru International film Festival and Aurangabad International Film Festival where the lead actor of the film received the best actor award.
Kaajro is a story of Tilgya (Vithal Kaale), belonging to an untouchable caste. When his village is celebrating the annual festival of Dassehra, marking the triumph of Lord Rama over Ravana i.e. good over bad, Tilgya’s ailing wife, Gokula (Jyoti Bagkar), dies while the celebration is on. Thus, he is not allowed to perform his traditional role of playing a dholuk (a local drum) during the ritual and procession, and he is forced to leave the village with his wife’s dead body.
The film is about the deprivation and mistreatment of the suppressed class in our society, globally, going has been on for centuries. “The system of social classification always disturbed me, so when I heard the story of ‘Kaajro’, I felt that it was the proper story to shoot and present what I feel about the classification prevalent in the society,” says the director Nitin Bhaskar.
This film is also known for its technical prowess as it is a one-shot film with a running time of 113 minutes. Kaajro is based on a short story written by Dr. Prakash Parienkar, an associate professor at Goa University’s Konkani department. It was shot in the village of Derodemin Valpoi taluka in North Goa.
Creative producer Rajesh R. Pednekar says, “Me being a creative person, we thought of going forward with this exciting film. The story and eventually the script was developed and finalised over many sessions of discussions. I was part of every process of making this film in detail. Kaajro film has given me lots of pleasure and satisfaction.”
The 67th National Awards were to be held in May 2020 but got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The awards will be given at the hands of the President of India at a later date, most likely in May 2021.
