Deepa Mehta pats Chitra Palekar

Mumbai, Oct 4 (UNI) Filmmaker Deepa Mehta, whose ''Water'' is soon releasing in India, who was one of the guests at the screening of Chitra Palekar's ''Maati Maay'' at a recently concluded Toronto Film Festival, was all praise for Chitra.

In a message to Chitra Palekar, Deepa Mehta says, ''This is a deeply moving film that manages to be lyrical and heart-breaking at the same time. Accomplished performances, especially by Nandita Das and a strong debut by director Chitra Palekar makes it a cinematic 'must see'''.

Produced and directed by Chitra Palekar under the banner of Dnya Films, the film is releasing in Pune this week on October 6.

Based on a short story ''Baayen'' by Mahasweta Devi, Maati Maay (in Marathi) is the saga of Chandi, a beautiful young woman from a lower caste, whose family has traditionally been in charge of a children's graveyard.

After the demise of her father, since there was no male member in the family, Chandi inherits the job and performs it with great pride as her sacred duty. But after she gives birth to her son Bhagirath, things start to change. Being a nursing mother, Chandi now begins to get deeply affected by children's deaths. The film is the heart-rending tale of a young mother who is trapped between her instincts and needs, and the compulsions of her ancestral duty as dictated by the social system.

Nandita Das plays Chandi and Atul Kulkarni is Narsu, her husband.

Kshitij Gavande plays Bhagirath, their son.

Cinematography by Debu Deodhar and music by Bhaskar Chandavarkar are other major credits.

Chitra Palekar, a post-graduate in Economics, began her artistic career in the mid '60s through avant-garde theatre in Mumbai. She was a lead actor in both Hindi and Marathi plays and won several state awards.

She turned to cinema in the early 80s. Her first feature film as a producer/lead actor was Aakriet (1981, Marathi), which won a Special Jury Award at the Three Continents' Film Festival in Nantes, France and was an international success. In India, the film won four state awards and was selected for the prestigious Indian Panorama.

After scripting highly rated television serials like 'Kachchi Dhoop', 'Naquab' and 'Paoolkhuna', Chitra went on to write screenplays for award winning, critically acclaimed films like 'Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaaye' (1990, Hindi), Kairee (1999, Hindi), Dhyaasparva (2001, Marathi) and it's Hindi version 'Kal Ka Aadmi'.

She was Additional Scriptwriter for Bangarwadi (1995, Marathi) and Daayra (1996, Hindi). Chitra has worked as Associate Director and Production Designer on many of these films. She has also made a documentary Portrait Of A Visionary (2002, English).

With Maati Maay, written and produced by her, Chitra makes her directorial debut, a release says.

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