Starring: Divya Dutta, Vineet Kumar, Kishore Kadam, Prithvi Sankhala, Denzil Smith, Rajesh Bhosle, Prasad Salvi, Girish Salvi and Samanta Screenplay: Shafaat Khan Art Direction: Pradeep Mulye Audiography: Mohandas VP Edited by: Jabeen Merchant Cinematography: Alok Upadhyay Music: Taufiq Qureshi Produced and Directed by: Vijay Ghatge 35 mm Cinemascope, 100 minutes

Synopsis
15th Aug 1997 - the 50th anniversary of India's Independence day. Celebrations are on all over the country. In Mumbai , six citizens from different walks of life, gather in a godown of a dilapidated mill. They are dressed as well known personalities from the Indian History for a procession that is to start from the mill gate. As the procession gets delayed, the six are left to themselves in the mill as they wait impatiently for the delayed parade to start. Soon, small skeletons in their personal cupboard begin to rattle, highlighting the irony of their present engagement. Their anxieties and fears are in direct contrast to the masks that they are wearing. The atmosphere turns claustrophobic and bitter, showing us the post Independent India where muscle and money power have corrupted the environment and robbed its citizens of their actual freedom. Into this tense atmosphere, in walks the irresistible and seductive Barbie. She is the embodiment of free and affluent Western world, walking the thin line between caricature and reality. The fear and hypocrisy of the characters surface as they fall prey to her seductive charm. In all this madness emerges the hidden face of the underworld don who has sponsored the parade.

Ever since I heard the narration of the first draft of the play Shobha Yatra, I knew I had to make this film. After all it looked at the very issues I'd been eager to explore - the tragedy of the middle class psyche after the Babri Masjid Demolition; the facade we hide under, the twisting of our history to suit one's needs, staring helplessly at the social rot that has set in. Here was a subject that laid bare all this hypocrisy. The film is a post modernist tale of our tumultuous times.

Adapting the play from theatre to screen presented major challenges. New characters were introduced; the plot was made more realistic while keeping the original thematic content in mind.

While casting for actors we had to take into consideration first their resemblance to the historical character they were to portray and then secondly choose actors who came from a different school of acting in that they were not too overtly influenced by the melodrama of our commercial cinema. I was fortunate to finally work with the actors I did.

The initial crewmembers were recruited from friends I had made in my assistant director days who in turn recommended others. By the end I had a unit totally supportive to the cause of the film, totally in tune to the screenplay of the play. Here I must specially mention the FTIIians who worked on the film with total dedication and also taught me so much while making the film - Cinematographer Alok Upadhyay, Editor Jabeen Merchant and Audiographer Mohandas VP.

It took me 45 shifts to shoot the film. The finances for the film were raised from friends, family, anyone I knew. Shooting was done mostly during nights. If we tried to avoid the melodrama of commercial cinema in our approach to the film, the night shifts and behind the camera scenes more than made up for it. Tempers flew, chaos reigned, we had to juggle actors' dates to stick to the schedule of the film but it was all worth it as each shot was canned. Literally speaking - a cool dawn broke out each day after a fiery night!

The film was shot in stages and edited in stages and edited likewise. As shots fell into place, as scenes began emerging it was like a dream come true - My film was taking shape!

I have tried to focus on the thematic content of the film and hence have given a simple and realistic look to the film. Alok and me decided from the onset to avoid technical gimmicks and let the material speak. However while working on the look of the film, we played around with giving it an extra shade of blue throughout, which we thought highlighted the claustrophobia present in the screenplay.

While I am by and large satisfied with the final product, of course at times disturbing thoughts continue to gnaw away at the back of my mind even now - Couldn't I have shot a particular scene in a different way? But then I guess that's part and parcel of the creative process. I am happy to say I have made the film I set out to make without having to succumb to the formulas of the commercial film.

The film was premiered last month at the Asian film Festival in Mumbai. I must say the audience expectations exceeded my wildest dreams. They were involved with the film, laughing and reacting at all the right places. As I got feedback on the film, it was more than gratifying to see the different levels it touches in different individuals.

Now I have a struggle of a different kind - to get the film released and hope that it is seen by cine lovers the world over.

Vijay Ghatge started as an assistant in film and television. He made his first tele-film Ganuraya in 1990, based on a novel by renowned author CT Khanolkar. Shobha Yatra is his first Feature Film.