‘Zollywood’ of Vidarbha charms juries in France
| Date :15-Jun-2020 |
(right )Trushant Ingle, the debutant director of ‘Zollywood’.
By Kartik Lokhande :
Nagpur lad Trushant Ingle’s directorial debut ‘Zollywood’ highlights the popular Zadipatti theatre of Vidarbha and gets special mention of jury in Indian film festival at Toulouse (France)
As a child artist, he worked in popular Zadipatti theatre of Vidarbha. He grew up with aspirations to make it big someday. After working in different capacities in the film industry, he got ‘that’ opportunity. And, Trushant Ingle has made the most of it. His debut feature film as director -- ‘Zollywood’ that highlights Zadipatti theatre -- has won the special mention of jury in the Indian Film festival at Toulouse in France. Trushant shared the joy of this achievement with ‘The Hitavada’. “I am so happy to have got this honour for two reasons. First, ‘Zollywood’ is my first film as director. Second, for the satisfaction of having done justice to the subject that has been so close to my heart,” he said over telephone.
The special mention of jury in the Toulouse festival is very special to him and his team, “Because this is the first award for ‘Zollywood’,” he said. Even as the world is battling COVID-19 pandemic, this has come as a good news for Vidarbha. Born and brought up in Nagpur, Trushant used to work in Zadipatti theatre as a child artist in 2005-06. Later, he started working in Nagpur for a while before shifting to Mumbai at the age of 16 years. There, he earned experience in writing and casting direction. He played the role of Montu in the critically acclaimed movie ‘Budhia Singh -- Born to Run’, and was Casting Associate for ‘Newton’, which was India’s official entry to the Oscars in 2017. ‘Zollywood’ was slated for release in April this year. However, COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown disturbed the schedule. “
We wish to release it around Diwali as soon as the situation normalises,” said Trushant. As far as receiving the special jury mention award is concerned, Trushant said that he and his team might be able to go to Toulouse whenever the festival was held ceremonially. Interestingly for Trushant, the previous movie he was associated with ‘Newton’ also had won the special jury mention in Indian Film Festival in Toulouse. Amit Masurkar, who directed films like ‘Sulemani Keeda’ and ‘Newton’, is the Creative Producer for ‘Zollywood’. Ajit Khobragade plays the protagonist Deepak Kale in ‘Zollywood’ and Ashwini Ladekar plays the female lead Poonam. Dinkar Gawande (Narayan Rao), Kajal Rangari (Raja), Anil Uttalwar (Aman), Asawari Naidu (Rajni) make the cast complete. Wishberry Films has produced the film. In association with Deux Farming Films Priyanka Agrawal, Anshulika Dubey, and Shashwat Singh are the co-producers.
Trushant Ingle has written screenplay of the movie. It is a tribute to Zadipatti theatre: Trushant Asked about choosing Zadipatti theatre as the theme of his first feature film as a director, Trushant Ingle told ‘The Hitavada’ that having worked in Zadipatti theatre he knew how hard the artists there worked. “It is a serious craft for people of the area. It is Rs 400 crore industry. But, later, when I started working in Nagpur, people used to deride artists of Zadipatti. Most of these critics had never visited Zadipatti. Since then, I wanted to highlight how wonderful is Zadipatti theatre. ‘Zollywood’ is a tribute to Zadipatti and all the artists involved in this folk art, and who have kept the cultural heritage alive,” he added. A great, encouraging news for me: Ashwini Ashwini Ladekar, who plays the female lead Poonam in ‘Zollywood’, hails from Saunsar in Madhya Pradesh. For her also, this is her debut feature film.
Earlier, Ashwini had worked in short film ‘Dhhaaga’. After watching ‘Dhhaaga’, Trushant called her to Mumbai, where she cleared the audition for the character of Poonam. Ashwini has done B.Tech. and did theatre in Nagpur for some time. Her father Dilip Ladekar is a driver with Public Health Engineering Department at Saunsar in in Madhya Pradesh, and her mother Pratibha is a housewife. She has two younger brothers, who also got educated in Nagpur.
Asked about ‘Zollywood’ winning special jury mention at Toulouse, Ashwini said, “I did not expect this. It has come as a really great and encouraging news for me. When my parents learned about it, they were... more than happy. Parents telling a child that they are proud of her is the happiest thing in life.” At present, she is at her home in Saunsar. Ajit Khobragade, who plays the protagonist in the film, hails from Chandrapur. He completed my education and went to Mumbai, where he is into acting full time.