Lajwanti”, a Hindi folktale/love story (genre) film directed by Pushpendra Singh and starring upcoming actress Sanghmitra Hitaishi in the title role has been selected for the ongoing 64th Berlin Film Festival. Lajwanti is a film based on a folk tale by legendary Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha.
The film has been selected under the FORUM section of the film festival. Lajwanti is the only Hindi/Indian feature film along with Mani Kaul’s Ghasiram Kotwal (old film) be selected under this category this year. The FORUM category provides an overview of independent, artistic films with a disregard for convention. Forum in short, is the most daring section of the Berlinale. It showcases the best artistic movies from across the world, the films in this section straddle the line between art and cinema.
Hitashi’s movie Lajwanti had the world premiere to a full house and garnered very good response from the audience. The movie will have a total of 5 screenings at the Berlin film festival and one at the Indian embassy which also screened Highway, Dedh Ishqiya with Lajwanti during the festival that ends on February 16th 2014.
“Lajwanti” is a love story set in a village in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, India. Sanghmitra plays “Lajwanti” a woman who remains hidden from sight behind her veil, until a man with an odd obsession for pigeons crosses the women’s path. Lajwanti’s curiosity is aroused, as she removes her veil and steps out of her invisibility. She becomes a woman of her own free will, no longer waiting fearfully to see if happiness will find her.
An ecstatic Sanghmitra said, “ I know I will be an actor even when I am 95. I enjoy the process so much that if fame comes, I’ll embrace it, but if not, I will still continue to do this till the very end of my life.
Lajwanti like love came into my life when I wasn’t looking for it. I think that’s what life is about. You seek, but it only happens when it’s suppose to. I consider myself blessed.”
The movie also stars Pushpendra Singh, Gaurav Lavaniya, Sugna Devi, Nirmal Sapera. The movie has been produced and directed by Pushpendra Singh.
Prior to “Lajwanti” Sanghmitra has also acted in two other films and achieved success in them. “Chidiya Udh” directed by Pranjal Dua which was selected as the only official entry from India at the Clarmont Ferrand Film Festival, which was also voted as one of the “Top 10 Indian Short Films of 2013”. Another one of her films that she has acted in was an Indo-British venture directed by Rajan Patel called “Feast of Varanasi”. Sanghmitra has also done TV commercials for KFC, Samsung Gang Next & Tupperware.
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