Panaji:
Marathi filmmaker Swagat Thorat, who created a record of sorts by having 88 visually impaired artists perform on stage, is now working on a movie, casting ten such performers, who are playing sighted characters.
"The film is still in the process. We have not even decided its title. It will be ready in next 6-8 months. The lead roles are also enacted by two visually challenged artists. They are playing role of normal people who are blessed with proper eye sight," Thorat, who was here for the South Asian Film Festival (SAFF) 2010, said.
"It will be a short, small-budget Marathi film based on fiction. Right now we are rehearsing on it," said the Mumbai-based filmmaker and editor of a fortnightly in Braille.
Thorat had performed with 88 visually challenged students from Pune School for Blind in 1998 in a play titled Swatantryachi Yashogatha, which won much acclaim.
Years later, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records by performing renowned Marathi writer P L Deshpande's Teen Paishancha Tamasha on stage with 44 blind artists.
"If they can perform live on stage why can't they act before camera?," Thorat said without revealing the storyline of the film.
On the movie budget he said, "It will cost some lakhs. But what is important for me is the satisfaction that I am producing something which is unique and giving a platform to visually challenged people."
Thorat said his association with the visually challenged dates back to 1993 and for the last two and half years, he has been bringing out a fortnightly in Braille.
He has produced several short films on wildlife, which he showcases to students by visiting various schools.
The filmmaker has 400 hours of wildlife shoot and more than one lakh wildlife pictures under his belt.
"The film is still in the process. We have not even decided its title. It will be ready in next 6-8 months. The lead roles are also enacted by two visually challenged artists. They are playing role of normal people who are blessed with proper eye sight," Thorat, who was here for the South Asian Film Festival (SAFF) 2010, said.
"It will be a short, small-budget Marathi film based on fiction. Right now we are rehearsing on it," said the Mumbai-based filmmaker and editor of a fortnightly in Braille.
Thorat had performed with 88 visually challenged students from Pune School for Blind in 1998 in a play titled Swatantryachi Yashogatha, which won much acclaim.
Years later, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records by performing renowned Marathi writer P L Deshpande's Teen Paishancha Tamasha on stage with 44 blind artists.
"If they can perform live on stage why can't they act before camera?," Thorat said without revealing the storyline of the film.
On the movie budget he said, "It will cost some lakhs. But what is important for me is the satisfaction that I am producing something which is unique and giving a platform to visually challenged people."
Thorat said his association with the visually challenged dates back to 1993 and for the last two and half years, he has been bringing out a fortnightly in Braille.
He has produced several short films on wildlife, which he showcases to students by visiting various schools.
The filmmaker has 400 hours of wildlife shoot and more than one lakh wildlife pictures under his belt.
