There's been a unique tribute on the 26th anniversary of the Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol blockbuster Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. A short film titled Maratha Mandir Cinema, directed by Pankaj Dubey and written by Shradha Singh, imaginatively explores the social impact that the Aditya Chopra film has on the sex workers of Kamathipura.
Starring Sarika, Swanand Kirkire, Tanvi Ravindra Sangvai and Rajeev K Panday, Maratha Mandir Cinema is named after Mumbai's popular single screen theatre that has kept DDLJ playing in their hall for a record 25 years until the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to shut down last year.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge released on 20 October, 1995 and went on to become one of the highest grossing films in Indian cinema.
Kirkire who plays an important role in the film says, “It was quite humbling to play a significant character in this story which keeps the most neglected section of our society at the centre of discussion”.
Maratha Mandir Cinema was crowdfunded by novelist and filmmaker Dubey's friends from the Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi. “I was moved by the magical impact of this romantic film on the somber world of the sex workers in Kamathipura. It Inspired me to create visual empathy on the canvas with the help of this short fiction as a social tool,” says Dubey.
You can watch Maratha Mandir Cinema here:
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