A tale of protest

Tejaswini Pndit in a still from Candle March

By Aashay Khandekar

Post the 2012 Delhi gang rape case that saw a surge in the public display of agitation, screenplay writer Sachin Darekar too was dealing with a tsunami of emotions — from anger to frustration to mental unrest. As a creative individual, he decided to vent out his emotions by penning them. The words metamorphosed into a script of a Marathi film titled Candle March, which releases in November.
“There was no fall in the cases of sexual violence even after vehement protests. It clearly conveyed that the offenders didn’t fear law and order. A jail sentence was not enough to prevent them from committing or abetting another crime. Cases of juveniles were being held back by courts due to an intervention of human rights association. All this shook me and I felt the need to channelise all this in my medium of expression,” says Darekar, who has earlier scripted films like Morya (2011), which won him the Maharashtra State Film Award for screenplay, besides Zenda (2010), Ek Tara (2013) and Priyatama (2014). In addition to the films, he has also worked as a screenplay writer for Marathi TV serials such as Hya Gojirvanya Gharat, Mann Udhaan Varyache and Kalat Nakalat, among others.
Candle March, he says, is a story of four women who are seeking justice against the sexual violence they have faced individually. “Somewhere during their individual battles, the women figure out that their struggles are interlinked and hence they decide to fight it together,” says Darekar, who has incorporated various facets of sexual violence against women that includes harassment at workplace, domestic violence and gender discrimination.
“In order to give a universal appeal to the film, there was a need to address problems faced by women from different sections of the society,” explains Darekar. The film stars Tejaswini Pandit, Smita Tambe, Manava Naik and Sayali Sahastrbudhye in lead roles. It is produced by Chanakya Creations and is directed by Sachin Deo, who has worked as an assistant director in Anurag Basu’s Barfi!.
The decision of naming the film Candle March, he says, was calculated. “While some people might find the idea of candle march as a way of protest, futile, I feel it is definitely better than damaging public property or resorting to violence to protest against an issue. A candle march might not show instant results but it has a big potential to turn things around,” explains Darekar, who is currently busy working on a biopic about gangster-turned politician Arun Gawli titled Daddy, with actor Arjun Rampal playing the lead role.