On Sunday evening, Magsaysay award winner Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini Amte indulged in an unusual outing — they walked into Liberty Cinema to see their real life played out on screen.
The couple, known and awarded for their philanthropic work in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, attended the screening of a film, ‘Dr. Prakash Baba Amte — The Real Hero’, a biopic on their lives.
The film was released two years ago, but had over a 100 people in attendance on a balmy Mumbai evening.
In an impromptu question-answer session, Dr. Amte, who has worked all his life for the welfare of tribal communities and for animal welfare, emphasised on love being the strongest bond between all living things.
“Love is the only key to bring souls together,” he said.
Asked why rural areas were still poorly developed, he said: “The government has a lot of funds and money for rural development but the money is not being used for their development due to bureaucracy and lack of compassion among people.”
The film’s director Samruddhi Porey, said she chose Nana Patekar to play Dr. Amte, as that was one skill set the social worker did not have. “Acting is very different and only thing Dr. Amte did not do in his entire life. Also, when I read the script to Mr. Patekar he told me he wanted to play the role.”
The writer is an intern at The Hindu
