Astu

Astu: So Be It (or simply Astu) is a 2015 Marathi film directed by the duo Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Suktankar and stars Mohan Agashe, Iravati Harshe, Milind Soman and Amruta Subhash in lead roles. The film is about Dr Chakrapani Shastri, a Sanskrit scholar who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and played by Agashe.

Not to be confused with ASTU.

Astu
Astu poster
Marathiअस्तु
Directed bySumitra Bhave,
Sunil Sukthankar
Produced bySheelaa Rao,
Mohan Agashe
Written bySumitra Bhave
Screenplay bySumitra Bhave
Story bySumitra Bhave
StarringMohan Agashe
Iravati Harshe,
Amruta Subhash,
Milind Soman,
Devika Daftardar
Music bySaket Kanetkar,
Dhananjay Kharwandikar
CinematographyMilind Jog
Edited byMohit Takalkar
Release date
  • July 2013 (2013-07) (Indian Film Festival Stuttgart)
  • 15 July 2016 (2016-07-15)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMarathi

Plot

Dr. Chakrapani Shastri (Mohan Agashe), fondly known as Appa, is a retired Sanskrit professor and a former director of Oriental Research Institute, Pune. Shastri currently lives with Ram (Om Bhutkar), a young student as his caretaker, and has been diagnosed with the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. One day, as Ram has to appear for his exams, Shastri's elder daughter Ira (Iravati Harshe) takes Shastri to her house. While driving back home, Ira stops at a shop, requesting Shastri to stay in the car. While sitting in the car, Shastri sees a passing elephant on the road. He gets fascinated and with some help gets himself out of the car and starts following the elephant through the lanes of the city. When Ira comes back and finds her father missing from the car, she and her husband, Madhav (Milind Soman), starts looking for Shastri at various places and also reports him to the police station.

As Shastri keeps following Laxmi—the elephant, her mahout Anta (Nachiket Purnapatre) tries to get Shastri back to his house. However, Shastri does not remember anything and reaches mahout's house where he meets mahout's wife Channamma (Amruta Subhash). She takes care of Shastri along with her new-born and offers him a new family. Ira informs Devika (Devika Daftardar) about their missing father but Devika blames Ira for the happening and suggests an old-age home for him. Police traces the elephant's whereabouts and finds Shastri but accuses mahout for kidnapping Shastri and informs Ira. Shastri refuses to go back to Ira and wants to stay with Channamma but she convinces him. Shastri agrees and Ira requests police to drop all the charges.

Cast

Production

Actor Mohan Agashe was approached by a Marathi short filmmaker with the idea of a project that deals with Alzheimer's disease. Though Agashe liked the idea, he wasn't satisfied with the script and suggested the filmmaker to improvise. However, in spite of script developments, Agashe found limitations with it. Later, he suggested the filmmaker to meet Sumitra Bhave who had finished working her earlier film. She worked on the script for a month and modified it to be of a full-fledged feature film. After the shooting was completed, one of the co-producers backed out of post-production. Agashe contributed from his pension and provident fund to complete the remaining work.[1]

Release and reception

Though the film was completed in 2013, it did not find any distributor and was released through crowdfunding in 2016.[2] [3] Though, it was released in Pune in 2014, it was re-released to qualify for the Maharashtra state film subsidy, which requires the film to be released in ten state districts.[4] It was also screened at the New York Film Festival (NYFF) and a special screening was organised at the Harvard University campus for awareness towards problems of the elderly due to lack of human interaction and the care needed followed by a panel discussion with participations from Mohan Agashe, and professors Arthur Kleinman and Diana L. Eck.[5]

The film was appreciated for its depiction of Alzheimer's/Dementia and the performances of its leads. Namrata Joshi of The Hindu writes that "though the film is about loss of memory it's structured and built around a series of recollections" and mentions that the film builds awareness about Alzheimer's disease but does not "slip into sermonizing, it remains sensitive not sentimental".[6] Mihir Bhanage of The Times of India writes that the "splendid narration and direction coupled with excellent performances are high point of this film".[7]

Awards

The film won several awards upon release.

Year Award Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result Ref(s)
2013 11th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart Audience Award for Best Film Astu Won [8]
2013 2nd Delhi International Film Festival Best Regional Film Astu Won [9]
2013 61st National Film Awards Best Dialogue Sumitra Bhave Won [10]
2013 61st National Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Amruta Subhash Won [10]
2013 Kolhapur International Film Festival Audience Award for Best Film Astu Won
2013 Kolhapur International Film Festival Best Film Astu Won [11]
2013 Kolhapur International Film Festival Best Direction Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar Won [11]
2013 Kolhapur International Film Festival Best Screenplay Sumitra Bhave Won [11]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Film Astu Nominated [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Direction Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar Nominated [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Actor Mohan Agashe Won [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Actress Iravati Harshe Won [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Actress in Supporting Role Amruta Subhash Won [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Art Direction Sumitra Bhave and Santosh Sankhad Nominated [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Dialogues Sumitra Bhave Nominated [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Screenplay Sumitra Bhave Nominated [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Story Sumitra Bhave Nominated [12]
2014 Marathi International Cinema and Theatre Awards (MICTA) Best Sound Pramod Thomas Nominated [12]
2014 14th New York Indian Film Festival Best Film Astu Nominated [13]
2014 14th New York Indian Film Festival Best Actor Mohan Agashe Nominated [13]
2014 14th New York Indian Film Festival Best Actress Iravati Harshe Nominated [13]
2015 1st Filmfare Awards Marathi Critics' Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) Mohan Agashe Won [14]
2015 1st Filmfare Awards Marathi Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) Mohan Agashe Nominated [14]
2015 1st Filmfare Awards Marathi Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) Iravati Harshe Nominated [14]
2015 1st Filmfare Awards Marathi Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) Amruta Subhash Won [14]
2015 1st Filmfare Awards Marathi Best Background Score Saket Kanitkar Nominated [14]

References
  1. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (29 September 2015). "'Astu', a state of acceptance". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  2. "Astu: So Be It: A hard-hitting Film on Value of Relationships needs your support for theatrical release! By: Sheelaa Rao". Catapooolt. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  3. Raikwar, Reshma (17 July 2016). "चित्ररंग: कोहमपर्यंत नेणारा प्रवास". Loksatta (in Marathi). Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  4. Shedde, Meenakshi (17 July 2016). "Astu: So Be It". Mid-Day. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  5. Meenakshi Rohatgil (6 June 2015). "Harvard watches Marathi film on Alzheimer's". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  6. Joshi, Namrata (15 July 2016). "Astu: Inside a beautiful mind". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  7. Bhanage, Mihir (18 July 2016). "Astu Movie Review". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  8. "Gewinner des 11. Indischen Filmfestivals Stuttgart" [Winner of the 11th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart] (in German). Indian Film Festival Stuttgart. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  9. "12th Pune International Film Festival" (PDF). Pune International Film Festival. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  10. "61st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  11. "Gauurikaa films@ASTUsobeit: ASTU SO BE IT Sweeps awards". Twitter. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  12. "Nominations for MICTA films, theatre awards". Rangmarathi. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  13. "New York Indian Film Festival 2014". New York Indian Film Festival. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  14. "Nominations for Ajeenkya DY Patil Filmfare Awards (Marathi)". Filmfare. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
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