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Story : 'Mitr - My Friend' explores the emotions of an Indian family which has been living in America for 18 years. Prithvi (Nasir Abdullah), born and raised in America marries Lakshmi (Shobana), from a small town in India.
Lakshmi: He swept me off my feet with his charm and the fact that he is in America - The land of dreams fascinated everyone around me.
Prithvi: Her innocence struck a chord in me that I did not know existed.
Lakshmis life revolves around her husband and daughter, Divya (Preeti Vissa). As Divya gets older her dependence on her mother reduces and the cultural differences between the two become huge barriers.
Divya: You are living in a world that you left 18 years back. Even in India people are more forward in their thoughts than you are. While Divya cannot understand why her mother remains so steeped in foolish Indian traditions, Lakshmi cannot understand Divyas outlook towards life. Prithvi too fails to see Lakshmis growing loneliness and thirst for her roots.
Prithvi: You have to learn to let go..... you are too immersed in yourself and you are making things difficult for both of us.
Lakshmi: If caring is clinging.... then how do you express love? At one point Lakshmi sits up and realises that she does not want to be taken for granted anymore. For the first time in 18 years she questions herself on her wants and desires, likes and dislikes. And she rediscovers the myriad possibilities of living.
Lakshmi: I have lived for my husband and my daughter all along and have forgotten who I am. There are millions of Lakshmis out there, all over the world, who give their all to their marriages, homes, children and somewhere down the years stop thinking about their own feelings and wants. The strong pillars of any relationship - communication and friendship disappear and emotional poverty sets in. This film explores these nuances of womens lives, firmly believing in every Lakshmis strength and capacity to make things better.
Cast & Crew : The film has been shot by a primarily women technical crew. National award winning actress Revathy directs her first feature film. The screenplay of Priya (story) and Sudha (assistant director) have formed the basis of the film. Fowzia (cinematographer) has worked earlier as an assistant to noted cinematographer P. C. Sreeram.
Bhavatharini (music director), who was doing her album, is roped in for the music score. A friend of Revathy's, Prabha, has worked on the costumes for the film (along with Usha from Daffodils for Shobana's costumes), apart from recording the sound on location and organising the props and set design. Only Bina (editor) and Thamarai (who has written the lyrics) are experienced people in the whole crew. All the others are doing it as chief technicians for the first time. Geeta (audiography) has been working with Mr. Sridhar of Media Artists for a very long time. This is her first independent work.
In director Revathy's words, "There are a lot of actresses and singers, but in the technical side there are very few women. I thought this would be encouraging for other girls to enter the technical side of films." Part of the American crew too was female. Jolynn (wardrobe), Kris (craft services) and Rhonda (lights).
Official site: http://www.mitr-myfriend.com
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