Exclusive: Worked on Potra for more than 10 years, says filmmaker Shankar Dhotre

First-time director Shankar Arjunn Dhotre's Potra bagged three awards, including for Best Marathi Film, at the recent 20th Pune International Film Festival. Potra was among seven Marathi films in competition at the festival.

"Honestly we didn't expect to win the Best Film award at such a prestigious festival, that too with my first film," the elated Dhotre told Cinestaan.com. "Getting nominated itself was a big thing for me. I never thought we could win. It was tough competition because we had films like Nikhil Mahajan's Godavari, which has already bagged many awards at various festivals."

Potra sheds light on the problems of menstruation faced by girls in rural India. We have seen a few films and documentaries on this topic in the past few years, but Dhotre, who also bagged the Best Screenplay award, had been working on his project for more than 10 years.

"I began writing the script in 2011," he said. "Generally filmmakers begin their journey by directing short films, but I haven't directed a single short yet. This is truly my first project.

"After I completed the script, finding the producer was a difficult task," he continued. "If it were a commercial project, I might have found a producer quickly, but finding a producer who is ready to risk their money on an arthouse film is not easy. I'm grateful to my producer Sharad Shingade who decided to put money on such a risky subject."

Lead actress Chakuli Pralhad Devkar also bagged the Best Actress award for her performance as the teenager Geeta who excels at studies and extracurricular activities. But as soon as she gets her first period, her grandmother starts nagging her father to find a groom for her.

Chakuli Devkar belongs to a nomadic family which roams around cities. The family's livelihood is begging. "Actually we wanted to cast a professional actress and auditioned more than 200 girls, but somehow I just couldn't find the girl with that innocence on her face," the director said. "Finally we found Chakuli in a small village near Pandharpur called Ashti. She was there with her family. Initially they didn't want to let her act in the film because it was something unheard of for these people.

"After they agreed to let her act, we conducted many workshops for her and taught her every minor aspect of acting. The training went on for about three months. Finally she gained confidence to face the camera and we began the shoot. She also understood how we want to spread awareness about menstruation through our film because she is also of the same age and is going through the same problems," he added.