V Shantaram’s Daughter Madhura Jasraj To Make A Film!

V Shantaram’s Daughter Madhura Jasraj To Make A Film Inspired By Aruna Shabaug, Anoop Jalota To Produce

It’s not easy making a film when your father was the legendary V Shantaram.

Madhura Jasraj in her 70s has decided to do just that. Sighing at the obstacles she had to overcome before zeroing in on her directorial aspirations she says, “It’s most definitely easy when you are the daughter of a man so formidable , his reputation far exceeds his lifespan. I’ve lived with the V Shantaram school of selfdiscipline all my life. It’s not easy for me to seek a producer, to convince him about my subject and to get the project going. Going out there and seeking a producer just didn’t came naturally to me.”

Madhuraji finally found the person to back her dream. “It took a long time to find the right producer. Finally I’ve found him.Anoop Jalota  who is kind and empathetic towards my  subject is my producer.I couldn’t have asked for a  better producer.”

She feels very strongly about the subject. “I’d read about the rape victim (Aruna Shaunbag)  being in a coma for more than 40 years. It really troubled me. Then there was the Nirbhayacase which shook all of us. Rape incidents are on the increase. I feel it’s very important for the victim to get a strong support system to be able to recover from the trauma. If she has family and friends to support her she would be strong enough eventually to support other women who undergo similar experiences.”

While the rape victim will be played by television actress Kashish Vohra , Annu Kapoorhas a powerful role as the the victim’s father. Tusshar Kapoor is expected to play the rape victim’s boyfriend. Farida Jalal and Sumeet Raghavan(the latter was introduced in Marathi serial by Madhura Jasraj) also play stellar parts in the film.

Madhura Jasraj is looking with a certain amount of nervousness and anxiety at the road ahead. “I am directing a film at this age , and that too with such a  huge responsibilities on my shoulder. I am not only the daughter  of one of the country’s most revered filmmakers(V Shantaram) I am also married to (Hindustani classical vocalist) Pandit Jasraj. It has not been easy for me to reach out and get myself a producer, to put together the project piece by piece. When you are in a position that I am people look at you in a different way. They don’t know how to deal with you. And the same goes for me. It was beneath my dignity to take my script from door to door. Luckily my search for a producer ended sooner rather than later.”

As for people’s expectations Madhuraji protests, “I am my father’s daughter, and very proud of it. But please don’t judge me by his standards. How can my work be even compared with what he did?”

Madhura Jasraj has directed another film, in Marathi some years ago. She’s now directing her first Hindi film.