How Sainath Ganuwad’s self-funded Marathi short brings rebellion in the classroom

In Sainath Ganuwad’s stirring Marathi shortZadavar Korleli Gosht (A Story Carved on A Tree), caste makes its presence felt in a thoughtful setting. It tells the story of two girls, Nisha and Disha, living in a shanty on the boundaries of a forest, as they navigate muddy roads and rough terrain to reach the school in the heart of a village. When they plead with the village Sarpanch to start a bus service to ease their journey, they are violently chased back into the forest by his son. The oppression is generational, as the film shows Disha dreaming about her grandmother, who attempts to send her a message by carving something on a tree.

“No one has written the stories of our people. That’s why our people wrote their stories on trees and stones. I wanted to bring that perspective into the film,” says Sainath, who has written and directed Zadavar Korleli Gosht.

The film began with a host of scattered images that came to Sainath as he was thinking of a story to submit for a fellowship centred on the generational nature of oppression. “I had this image of a girl travelling via bus and how she dreams of her grandma, whom she has never seen. It was through the process of rewriting that I figured out the back story of the grandmother and how Disha stands up for herself after gaining strength from her ancestors,” Sainath explains.

Sainath, who pursued screenwriting from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), has previously co-written Zombivali, the Marathi zombie comedy packed with a socialistic punch. Like in Zadavar Korleli Gosht, politics naturally becomes part of his stories. Sainath says his “progressive worldview” comes from his theatre days. “The plays that I did were very vocal, where the message was didactic. Slowly, with practice, I realised that politics can seep into my work indirectly as well,” Sainath says. “Now, I cannot write something apolitical even if I decide to. Even if I write about love and death, it will become political.”

A still from ‘A Story Carved On A Tree’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Zadavar Korleli Gosht also blends the thought and spirit of Dr. BR Ambedkar into its aesthetics. The camera stays on his photo at Disha’s home for a few seconds in a scene, and the film even ends with his powerful quote about the importance of education. For Sainath, the connection with Ambedkar is emotional. Growing up in Nanded, Maharashtra, Sainath read Anna Bhau Sathe’s Fakira and Ambedkar’s seminal essay, Waiting for a Visa, like any other books. It was only when he came to study in Pune that he was introduced to radical ideas through discussions with his friends. That’s when he read Ambedkar deeply.

“I had no family in Pune. So, my parents were a bit scared about my safety too. In my lowest times, I was grateful for the statue of Ambedkar in the city. I had no one in the city, but whenever I was in the university, I would feel empowered looking at his statue. I would tell myself that the greatest human is with me. I strongly felt his presence, and perhaps that’s why he appears in my film,” Sainath explains.

Zadavar Korleli Gosht recently won the Best Film award at the 16^th edition of the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival. Sainath recalls what one of the jury members told him about the film. “They told me that the progression of the girl’s story in the film is quite appealing even if the technical aspects are weak,” Sainath says, adding that it also sparked discussions about a pivotal scene where Disha uses her compass tool to defend herself against the Sarpanch’s son as the film also reveals that her grandmother was carving a sickle on the tree.

A still from ‘A Story Carved On A Tree’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“Many found the violence involving the girl disturbing. But for me, it is counter-violence. What the boy does to her is violence, and her response is purely a survival instinct,” he opines. “A lot of people correlated the image of the sickle with communism. But for me, it is my grandmother’s tool. She used to work with that on her farm. When it comes to survival, the tool can very well become a weapon. So, it is a symbol of survival and not an ideology.”

Ultimately, even education becomes a tool of survival for Disha as she battles prejudice and questions her teachers’ conduct in the classroom. That spirit of liberation reflects even in how the film was purely self-funded and made on a low budget, with Sainath saving money from his salary and seeking help from friends. “I don’t have cultural privilege. No one would be willing to invest money in me at the moment. So, we decided to make the film on our own with most of the team letting go of their fees,” he says and concludes, “We would never come into the mainstream if we keep waiting for a producer.”

Zadavar Korleli Gosht (A Story Carved on A Tree) was screened at the 16^th edition of the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival