SIKKIM: A hit outside Marwar

Gangtok, Sept. 13: After a successful week in Siliguri, Khoto Sikko, the first film in a language spoken by migrant Marwaris, is all set to be screened in Gangtok on September 21 and 23.

The Rs 22-lakh movie has been directed by Rakesh Somani and produced by his brother Rajesh Somani.

“This is the first film in the newly evolved Marwari language spoken by people who have migrated from Rajasthan over the years to all over the country and abroad. The language spoken by Marwaris living outside their traditional strongholds of Marwar in Rajasthan is totally different,” said Rakesh Somani.

Describing the the newly evolved dialect “migrated Marwari” or “common Marwari language”, the director said: “With the influence of different cultures and languages, particularly Hindi, a new face of Marwari language has emerged. The vocabulary and prosody is different when compared to the classical variants of the language spoken across Rajasthan. The differences are so marked that at times it becomes difficult for the migrated Marwaris to understand or relate to films made and released in Rajasthan. This is probably the reason why Marwari films do not do well outside the state. Khoto Sikko seeks to promote the versatile Marwari language and culture and prevent its gradual disappearance from the community.”
According him, the 2 hour 15 minute film is a family drama that revolves around the protagonist played by Rounak Somani. The movie has six songs.

Shooting for the film started in August last year.

“We completed the movie in January but we could not release it straightway as the distributors were unwilling to take risks on a film based on the new Marwari language for the first time,” said Rakesh.

In July, the film was screened for a week at a theatre in Siliguri. “We got good response during the 21 shows. Around 6,000 people watched and appreciated the movie,” he said.

After the screening in Gangtok on September 21 and 23, the film is scheduled to hit the theatres in Guwahati around mid-October.

“After Diwali we will screen the film in Jaipur and in Calcutta. Later we plan to show the movie in Delhi, Jodhpur and Ahmedabad as well,” Rajesh added.

The movie has been shot extensively in Sikkim. Editing was done in Gangtok while the final mixing was done in Mumbai.

“The main plot of the film is based on a popular Marwari proverb: Khoto sikko aur kapoot adi mahi kaam aawe (a useless coin and a spoilt brat are both useful in times of adversity),” said B.P. Bajgai, the assistant director.

“It is the first movie that has the potential of being a truly Marwari film in the present Indian context. We have already got good response from the community,” said Rakesh.

source; telegraph