''Kaasav'' () is a 2016 Indian

Marathi-language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state of Goa. It is one of t ...

film released on 6 October 2017. It has been directed by filmmaker duo

Sumitra Bhave–Sunil Sukthankar Sumitra Bhave (12 January 1943 19 April 2021) and Sunil Sukthankar (born 31 May 1966) were an Indian filmmaker duo working predominantly in Marathi cinema and Marathi theatre. Bhave and Sukthankar had made seventeen feature films, more than f ...

and produced by Mohan Agashe in association with Bhave–Sukthankar's production company "Vichitra Nirmiti". The film won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of se ...

at the

64th National Film Awards The 64th National Film Awards was an award ceremony during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presents its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2016 in the Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 7 April 2017, and th ...

. It became the fifth Marathi film to win in this category.

Plot

Maanav (Alok Rajwade) has been hospitalized for cutting his wrists. He runs away from the hospital. Janaki (

Iravati Harshe Iravati Harshe is an Indian actress and dubbing artist. Harshe has worked in many television serials. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. Filmography * ''Split Wide Open'' (1999) * ''Hey Ram'' (Hindi, 2000) * '' Shararat'' (Hindi, 2002) * ...

) finds him collapsed on the side of the road. She asks her driver Yadu (

Kishor Kadam Kishor Kadam (born 9 November 1967) is an Indian actor and poet who has acted prominently in Marathi and Hindi movies. He has also acted in Tamil movies and has appeared in some television serials as well. He is a veteran Marathi poet, writin ...

) to take him home to Devgad(konkan) and appoints a private doctor. Janaki is a divorcee who often consults a psychologist for her panic attacks. She also helps Dattabhau ( Mohan Agashe), who is working on an

olive ridley sea turtle The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in ...

s conservation program.

Cast

as Janaki *

Alok Rajwade Alok Rajwade (born 7 February 1989) is an Indian actor, director, singer and painter. He has appeared in Marathi and Hindi films and experimental plays. Early life Rajwade was born and raised in Pune, where he attended Aksharnandan school. H ...

as Maanav * Mohan Agashe as Dattabhau *

as Yadu

Production

Mohan Agashe had acted and co-produced filmmaker duo

's earlier film '' Astu'' (2016). A New Jersey-based couple, Prakash and Alka Lothe, saw ''Astu'' and liked it and gave 50 lakh to its producer-directors to make another film based on mental disorders. Bhave–Sukthankar found it difficult to find producers to make ''Kaasav'' which is based on depression as its theme. Agashe produced the film with Bhave and Sukthankar. The film was shot in a single 18-day schedule at

Devgad Devgad is a taluka in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra India consisting of 98 villages. It is located on the Arabian Sea in the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, south of Mumbai. Devgad is known globally for its exports of locally grown ...

's beaches. As it depicts the issue of depression among youngsters in relation to the life and nesting cycle of olive ridley sea turtles, the team did a lot of research on the endangered species. Agashe, himself being a psychiatrist, provided clinical material to the filmmakers that also included psychiatrist and researcher

Vikram Patel Vikram Harshad Patel FMedSci (born May 5, 1964) is an Indian psychiatrist and researcher best known for his work on child development and mental disability in low-resource settings. Patel/Brief Biography.pdf He is the Co-Founder and former Dire ...

's book, "Where There is No Psychiatrist: A Mental Health Care Manual".

Reception and awards

The film won the ''Golden Lotus Award'' (''Swarna Kamal'')

at the

. The citation states that this is "in appreciation of the perfect blending of an environmental behaviour and a personal one in a poignantly beautiful cinematic way." It became the fifth Marathi film to win in this category. The film also participated in various international film festivals like the

Mumbai Film Festival The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the annual international film festival in Mumbai famously known as the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Actor, producer and author Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the Chairperson ...

(2016), the

Kolkata International Film Festival The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is an annual film festival held in Kolkata, India. Founded in 1995, it is the third oldest international film festival in India. The festival is organized by the West Bengal Film Centre under the W ...

(2016), the

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

(2016), the Bengaluru International Film Festival (2017), and the

New York Indian Film Festival The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was foun ...

(2017). The protagonist Alok Rajwade also won the Best Actor Award in the BRICS Film Festival-2017 held in China this year.

References

External links

* {{Sumitra Bhave–Sunil Sukthankar 2016 films Films directed by Sumitra Bhave–Sunil Sukthankar Best Feature Film National Film Award winners 2010s Marathi-language films