An Australian-Indian journalist, Maria, is investigating an attack on an Indian student in Melbourne, and subsequently meets Giriraj and embarks on a journey through the social history of Indian and modern Australian society.
According to Makwana, he got the initial idea of the story during a phone conversation with his father around the time of 2009 attacks on Indian students in Melbourne city. His father narrated the tale of discrimination faced by him in his home village, Tundel in Gujarat, due to caste and social hierarchy. This gave Makwana an idea to connect two tales and two countries. The film was shot in Melbourne and Gujarat. The film was inspired by Makwana's family's experience with the caste system of India. The family is part of the weaver caste, who are referred to as the "untouchables" in Gujarat. His father, Mr Kantibhai Makwana, was the first person in his village to complete B.A., M.A., B.Ed. and later went on to complete LLB. Makwana's mother - Shardaben, also an educated woman, fought alongside her husband for their rights, disobeying cultural norms that dictated their inferiority. The family's stand had consequences, with the family once having to flee their home in middle of night due to group of locals attacking the locality they lived in. Makwana's parents continued their advancement through society however. His father later wrote four books on different social issues particularly caste system of India, inspiring his son Girish.
Casting
Makwana auditioned almost three hundred actresses before casting Vidhya Makan as Maria. The process took about two and half years. In Indian cast, Makwana used local people as well theatre artists from India for authenticity. Makwana recruited Pragyan Patra to sing for the film after seeing her sing on the reality show "Voice of India." According to Patra, she initially auditioned for Makwana via a WhatsApp recording. then-Australian senator Derryn Hinch was recruited to play a politician in the film.
Development
To find a location which gave the feel of real Indian village during the 1960s, producers Lorraine and Girish scouted locations for six months before settling down to shot in the inner rural area of Kheda district. They were looking for a place with no electricity poles and water connection as they didn't exist in Tundel of 1965. The caste system still exists and is so deep-rooted in India that when they went to Hariyana village of Gujarat, Kheda to shoot, the people from lower caste requested them not to, as it might create problems for them later on. The first part of the movie was shot in 2012 January in India but the movie was delayed as it took two years to find the main protagonist. Makan was finally cast in 2014, after which the Melbourne part was shot. The film was edited at Media Network Corporation Film Studios in New Zealand by Ken Khan and Post Produced by Prashanth Gunasekaran.
Initially, to be released in India in May 2017, the film's Indian release had to be delayed several months due to disagreements with the Central Board of Film Certification in India. The Board insisted on several changes such as removing the word achhoot, and cutting a dialogue which described India as the "most racist country in the world." About the censorship, Makwana commented "The fact is that untouchability is a part of our history and is still prevalent and it seems strange that a movie which explores caste discrimination has been asked to beep the word. I am only showing what exists. The film was finally released in India on 13 October 2017.
Accolades
The film has won BEST FILM JURY AWARD in 5th Indian Cine Film Festival in 2017. It has been nominated in five categories in Australian Independent Ozflix Awards, 2018 It has been screened at various film festivals:
The film's director and writer, Girish Makwana, composed all the film's music, utilising a real string orchestra to record the music. The film's official sound track contains six tracks.
