When Tears Stop, A Revolution Begins… A Must Must Watch.... This is a story of Chindhi, daughter of Abhiram Sathe, a poor farmer from Wardha district of Maharashtra. She is fond of studies and attending the school. But hardly gets a chance to attend it since she has to take care of her buffaloes. Her mother feels that girls should be married off as soon as possible and there is no need of education for them. And for that they need to be good in household chores, so she makes sure Chindhi always has her plate full for chores and does not get a chance to even look towards school. But due to her dedication towards studies, she manages to sneak into the school somehow for few hours. Doing all this she manages to pass fourth grade.
At this stage her mother decides to marry her off. Though her father is not in favor of this he is not able to convince his wife and her mother manages to find a guy much elder to her and marries her. This was at mere age of ten. Her new home has her mother in law, two brother in laws and their families. So there is no way she can continue her studies, but is put to lot of work. Ans still at the end of the day her mother in law will not talk good of her. Managing all this, Chindhi still continues to read whatever she could lay her hands on. Mostly she could get only the packing newspapers that come with grocery and she will read it all. Her mother in law will cause her trouble even for this ans then she will hide the papers some place and read at leisure when she is able to get a bit of freedom sometime.
The years pass like this, she grows up in age and has three sons. In those days after marriage she hardly gets to meet her parents, only rarely sometime her father will manage to come and see her briefly. She was staying in the buffer area of a wildlife sanctuary, so they can not keep too many cattle. Even the cow dung collected from the forest will have to be deposited with the local contractor and he used to sell it off without paying to the local villagers. Chindhi is angree with this. No one else in the village has guts to talk against the contractor, and finally Chindhi speaks out to the forest officer and the contractor has to take care of the matter. This brings Chindhi respect form all the villagers and even in her own home. Her Mother in law and co systers start taking care of her since she is pregnant for the fourth time. But this good times are short lived for Chindhi. The contractor manages to cheat Chindhi's husband and convinces him that the baby Chindhi is carrying is not her husbands but of the contractor. Her husband is really a big fool and he is immediately convinced with this. By this time Chindhi is almost 8 monthd pregnant but her husband mercilessly kicks her out of the house. Now she does not have nayone to help but manages to survive and gives birth of her child herself in the cow shade. The only place she could think of was her own home. She knew that her father is no more, but hopes her mother will help her in this tough time. She does not have any cash, no food to eat but manages to reach her mothers home. She is totally disappointed by her mothers attitude. She just tells her to go away after all the bad name she has earned and all the deeds she has done. And on asking where Chindi can go in such a situation, her mother says go anywhere you want and if you can think of nothing else go jump in a well. Chindhi is totally devastated by this attitude and goes on a Railway track and is waiting for a train to come. What happens next to her and her baby ? How Chindhi becomes Sindhu ? You must watch in "Mi Sindhutai Sapkal" .

What more can one say about a film, which got standing ovation after its screening at the National theatre, London ? In fact, this film had a three show premiere at this festival recently. "Mee Sindutai Sapkal" based on the autobiography of well-known social worker Sindhutai Sapkal, is a biopic directed by Anant Narayan Mahadevan, a Journalist turned Bollywoood actor and film maker.
The film which has been creating waves at various film festivals in India and abroad, has been welcomed in Maharashtra on the first day of its release. Its universal theme is not only appealing but also touching the hearts of those who admire self-sacrificing service to the society.
The film's story begins with present times, with Ms. Sindhutai Sapkal traveling for the first time by an airplane on her way to US on an invitation from a Maharashtra Sahitya Mandal based there. Sitting next to her as a co -passenger on the long journey is the director of the film. During the first half of the film, Ms. Sindhutai recollects her past with strange experiences with every small moment during the journey, while in the second half, she narrates her fight for survival, while addressing the elite audience in US.
"Mee Sindhutai Sapkal" is a sensible film, strictly following the worst incidences in the life of the noble social worker and at the same time highlights her fight for survival. There is a lot to learn from this biopic, especially at a time when we all are living in a materialistic world. Here is an example of a woman, who has seen the worst poverty, yet feeds the other deserted children out of what she has gathered for her own child. It also reminds one and all about the sacrifice a mother has to make when she lifts the responsibility of all the deserted children around, as if they were her own children.
Very efficiently the director has captured every delicate moment in this film, that relates to the actual happenings in the life of the selfless social worker. The well structured
dialogues strike timely in that well presented screenplay. Watch that mother and daughter relationship during the childhood of Sindhutai, when she is known as Chindhi . The father visiting his daughter’s place after her marriage and admitting the guilt of not offering her further education and the husband returning to Sindhutai, during old age, realizing his mistake. They are all master pieces.
Women empowerment or women triumph isn’t a new topic for Indian cinema. The theme is explored in almost all Indian languages ever since the inception of cinema in the country. Despite this, Anant Narayan Mahadevan’s Mee Sindhutai Sapkal stands apart from all other pro-women films because of the heart-warming story of Sindhutai Sapkal and the interesting way in which the tale is narrated.
Based on Sapkal’s book Mee Vanvasi, the film tells the story of 12-year old Chindi who is married to a middle aged man (Upendra Limaye) and is later (when she reaches 26) abandoned by her husband and family as she is wrongly accused of infidelity. Things get worse for Chindi as even her own mother refuses to give her shelter fearing the society. It is from here on that Chindi’s real journey begins. She abandons her image of Chindi and becomes Sindhutai, a social reformer and a shelter for all homeless children.
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