Mai, a 41-minute short film by Milind Dhaimade, premiered at the MAMI festival. It is a part of the ‘Lost and Found anthology, where the topic is explored through 7 other short stories. Mai is produced by Colosceum Media Pvt Ltd (Lalit Prem Sharma) and Macguffin Pictures (Honey Trehan and Abhishek Chaubey). Starring Kunaal Roy Kapoor (Suman) and Shahana Goswami (Mona), Mai revolves around a story about loss, acceptance, and sacrifice.
Mai left an indelible mark on the audiences and swept them away with its gripping storyline, mesmerizing performances, and soul-stirring visuals. Seemingly overwhelmed by what she had seen, one of the audience members, with a quivering voice, described how she could relate to the elements and aspects of the film intimately and lauded the director for portraying it so well.
Milind, the writer and director of the film, while addressing the audience – mentioned “Writers should not be afraid to be vulnerable and should look inward during times of loss. He added that loneliness is something he has experienced himself and considers it very personal. The way each day’s shoot used to start with ‘Kya Khayenge?’ brought out his passion for food, and with the same interest, he brought about the detailing in terms of recipes and styling of the food in the film.”
Milind talked about his uphill battle with clinical depression, during which he got a call for writing and directing Mai – one which he seriously contemplated whether to take. He pulled through with his wife’s help as she gave him the idea of remembrance and death through food. Writing and directing this beautiful story is what brought Milind out of his depression, and the movie signifies his journey towards accepting loss and making sacrifices a big part of his own life.
With that said, Milind is looking forward and upwards, venturing back into feature films. His directorial ‘Thank You Mr.Khanna’, produced by Lionsgate and Love and Faith Films, has finished post production and is going to hit the theatres soon.