Aatmapamphlet

Autobio-Pamphlet
“The country, too, was crossing milestones, just like me.”

Daydreams, disillusions, and a sudden rush of joy. The symptoms of a first love are everywhere in this delightful directorial debut that reworks the visual codes of Bollywood romances to great comic effect. Yet as Ashish recalls his childhood, and time speeds up or slows down, the story of his love for his classmate Srushti gets caught up in that of 1990s India. Caste and religion threaten to turn friends into foes, but Ashish and his classmates ultimately prove their friendship runs deeper than societal divisions. This plea for (national) unity, voiced by a band of ordinary schoolboys, is in no way naïve: here is a strong rebuttal to the violently divisive walls and barricades of classism and religion tearing the whole world apart; here is popular comedy of the best kind.
by Ashish Avinash Bende
with Om Bendkhale, Pranjali Shrikant, Chetan Wagh, Manas Tondwalkar, Khushi Hajare, Bhimrao Mude, Ketaki Saraf
India 2023 Marathi 90’ World premiere | Debut film recommendation: 14 years and up

With

  • Om Bendkhale (Ashish)
  • Pranjali Shrikant (Srushti)
  • Chetan Wagh (Borya)
  • Manas Tondwalkar (Ashish, young)
  • Khushi Hajare (Srushti, young)
  • Bhimrao Mude (Baba)
  • Ketaki Saraf (Aai)

Crew

Director Ashish Avinash Bende
Screenplay Paresh Mokashi
Cinematography Satyajeet Shobha Shriram
Editing Faisal Mahadik
Music Saket Kanetkar
Sound Shishir Chousalkar
Production Design Baban Adagale
Costumes Sachin Lovalekar
Make-Up Santosh Gilbile
Casting Rohan Mapuskar
Assistant Director Sejal Randive
Production Manager Rakesh Raorane
Producers Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Aanand L. Rai, Kanupriya A. Iyer, Madhugandha Kulkarni, Shariq Patel
Executive Producer Chandrashekhar Nannaware

Ashish Avinash Bende

Aatmapamphlet is his debut film as a director. He has been working in the film industry for 14 years and has been an assistant director on numerous Indian film productions.

Filmography

2023 Aatmapamphlet (Autobio-Pamphlet)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023