Special screening of "Shree Devi Phataka" to be hosted on October 21st, 2016 for the under privileged youth from across Mumbai.

Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star, in association with Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), will present a special screening for the under privileged youth from across Mumbai. Le Reve (Globus), Bandra will host the screening of ‘Shree Devi Phataka’ on October 21st,2016 for youth from slums in Mankhurd, Ambujwadi, Jogeshwari, Santa Cruz, Vile Parle, Wadala, Chembur as well as from other parts of Maharashtra.

Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) is a voluntary development organization committed to enabling vulnerable groups to access their rights and address human rights violations. Currently YUVA operates in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Assam.

YUVA’s Children and Youth Programme is a community-based and community-led programme that engages children and youth living in informal settlements, resettlement colonies and those living on the streets. YUVA employs a 360-degree, rights-based approach primarily through building capacities of young people to address the issues that most affect them. Our work with children and youth is rooted in their habitat. It includes access to healthcare and education, enabling safe spaces, developing rights based citizenship, participation in governance, access to livelihood and socio-political education.

Executive Director, Roshni Nuggehalli, YUVA said, we are very excited to be partnering with MAMI for a special screening for the marginalizedyouth we work with. We appreciate MAMI’s commitment to ensure that the Festival includes the marginalized young people of Mumbai. Film is such an important medium building values of diversity and justice and for challenging the accepted norms. In today’s rarified socio-political climate, the 250 youth participating in the Festival are sure to take home a deeper sense of connectedness and rejuvenation.

Directed by Navin Chapade, the movie follows the lives of 5 characters: Mohan, Bhatkar Kaka, Aaji, Ramesh and Arun, from a chawl in Mumbai; set on the last day of Diwali in 1984. It all starts with Arun, an 8-year-old kid obsessed with “Shree Devi Phataka” and the lengths he would go to buy this firecracker. This starts a chain of events that changes lives of those connected to it.Told from 5 different perspectives, the story portrays problems of a simple lower middle class Mumbaikar, his everyday life, his dreams, daily struggles but most importantly the simple, innocent pleasures that make him happy.

Director, Navin Chapade said, “Childhood is that wonderful time when you can cry for hours because your Mum refuses to let you drive a local train. Or feel ecstatic when you find a one-rupee coin on the road. Who doesn’t need an extra hour or two of such a time? Shree Devi Phataka is 2 hours of that innocence.”

Shree Devi Phataka is also one of the movies in the India Story category of the Festival which features films by Indian filmmakers that highlight and celebrate the diversity of India. Featuring a potpourri of languages, storytelling methods and forms, films in this section spotlight talent from different regions and underline the wealth of narratives, which make up the Indian experience.