PRADNYA GAONKAR RANE
Almost a year later after being the only Konkani film in the Indian Panorama section at the International Film Festival of India 2017 in Panaji, Juze is all set for its release in Goa on April 13. And as if the anticipation and excitement over premiering the film in his homeland is not enough, the team has also just received some more good news. Turns out the film has been nominated for the Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Child Actor (Rushikesh Naik) at the New York Indian Film Festival 2018 apart from being selected as the Centerpiece Film of the Year.
Centred around Santosh, a poor orphan who is abused by the brutal landlord Juze and takes drastic steps to free himself from his shackles, the film was earlier screened at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, Cork in Ireland, MAMI International Film Festival in Mumbai and Minsk International Film Festival in Belarus.
But what took it so long to come down to Goa? “ I wanted to first show the uncut version of the movie at the IFFI 2017 as it was not possible after getting the certificate from the censor board. The uncut version had a few bold scenes, language, abusive words which had the actual flavour of the real life story,” says director and script writer Miransha Naik who has earlier done films like Shezari (2012) and Ram (2014). Post the festival, the plan was to release the movie in India in January. However the online process and documentation work to get the censor board clearance really took a lot of time. And as the film finally gets set to hit screens in Goa, Miransha hopes that the Goan audience accepts the movie wholeheartedly as it depicts real life experiences here. “Juze is mainly about my personal observations in my village on whom I have based my central character Santosh,” he says.
