India has featured as the special guest of the 2010 La Rochelle International Film Festival in France. Its programme particularly focused this year on the work of Maharastrian director Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni, who screened his films to a full theatre. His film 'Valu' ('The Wild Bull') delights the viewer with memorable landscapes, touching moments and incessant wit and humour.
The 'Valu' is a misunderstood bull that roams the vicinity of the remote village of Kusavde, much to the villagers' fear and disarray. Politics, relationships and the general atmosphere in the village take a turn when a forest officer (Atul Kulkarni) is sent to capture the roaming bull. He is accompanied by a budding film maker who wishes to film a documentary about the misfortunes linked to the animal's supposed mischief.
'Valu' was filmed in Marathi and is representative of how Maharashtra is now not only the cradle of commercial Hindi films but also increasingly a breeding ground for exceptional Marathi screenwriting and acting talent. A key actor in contributing to the excellent reputation of Marathi theatre and new Marathi cinema in recent years is Atul Kulkarni, who stars as the main character (Swanand Gaddamwar) in 'Valu'. The actor who is known and admired across India for his roles in 'Rang de Basanti', 'Khakee', 'Hey Ram', 'Chandni Bar', 'Page 3' and numerous other outstanding performances in theater and cinema alike, speaks to the Hindi Cinema Blog about his career, regional cinema and of course Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni's 'Valu', where he portrays his most comic character up to date.
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