“Even while I was writing and directing theatre plays, I was deeply disturbed by the grim picture emerging from Vidarbha. My conscience wanted me to address it. Farming is the tradition of our country, hence it was necessary that the issues related to people involved in it be highlighted,” said Manwar.

Scripting was not so difficult; the challenge lay in finding a producer. “Nobody wanted to touch the subject. It was a realistic, satirical film and to top it all the language was the Varhadi dialect of Marathi that made producers all the more wary. That is when Girish Kulkarni, the lead actor, suggested I approach Prashant Pethe - and everything just fell into place,” Manwar said.

Gabhri Cha Paaus is Manwar’s first directorial venture in feature films.

Pethe, who is known for his inclination for powerful scripts - he had co-produced Umesh Kulkarni’s much acclaimed Valu - said it took him just 45 minutes to read the script and decide that he was doing the film. “I believe a good film will always find its audience,” Pethe said. “The film does not hit hard the political side of the farmer suicide issue. It stresses more the other functional aspects of farming - like the inconsistent weather, the biggest ‘villain’ for farmers, the irregular rains and the havoc it creates in a farmer’s everyday life,” he added.

Shot entirely in Amravati, Gabhri Cha Paaus focuses on a farmer family affected by the inconsistent rain. Even when the entire village is reeling under bad crop seasons, the protagonist - Kisna (played by Girish Kulkarni) - is optimistic. “The film also touches on other issues plaguing the already distressed farming community - like the ignorance of farmers about the compensation they are entitled to, the corrupt officials who take advantage of this ignorance and so on,” said Manwar, who already has a decade-old association with theatre.