Khoto Sikko - A hit Marwari Movie

Gangtok, Sept. 14: After a successful week in Siliguri, Khoto Sikko, the first film in a language spoken by migrant Marwaris, is all set to be screened in Gangtok on September 21 and 23.
The Rs 22-lakh movie has been directed by Rakesh Somani and produced by his brother Rajesh Somani.
“This is the first film in the newly evolved Marwari language spoken by people who have migrated from Rajasthan over the years to all over the country and abroad. The language spoken by Marwaris living outside their traditional strongholds of Marwar in Rajasthan is totally different,” said Rakesh Somani.
Describing the the newly evolved dialect “migrated Marwari” or “common Marwari language”, the director said: “With the influence of different cultures and languages, particularly Hindi, a new face of Marwari language has emerged. The vocabulary and prosody is different when compared to the classical variants of the language spoken across Rajasthan. The differences are so marked that at times it becomes difficult for the migrated Marwaris to understand or relate to films made and released in Rajasthan. This is probably the reason why Marwari films do not do well outside the state. Khoto Sikko seeks to promote the versatile Marwari language and culture and prevent its gradual disappearance from the community.”
According him, the 2 hour 15 minute film is a family drama that revolves around the protagonist played by Rounak Somani. The movie has six songs.
Shooting for the film started in August last year.

“We completed the movie in January but we could not release it straightway as the distributors were unwilling to take risks on a film based on the new Marwari language for the first time,” said Rakesh.

In July, the film was screened for a week at a theatre in Siliguri. “We got good response during the 21 shows. Around 6,000 people watched and appreciated the movie,” he said.
After the screening in Gangtok on September 21 and 23, the film is scheduled to hit the theatres in Guwahati around mid-October.

“After Diwali we will screen the film in Jaipur and in Calcutta. Later we plan to show the movie in Delhi, Jodhpur and Ahmedabad as well,” Rajesh added.

The movie has been shot extensively in Sikkim. Editing was done in Gangtok while the final mixing was done in Mumbai.

“The main plot of the film is based on a popular Marwari proverb: Khoto sikko aur kapoot adi mahi kaam aawe (a useless coin and a spoilt brat are both useful in times of adversity),” said B.P. Bajgai, the assistant director.

“It is the first movie that has the potential of being a truly Marwari film in the present Indian context. We have already got good response from the community,” said Rakesh

Music Album of Marwari Film "Khoto Sikko" Released

GANGTOK, Oct 14 : Sikkim tourism is steadily achieving national acclaim and the 19 tourism-related awards that the State has received so far bears testimony to this, State Tourism Minister Bhim Dhungel said here today.

“We have so far received 19 tourism-related awards from various organizations and tomorrow Sikkim will receive another award taking up the total to 20 awards,” he added. He was speaking at the release of the Marwari film Khoto Sikko developed by a local filmmaker. The music of the first-ever contemporary Marwari film was released today by Bhim Dhungel. The Minister informed that Sikkim will be receiving the award from the India Traveller group and the award will be presented tomorrow at New Delhi where Resident Commissioner Arvind Kumar will receive the award on behalf of the State government.

Highlighting the vast tourism potential of Sikkim, Dhungel said Sikkim is rich in culture tourism, adventure tourism, eco-tourism and heritage tourism which are in demand in the tourism market. “Our biodiversity, rich culture and peace-loving people will also boost our tourism potential,” he added.

Sikkim houses several scenic places and the State government is doing its best to promote these areas, Dhungel said, adding the State government was giving thrust to tourism in order to encourage the local youth towards promoting tourism-related services. The State government is according priority to create more man-made attractions, he added.

A special screening of the film Khoto Sikko was also done at the Press Club of Sikkim (PCS) premises here. According to the director-producer of the film Rakesh Somani, Khoto Sikko is the first ever Marwari feature film in the world and would be ready for release in the first week of November.

He explained that the Marwari language, being spoken in the native area of the community in Rajasthan, was different from the language being spoken by the people who had migrated to the other parts of the nation.

“With the influence of various cultures and languages, particularly Hindi, a new face of Marwari language had emerged, which was different in both vocabulary as well as the prosody when compared to the classical variants spoken in various parts of Rajasthan,” Somani said. The shooting of the film started on May 20 and will be released after Diwali. The film runs over two-and-half hours and has seven songs. The movie was shot in Sikkim and West Bengal. The star cast in the film are from Sikkim, West Bengal and Nepal.

“The storyline of the film is based on the popular Marwari proverb ‘Khoto Sikko,’ meaning a useless coin, a spoilt brat helps in adversity,” said Bajgai.

(UNI)