A film about a progressive Dalit worker

Matangi Deevatige, an independent work, hopes to enter the festival circuit

An independent Kannada film about a Dalit worker and his struggle to educate his children is ready for release. Matangi Deevatige, shot entirely in North Karnataka, is hoping to enter the film festival circuit before it hits the big screen. It is based on a Kannada book with the same title written by Samata Deshmane, daughter of a poor worker in MSK Mills of Kalaburagi Baburao Deshmane.

The film features Baburao Deshmane who brings up his seven daughters and a son, despite several economic and social challenges. The biggest challenge for the Dalit family is to boycott the social evil of Devadasi system and protect the daughters from ending up as Devadasis. The protagonist also participates in the freedom movement.

Baburao Deshmane, though not well educated, is a man of progressive ideas. By his association with social reformers and labour union activists, Baburao Deshmane develops a strong personality, that poses a challenge to social evils such as the Devadasi system.