By Moviebuzz

August 5, 2004

Dharan Mandrayar, the nephew of late Sivaji Ganesan is currently busy directing a Hindi-

English movie White Rainbow. The film’s major part of the shooting took place in Vrindavan 

and then shifted over to AVM Studios in Chennai where the ashrams of Vrindavan have

been recreated. Taking a breather from the shooting, Dharan spoke about the film. 

“In fact the subject was inspired from a lesson in my daughter’s text book. It said about the 

charity homes in Vrindavan which houses the widows.

We did some research about it and came up with the sad plight of the widows. 

They are dumped in the choultries which runs on charity from organisations and individuals. 

These widows are used by those running these homes to collect money from the rich. 

All these women have to do is chant hymns from morning till night for which they are paid a 

measly amount. Most of the women have sad stories to tell. My film is about four such widows 

who start challenging the myths and tradition that surround the widows.

In the process they undergo a transformation. From a world of no colours, they see the rainbow

at the end of the tunnel,” said Dharan Mandrayar.

The film’s main protagonist is Priya who has a miscarriage on hearing about her husband’s

sudden death. Though she leads a comfortable life, she undertakes a pilgrimage to Vrindavan,

the home town of Krishna. Here she meets three other widows who have a tragic past. Roop

makes a living off the streets, Mala, the docile of the lot is a concubine and servant of a priest,

and Deepti, the youngest of the lot is a street walker. Hindi actress Sonali Kulkarni plays the role

of Priya. Amardeep Jha, who played mother of Kalibabu, in Devdas plays Roop, the street smart

woman while Shameem Sheikh, a graduate of NSD, recently appeared in Chandni Bar plays

Mala while Amrutha Subash from NSD plays Deepti, the widow who takes to prostitution.

Virendra Saxena, Amitabh Srivatsava (he also has written the dialogues) and Virendra Kapoor

are the only three male members in a predominantly women cast.

Dharan had earlier directed Ele My fiend, an English film for their own banner Dharlin

Entertainments (USA) in which his wife Linda is a partner. In the current production Hannah Kirby

with 20 years experience in marketing joins the team. The film has cinematography by B Kannan

and editing by national award winner Lenin. Michael Mason from Hollywood who has scored

music for Bruce Almighty, Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2, Princess Diaries and The Scorpion King is the

scoring producer for this film.

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=7398