GRIHALAKSHMI - THE AWAKENING

The film 'Grihalakshmi The Awakening' belongs to the genre of Spiritual / Awakening / Transformational films. It runs a total of 94:04 MM:SS in length and explores the concept of ‘Sahaja Yoga Meditation’ on the big screen through the story of two young sisters, Sheetal and Samaira, who encounter a deep inner awakening called Self Realization. Their life takes a turn for the better. They experience a life full of happiness and contentment.
The siblings would often quarrel over trivial matters, but when it came to selecting a life partner, the one who took to meditation showed immense restraint, calm & wisdom. The other one's blinded fantasies brought her despair & frustration when she discovered that despite being more beautiful, the handsome young rich boy chose her sister to be his bride. Hell broke out when she threw a tantrum, unable to face rejection. But the bond of love the sisters shared changed her outlook. She noticed the positive impact Meditation had on her younger sister. Being the elder, her parents reminded her of her duties towards her kid sister to help her get settled happily in life with the rich family that chose her.
The bond of love the two sisters shared, came out in the open, when the elder one gave up her obstinacy, to discover the inner beauty her kid sister had acquired, ever since she had taken to Meditation. The younger one promises to marry only if her sister also took to Meditation, to which she readily agrees. Hereafter the elder one also takes to Meditation.
With the passage of time, she discovers her own inner beauty & learns about the joy of giving and fulfillment through this Meditation. Her life takes a turn for the better, when she falls in love with an ordinary man who works selflessly for poor children's education. She joins him, without realizing that her inner desire for her life partner had blossomed as she had fallen in love with him, not for his riches, but for his inner beauty.
In a dramatic turn of events, when both sisters are preparing to get engaged in a single ceremony, it is revealed that unknowingly, the elder sister had actually met a multi-millionaire, who had given up a lavish life-style to serve the poor through his NGO. Her discovery of an inner beauty & the joy of giving, far superseded her quest for material gains, is the main theme of the film.
Sahaja Yoga Meditation taught by its founder, Her Holiness Shree Mataji Nirmala Devi, is the highlight of the film's message to mankind in her own words. By leading a simple life, devoid of material cravings, one can immerse oneself into a deep meditative state to experience the dissolution of one’s ego inside a beautifully crafted subtle system of the human body. This state of blissful existence comes from the blessings of the Goddess GRIHALAKSHMI - HOME MAKER & THE PEACE MAKER. A chapter taken straight out of our sacred spiritual texts, so very relevant in these modern times.

  • ARVIND PANDEY
    Director
  • APARNA GANGOPADHYAY, ORIGINAL STORY
    Writer
  • ARVIND PANDEY, SCREENPLAY
    Writer
  • ASHISH JOHARY, DIALOGUES
    Writer
  • SANJAY ROSHAN TALWAR, ADDITIONAL SCREENPLAY
    Writer
  • SANJAY ROSHAN TALWAR
    Producer
  • SANCHIT PAHWA, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
    Producer
  • ARADHANA TALWAR, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
    Producer
  • KASHISH GOSWAMI
    Key Cast
    "SHEETAL"
  • BHUMIKA SHARMA
    Key Cast
    "SAMAIRA"
  • BUNEE CHOPRA
    Key Cast
    "GAYATRI SINGHANIA"
  • DHRUV ARORA
    Key Cast
    "ARVIND SINGHANIA"
  • DR MANISH SOOD
    Key Cast
    "DR KAILASH MATHUR"
  • DR MEEMANSHA CHAUNSARIA
    Key Cast
    "MUGDHA"
  • SEEMA SHARMA
    Key Cast
    "POONAM MATHUR"
  • DIVYA TRIPATHI
    Key Cast
    "LONDON WALI MAUSI"
  • ASHISH ARORA
    Key Cast
    "NAVNEET"
  • DEVENDER PARMAR
    Key Cast
    "MR NATH"
  • ANJU PARMAR
    Key Cast
    "MRS NATH"
  • PRASHANT NAIK
    EDITOR
  • MANNU SHARMA, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
    EDITOR
  • SANCHIT PAHWA, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
    EDITOR
  • ADRI THAKUR
    DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
  • V POONAM NISHANT
    DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
  • RIMI DHAR, BACKGROUND MUSIC
    MUSIC DIRECTOR
  • SANJAY ROSHAN TALWAR, SONG COMPOSER "TERI SASON KI"
    MUSIC DIRECTOR
  • LATE JAGMOHAN BAKSHI, FOR SONG "JAGO KUNDALINI MA"
    MUSIC DIRECTOR
  • SANJAY ROSHAN TALWAR
    SINGER & WRITER OF SONGS
  • MANIK BATRA
    SOUND DESIGN
  • GUNJAN SHRIVASTAVA
    SOUND DESIGN
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Feature
  • Genres:
    Spiritual, Transformational, Experimental
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 34 minutes 4 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 9, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    66,700 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    DIGITAL
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • IMMACULATE IDEAL HUMAN FOUNDATION
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - ARVIND PANDEY

Arvind Pandey is a graduate from NSD (National School of Drama- Delhi). After his graduation from NSD, Arvind took up a research assignment on “Method Acting"- It's development and scope for implementation in Indian films and theatre” under the aegis of NSD.

He subsequently studied ‘Method Acting’ at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute New York and Los Angeles.

Arvind has also done a short-term film appreciation course from the Film and TV Institute of India (FTII), Pune.

He has worked closely with theater directors like Naseeruddin Shah, Barry John, Jillian Campana, M.K.Raina, Kondrad Zedrich and many more in plays written by Anton Chekhov, Jean Paul Satre, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Backett, Aga Hashra Kashmiri, Maxim Gorki, Hermon Wounk, Neil Labute, Hari Shankar Parsai and many more.

As a Theater director himself, he has been credited with adaptation and direction of more than 15 plays in different Indian languages. His love for direction transcends the stage to find expression in about dozen of his short films that he directed for acting students in different film schools where he has been teaching for long.

http://iihf.in/about-arvind-pandey/

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Director Statement

In today’s world where the relationships and family as an institution is almost on the verge of collapse for various reasons, the Grihalakshmi principle comes as a ray of hope for humanity. The idea behind the film is to live life fully with completeness and harmony with or without great wealth, social status and other worldly things. Like the film’s protagonist (Samaira), who transforms from a hardcore materialistic being to a balanced person. When she meets her life partner for the first time, post her transformation, she gets into the relationship purely for his virtues, unaware of his social standing!

The main challenge as a director and screenplay writer was to make the narrative engaging. So, a few new characters and situations were added to the story. Equally or more challenging was the filming process, where most of the actors were facing camera as actors for the first time with no prior acting experience, also the crew was relatively new. Nevertheless, with very limited resources at the filming stage, everyone in cast and crew put in their best efforts so complete the film in about a week’s time.

The film belongs to Transformational / Spiritual genre where SAHAJA YOGA teachings of Her Holiness Shree Mata Ji Nirmala Devi has been used judiciously. Though her teachings are vast, nevertheless, we chose the story that focuses on the ‘Grihalakshmi’ principle, which deals with happiness and contentment in day to day household life.