- Summer 2007
Infobox Film
name = Summer 2007
caption = Promotional poster for the film
writer = Bijesh Jayarajan
starring =Sikandar Kher Gul Panag
Yuvika Choudhary
Arjan BajwaAshutosh Rana
Sachin KhedekarDivya Dutta
director = Suhail Tatari
producer = Atul Pandey
editing = Bobby Bose
distributor =
released = June 13, 2008
runtime =
language = Hindi
budget =
cinematography = Atarsingh Saini
music = Kalyani Malik
soundtrack = Kalyani Malik
country =India
awards =
followed_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id =
website ="Summer 2007" is a 2008
India ndrama film directed by the debutant Suhail Tatari. Filmed in Hindi, the film deals with five medical students who undergo a rude awakening of sorts after visiting a Maharashtrian village and witness the misfortune of villagers. The film starsSikandar Kher ,Gul Panag , Yuvika Choudhary, Arjan Bajwa and Alekh Sangal as the five students.Ashutosh Rana andDivya Dutta play the supporting roles.Plot
Five medical college students with carefree attitudes: Rahul (
Sikandar Kher ), Priyanka (Yuvika Chowdhary), Qateel (Arjan Bajwa), Bagani (Alekh Sangal) and Vishaka (Gul Panag ). Rahul and Priyanka's failed relationship flashes back into the lives of this group of students until that moment. This group of student friends shifts to a village in ruralMaharashtra that is struck by farmer suicide. Supposed to bemedical intern s in the village hospital, the group plans a vacation toGoa until they are awoken to the plight of the poverty-ridden village-folk by the village doctor, Mukya (Ashutosh Rana ). In addition to their torment, a cruel "zamindar " (Vikram Gokhale ) and his son (Prosshant Narayanan) trouble the villagers with excessiveinterest rate s.As a solution to the villagers' problems, a reformed criminal (Sachin Khedekar) offers monetary solution to the oppressed in form of
microcredit loans. This comes as an able ally to these student protagonists who vow to help the villagers. However,naxalites and corrupt politicians complicate their efforts. Despite this, how these socially-awakened students rise above these problems forms the rest of the story.Production
Suhail Tatari, had previously directed features for
Doordarshan 's "Surabhi", a popular programme in the 1990s. He continued his association with television by directingsoap opera s such as "Reporter", "Kanyadaan", "Kashmeer" and "Don".cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/mar/26sl1.htm|title=Summer Of 2007 with Ash and Sikander Kher|date=2008-03-26 |publisher=Rediff.com |accessdate=2008-09-11] After making an award-winning documentary onbreast cancer , Tatari felt the urge to venture into commercial cinema. After meeting producer Atul Pandey, who was contemplating on a story about college students, Tatari convinced him to make it more relevant to the farmer suicides.The story, which is based on the agrarian crisis of the
Vidarbha region ofMaharashtra , was written by Bijesh Jayarajan. While talking about the extremities in the urban and rural parts of India, Jayarajan said that the focus of his story was on how money-lenders are exploiting the helpless farmers.cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Nagpur/Summer_2007_focuses_on_Vid/rssarticleshow/3104448.cms|title='Summer 2007' focuses on Vid|last=Bhagwat|first=Ramu|date=2008-06-06 |work=Indiatimes.com|publisher=The Times of India|accessdate=2008-09-11] One of the characters, which Jayarajan created was inspired byMuhammad Yunus , the 2006Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder ofGrameen Bank ,Bangladesh 's biggestmicrocredit institution. [cite web|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Social_message_of_film_Summer_2007_inspires_farmers_in_UP/articleshow/3203610.cms|title=Social message of film 'Summer 2007' inspires farmers in UP|date=2008-07-06 |work=Agencies|publisher=The Economic Times |accessdate=2008-09-11] About what he termed as success for the film, Jayarajan said:The mainstream media in the country has made a conscious effort to shield people, especially youngsters living in metros, from the rural realities. If those watching Summer 2007 at multiplexes realise this, and wonder why they never bothered about Vidarbha, the film will have achieved its goal.
Due to technical and logistic reasons, the film was shot in Wahi instead of the originally planned setting of Vidarbha. Throughout the shoot of 45 days, the cast was aware of the farmer suicides. Panag became emotional during their discussions during filming breaks.
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.