Marathi film on surrogacy has Americans in stellar roles

MUMBAI: For the first time in the history of Marathi films, debutante filmmaker Samrouddhi Porey has cast Americans in stellar roles.

The film titled Mala Aai Vhayacha Ahe is made on the issue of surrogacy in India. The subject is about India becoming the hotspot for childless foreigners looking for surrogate mother.

The movie has four-year old lead actor Aiden Barkley speaking Marathi throughout the film. There are two other foreigners in the film, Stacy Bee and Mat Barkley, father of Aiden.

Porey hesitates to divulge any details of the story saying that ‘the issue is very sensitive’. To a query as to how did she spot Aiden, Porey says, “ I spotted the boy in the market and immediately knew he was my lead. Though everyone tried to dissuade me doubting Aiden’s ability to speak Marathi, I went ahead and managed to convince his parents to give it a shot. And the rest is history.”

After months of working, Porey came to know that Aiden was born through a surrogate mother. Wasn’t she afraid that the touchy topic might hurt local sentiments? Porey explains, “ When making a film, we don’t intentionally want to hurt anybody’s feelings. However, it’s possible that after release, some people might get offended.”