The star cast of Shentimental says that the common man should treat policemen as humans and with a little more emotions
Director Sameer Patil’s Shentimental, which aims at presenting the policemen as a ‘human’, stars an ensemble cast of Ashok Saraf, Upendra Limaye, Vikas Patil, Pallavi Patil, Suyog Gorhe, Devyani Raghuveer Yadav, Ramesh Wani, and Madhav Abhyankar among others.
Produced by Abhay Jahirabadkar, Sameer Patil, Santosh Bodke, Manjusha Bodke, the film releases on July 28. Director Sameer Patil says that there are several inspirations behind the story. “It’s based on a true story. A police constable was sitting next to me during a journey. When he got to know that I am a film director, he told me that he has many stories to share. One of his stories really touched me and I decided to make a movie on it because the story showed the human side of the men in uniform,” he narrated when he visited Sakal Times office recently.
Most of us think that the police force is corrupt but we fail to realise that they are humans too. “Honestly, we don’t look at the police as humans. They too have emotions, a family to take care of, personal problems. You never know what they might be going through while dealing with the mob on the road,” he says. “We break traffic rules and get away quickly by giving some money to the constable. But as we cross the signal, we say, ‘Oh, he was such a corrupt policeman. We expect them to be tough and disciplined,” he adds.
Veteran actor Ashok Saraf, who last played the role of a policeman in Rohit Shetty’s Singham, says, “I play a police constable about to retire in both the films. But my character in this film is a little sentimental. His outlook towards others is quite different because he treats them emotionally. He believes that even culprits should get justice. He is a saint.”
Finding such a policeman is difficult, isn’t it? “There are many but we don’t look at them. We need to be a little sentimental towards them and treat them with emotions,” answers the actor.
Sameer concludes by describing an interesting scene from the movie between Ashok Saraf and Upendra Limaye. “Upendra says that we are on duty for long hours. In the night, we are dealing with a rape case and in the morning a murder case. We lead such a stressful life and the only thing that will help is if we are treated like humans,” he says.