By Saibal Chatterjee, IANS

For first-time director Chitra Palekar her film "Maati Maay" - that premiered at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) a couple of days ago to a strong critical response - is more than a mere piece of cinema.

The film, she suggests, is a reflection of life itself, with all its raw brutality, sad anomalies and eventual humanity. "Maati Maay" is a sensitive and deeply moving study of the predicament of a woman trapped in a web of social mores and familial obligations.

"I had read the Hindi translation of Mahasweta Devi's well-known Bengali story about a woman grave-keeper Bayen. But I chose to make the film in Marathi because that allowed me to set the story in a milieu I was familiar with," says Palekar.

"Maati Maay", featuring Nandita Das, Atul Kulkarni, a child non-actor that Palekar picked from Amravati in Vidarbha and several local theatre actors, is now due to travel to the London Film Festival after its release in Pune Oct 6. "It will open in Mumbai in November," she announces.

Palekar had the story in mind for nearly five years. "It was first meant to be adapted for the Marathi stage but somewhere along the way it took the form of a screenplay," says the writer of critically acclaimed films like "Kairee" and "Dhyasparva".

Wasn't she worried that Bayen would be a difficult story to film, especially considering that this was going to be her first directorial venture? "I hadn't worked for nearly seven years. So it was difficult to get started. That is perhaps why 'Maati Maay' took me two years to plan and execute," says Palekar. "But once I got into the swing of things, it all came back to me." Palekar wrapped up the shoot in 25 days.

"Maati Maay" is the story of Chandi (Nandita Das), whose family has traditionally looked after a children's graveyard. When her father dies leaving behind no male heir, the young low-caste woman inherits the job and performs it as a sacred duty. But when she gives birth to her own son, the last rites of little children become increasingly painful for her. But can Chandi - as so many other women of her ilk around India and indeed the world - ever hope to escape her lot?

The film, says Palekar, has struck a chord with its audience in Toronto because of its universality. "I was expecting questions seeking clarifications about the setting and the rituals," she says. "I was surprised to realise that people related to the plight of the characters, Chandi, Narsu and Bhagirath, effortlessly."

Palekar asserts that language is never a barrier to the comprehension of a film. "I did not in any case treat 'Maati Maay' like another regional language film meant for limited circulation," she says. "I designed and shot it keeping international standards in mind."

Judging by the response the film has evoked in Toronto, Palekar seems to have achieved that benchmark.