Manoj Maurya, the acclaimed filmmaker behind the award-winning German feature film ‘The Concertmaster’, is currently shooting a Punjabi family film titled Ma Da Sanduk in Punjab.
The film centres on a farmer’s family, where a mother’s firm hand guides her three sons through the rhythms of village life. Her authority is often read as hardness, indifference or even restraint. Only after her death does the family begin to understand the depth of her unspoken love and the quiet sacrifices that shaped their lives.
Known for his intimate and humanistic storytelling, Manoj continues his exploration of emotionally driven narratives with his films. His German feature ‘The Concertmaster’, which won Best Feature Film at the Berlin Liftoff Festival, is a musical drama about a flower seller and prodigy violinist who steps in as a symphony orchestra’s concertmaster, only to confront a musical disability and a traumatic past that threaten his rise.
Manoj’s trilingual feature film The Icecake, made in Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Hindi, has won the Best Feature Film award at the MotoTematica Film Festival in Rome, Italy. The film is about the adventurous journey of 12 motorcycle riders from Delhi to the Spiti Valley, and how a brutal test of survival in the -15°C snow-clad mountains transforms into a journey of self-discovery.
Speaking about filming Ma Da Sanduk in Punjab, Manoj said, “Punjab feels like home. Its people have embraced me as one of their own. I have always felt deeply connected with its culture, especially Gurbani. This connection is perhaps why Punjab features prominently in my ‘All India Tour’ documentary as well as in ‘The Icecake’. Among the twelve real-life motorcycle riders in the film, three to four are from Punjab. In keeping with the Punjab’s ongoing fight against substance abuse, the film also carries a strong message for the youth, to choose health, purpose, and resilience.”
Ma Da Sanduk brings rural Punjab vividly to life through its open green fields, the rawness, toughness, and innocence of its people, and the deep cultural fragrance of the land. The shoot begins in Vajrayan, Barnala, in the Mansa district, and unfolds across the surrounding countryside, capturing the rhythm and texture of village life.
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