“Phiruni Navi Janmen Mi” is a saga. It is a saga that unravels the harsh realities of an autocracy that is mired in outdated beliefs and customs prevailing even today on the western coast of Maharashtra known as Konkan. It is a saga of the confrontation of innocent youth full of new ideas and thoughts directly with this autocracy that is stifling the very breath of a populace that wants to break free but does not have the courage. It is the saga of love that defies this autocracy. This is the story of this autocrat Anandacharya who runs a dharmapeeth in this remote village in Konkan. He is worshiped as a demigod by the illiterate populace and he in turn takes full advantage of it. His word is final and he imposes his whims and fancies on the innocent population. His ideas and ideals are encrusted in outdated traditions and customs that are at times downright cruel and tyrannical. He does not accept love and believes that marriages are to be arranged by elders and anyone opposing this is banished from the village. He has done this to his own daughter who defied him and married Sakpal who was from the lower strata of society according to his cynical thinking. This very young man opposed his very authority and continued to fight against the Dharmapeeth. Anandhacharya had a son too who married the girl his father selected for him and had two sons. But as fate would have it, this son of his and his daughter-in-law died in an accident and Anandacharya brought up his two grandsons Hrishikesh and Aniket. Hrishikesh married the girl of his grandfather’s choice and his wife and he resigned to a life dictated by the old man. Aniket however went to Pune for higher education and here he met Shreyasi. A young and bubbly girl brought up in an affluent urban family. Our saga begins at this point wherein Aniket has come to the village with the sole purpose of breaking the news that he wants to marry Shreyasi to his tyrannical grandfather.
It happens to be the day of the Dharmapeeth and the whole village is gathered at the village plethora where the sordid pseudo judiciary is going to unfold. Aniket is welcomed in the village by his brother and sister-in-law with extreme joy and happiness. Even all the servants of the mansion where they live are extremely joyous to have him back. But Aniket has come with the burden of breaking the news about him and Shreyasi and this deters him from really enjoying the welcome showered on him. Aniket has surely come to tell his grandfather that he is in love but somehow cannot bring up enough courage to actually tell him. As things unfold Anandacharya comes to know the fact and as anticipated Aniket has to face the wrath of Anandacharya. But Shreyasi is a determined and smart girl. Her love for Aniket is so strong that she overcomes all odds and compels Anandacharya to accept her as the daughter-in-law of the family. The fact that she is from a Brahmin family goes heavily in her favour and Anandacharya takes solace from the fact that she is from an upper class lineage. Shreyasi walks into the mansion of Anandacharya as the youngest daughter-in-law defying all odds and circumstances. But destiny has something else in mind. Shreyasi comes to know that she is not the real daughter of the parents she so lovingly called her father and mother. This fact is revealed to Anandacharya too and then the harsh and sordid truth of Shreyasi’s birth unfolds. Shreyasi indeed is the daughter of a woman who belonged to the lower class. And that is not all. She was born on the burning pyre of her mother who was wrongly declared dead by the illiterate villagers. The unconscious body of the pregnant woman was put on the pyre and the pyre was lit. The heat generated convulsed the labor in this semiconscious woman and Shreyasi was born right there amongst the flames of the burning wood. It was her foster father who risked his life and brought the baby out of the flames as the flames engulfed the poor mother who had not died.
However eerie and bizarre the birth of Shreyasi may have been it was a circumstance under which she came into this world. But the mere fact that she actually is the daughter of a lower class lineage was not enough. According to the twisted mindset of the villagers and Anandacharya, a girl born under such circumstances is a witch and has no right to live. Thus begins our saga. The powerful Dharmapeeth of Anandacharya against the young innocent girl Shreyasi whose only strength is her love for Aniket. Who will win this battle of wits? And can this girl born under extreme conditions be born again to fight this battle against the powerhouse of Anandacharya? That is what PHIRUNI NAVI JENMEN MI is all about. On our favorite channel MI MARATHI.