Exclusive: 'Could have started with a commercial film, but Sarojini Naidu’s story was a challenge': Vinay Chandra

Sandalwood music composer Vinay Chandra is making his directorial debut with Sarojini, a biopic on poet and political activist Sarojini Naidu. The movie will be simultaneously made in Kannada and Hindi, while being dubbed into various Indian languages.
Vinay, who is currently scouting for locations in Madikeri, says, “It would have been easy to direct a commercial movie in my first outing, but the life story of Sarojini Naidu inspired me to do a movie which will be challenging.When I watched Gandhi, I saw glimpses of Sarojini Naidu which ignited me to research her life and bring alive many untold incidents of how she stood out in a male-dominated society, making her one of the prominent personalities in India’s Independence struggle.”
He has also met Sarojini Naidu’s family to ensure there were no mistakes. “The movie will capture her journey from childhood and will give insights into her virtues and incidents which propelled her into prominence. Sonal Monteiro will portray the younger version of Sarojini. Shanthipriya will reprise the matured role, in an ideal comeback. Hiten Tejwani play’s Sarojini’s husband. We are approaching Rangayana Raghu to play Gopalakrishna Gokule and Zarina Wahab will play Sarojini’s mother. Dhiraj Mishra has penned the story.”
Vinay is also composing the music. “We will also use lines from Sarojini’s poetry in the songs, so it stays connected to the story. The project will be shot in Madikeri, Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai,” he signs off.


-Madhu Daithota
When Mahanti was released back in 2018, Sonal Monteiro felt a deep longing to be part of a biopic. “Many biopics had already been made until then, but there was something so beautiful and compelling about that story — it explored the unknown side of a legend. I wanted to take up such a story,” shares Sonal.
The offer soon came her way in the form of Sarojini. “What I knew of her was only what we had studied in school. And not much is known of her personal life. This is where the film puts all the pieces together and shows us a side of her that we had never heard before,” states Sonal. These aspects include her magnificent oratory skills, her soulful poetry, her falling in love with Govindarajulu Naidu and subsequent marriage with him. Govindarajulu encouraged Sarojini to explore her creative side and was also her biggest strength when she entered politics.
“I portray the young Sarojini from age 19 to 35. In fact, she got married at 19. So, I will be portraying varied looks in keeping with the age bracket that I will be essaying,” she says.