Catch philanthropist's inspiring life story

A Biopic on philanthropist Dr Prakash Baba Amte will be screened in Singapore on March 29 and 30.

There will be two versions of the movie, Dr Prakash Baba Amte - The Real Hero (in Marathi) and Hemalkasa (in Hindi). Both will have English subtitles.

The movie screenings will be accompanied by talks and presentations by Dr Amte, a doctor and social worker from Maharashtra.

The screenings are a social initiative by local events company De Ideaz to honour Dr Amte and his wife Dr Mandakini Amte, who were awarded the Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2008 for their philanthropic work.

The couple, along with National Award-winning director Samroddhi Porey, actors Sonali Kulkarni, Dr Mohan Agashe and Tejashree Pradhan will be in Singapore for the event.

The movie, which boasts Padma Shri awardee Nana Patekar in the lead role, traces the life of Dr Amte and his wife and their struggle with the tribal people, wild animals and corrupt government officials in the dense forest of Hemalkasa in Maharashtra.

In 1973, Dr Amte moved to Hemalkasa to start the Lok Biradari Prakalp, a project for the development of tribal people, most of whom were of the Madia Gond tribe in the Gadchirolli district. He lived and worked there without utilities like the telephone for almost 20 years and even performed emergency surgical procedures without electricity at times.

The project expanded into a hospital, a residential school and a shelter for injured wild animals.

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