Shivaji Salunke in a scene from The Phoenix. Salunke is serving the 11th of his 14-year jail term for setting his wife ablaze. He also writes poetry

A prisoner with a pen. That?s no Bollywood potboiler, but the theme for a documentary by a Calcutta-based independent film-maker on a poet-prisoner of Paithan.

The Phoenix is the story of Shivaji Salunke, who is currently into year 11 of his 14-year ?lifetime imprisonment? term for murdering his wife.

But what film-maker Subha Das Mollick wants to capture is the poet in Salunke, who has made it to many a kavi sammelan in Maharashtra and has even got his poems published in a book titled Aatmajhar (Shedding of the Soul).

?I first read about him in an article titled Verses Out of a Cage in a national magazine in September,? recalls Das Mollick. ?I found the topic ? a prisoner turning into a poet ? immensely filmable and I got in touch with the journalist to find out the contact details of Salunke. He is allowed parole once a year and this year, it was in March. So I visited him at the Paithan open jail in Pune during that time.?

Around 11 years ago, Salunke was convicted for setting his wife on fire. The wife?s dying declaration, accusing her husband of the hideous act, and the getting together of NGOs against the ?domestic violence? made sure Salunke would spend the next 14 years behind bars.

?At that juncture, he could have planned escape or suicide, he told me,? says Das Mollick. ?But he got his composure back and decided to make the most of his time in the prison. That became the focus of my film ? his indomitable spirit, his optimism. He even faced opposition within the prison for studying and then, writing poems. But the leader in him conquered all the negations and emerged stronger, going on to win the State Literary Award from the Maharashtra government.?

Salunke?s meeting with his only daughter Nirmiti during the annual parole also became an essential part of The Phoenix. But what Das Mollick didn?t plan was to discover Salunke?s inmates singing his songs and even illustrating his vision. ?I have recorded the songs which will become the theme music for my film and I am planning to use animation to show the illustrations by one of the other prisoners.?

Not even complete, The Phoenix has already got foreign television interested. A Finnish channel named YLE is reviewing the rushes and once the ?slot is decided?, it is ready to financially back the project. ?A representative for the channel, Ulla Simonen, had come to SRFTI in December and again in March for a workshop on documentary. She was really keen to fund the film as she found the treatment unique. If they do say yes, I will go on another round of shooting and try to explore the trial records of Salunke?s sentence.?

Even if the Finland fund doesn?t happen, Das Mollick has decided to go ahead and finish the post-production of her film. ?Once it?s ready, I?ll definitely organise private screenings in Calcutta, Mumbai and Pune, before trying to send the film to different festivals? Even Mumbai Doordarshan should be eager to telecast the film.?