mille to campaign

Millee to campaign for good health

Mona Vasu to feature in a series of short documentary films to create awareness

Sapana Patil

Indian telly's only tomboy Millee aka Mona Vasu Has taken the path of philanthropy. After making a mark on the small screen, she will now feature in documentaries advise people on how to prevent themselves from falling prey to the scourge of the recent deluge in Mumbai.

Says Radhika Kumar (right hand of TQM, the production house that is making these films), "We are making this film in association with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).These will be three films of 30 seconds each and three more of 10 seconds each. None of these films have a title or a story line. They have a straight forward message on how to protect themselves."

On asking how TQM took the initiative to make the films, she answered, "This is actually weird. BMC went to UNICEF and UNICEF came to Project Smita (Raman Kumar's NGO). UNICEF wanted a television personaltiy to be the spokesperson and to advocate the message. We chose Millee because she does not have a religion and neither is she associated with politics. Her character is associated with innocence. We didn't want to choose Tulsi because she is from BJP or a Jassi who is shown to be a Punjabi in the serial (Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin). Millee will appear in her tomboy looks and not like a maid; which she is generally portrayed as. The film focuses its attention only on preventive measures to safeguard people's lives. It does not talk about government's inability to deal with the situation," she maintains.

Mona who will endorse this benevolent drive, says, "I will appear as Millee and talk about safety measures to protect oneself."

"The film has been shot for. It is in the post-production stage. It will go on air on all channels soon," adds Radhika. &nbs p;

Radhika is the daughter of Raman Kumar who writes, directs, and co-produces Millee with Vinda Nanda. Radhika co-directed a documentary film called Sand in my nostril with MP Renuka Chowdhary's daughter for BBC on the issue of female infanticide in India.