Sandeep Sawant's Marathi film "Shwaas", about a terminally ill boy and his grandfather, has been acclaimed widely in India but its producer is looking for a wider audience abroad.

The movie has got critical and commercial acclaim. But Sawant says: "It should go further ... to the international level. We're trying. Let's see."

Was he not disappointed after "Shwaas" was turned down at the Oscars?

"The Oscars are like any competition. You either win or lose. 'Shwaas' didn't make it."

He agreed that it could have introduced the film to an international audience. "I'm still hopeful that will happen. 'Shwaas' isn't a film that belongs to any one particular community or country."

Sawant takes you by surprise when he says he had never made a film before.

"'Shwaas' is my first film. But from 1987-88 I've been doing theatre, I've made some documentaries. Beyond that I had no experience in filmmaking."

The film was the result of a year of rigorous research.

"We shot in an actual hospital. Permission to shoot was almost impossible. But the doctor on whose real-life experience this film is based got us the permission. We shot in an actual cancer ward... hence the authenticity."

"In 'Shwaas' I wanted to say there's a life, a worthy life, even beyond a tragedy as immense as that of a child going blind due to cancer. That note of hope is sustained throughout the narrative. I take audiences towards darkness, but pull back into light just in time."

Asked how he prevented "Shwaas" from plunging into abysmal melodrama, he said: "It was a big balancing act. When I started making the film I knew if I wavered the film would fall apart. While shooting, scripting and editing I was very much aware that the film could get overly sentimental. I had to avoid that danger at any cost."

He disagreed that "Shwaas" was a regional film.

"I don't think 'Shwaas' can be termed a regional Marathi film. It transcended regional barriers. Any director, no matter what the language, should be aware of how to distribute his film. It's very important for a film to reach its audience.

"When I started making 'Shwaas' I had prepared 25 points as to how 'Shwaas' could be marketed. I knew film distribution in Marathi was very poor. The day the film was ready I started working on its marketing."

He said while he was planning to make a Hindi film, he didn't want to straitjacket "Shwaas" in any category.

Sawant said his next film would be in Hindi and work on the script had already started.

"I make cannot make 'masala' films. I'll try to make good films only. The motivations that prompted me to make 'Shwaas' remain with me. My aim is to tell simple stories in a simple language.

"But, yes, I'll try to experiment with different genres. I won't be going into the same genre as 'Shwaas' in my next film."