This Is Our Story: Samiksha Oswal Reveals the Real-Life Inspiration Behind Award-winning Film Max, Min & Meowzaki

While Max, Min & Meowzaki stands out for having a cat at the heart of its story, producer Samiksha Oswal reveals that the film's emotional core is deeply rooted in her own life with producer Shael Oswal.

“This is our story,” says Samiksha. “I was allergic to animals; I like them but I would get instant rashes and had to take Allegra for the longest time to coexist with dogs. Shael is an animal lover who has over a hundred stray dogs at his farmhouse. His pet dogs were so fond of him that they would even lie down with him. They were so possessive of Shael that they couldn’t tolerate my presence. I had to struggle emotionally with them to make them my own,” she remarks and states that she gradually started treating them as her fur babies. She continues, “Shael was excited to make a film with a cat. It made me realise how such compromises we make for our partners often go unnoticed. That emotion became the inspiration behind this film. This is a story of many people, but sadly, it never gets told. The story is also very close to our director. When the director approached us with this story, it instantly felt very relatable.”

She adds, “We were excited by the freshness of making a film with a cat as the main protagonist. But beyond that, it's a story about love, loss, healing and family bonds. Today, people are so busy finding faults and chasing instant gratification that they often forget to cherish their relationships. This film is about slowing down, healing and valuing those bonds.”

Talking about the biggest challenge during the shoot, Samiksha recalls, “Nobody has ever made a film with a cat. She would keep running between the lights and sleep most of the time, so everyone had to wait patiently. The shoot took longer than usual, but the film has turned out exactly the way we had envisioned.”

Starring Medha Shankr, Siddharth Menon, Adil Hussain, Mandira Bedi, Nasser, Nafisa Ali and Vidhatri Bandi, Max, Min & Meowzaki is a poignant multigenerational story about love, loss, healing and second chances.

The internationally acclaimed film has premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, featured in the Best of Fest selection at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, received Audience Honours at Sonoma, San Francisco and Osaka, and won Best Feature awards at Stuttgart, Cincinnati, Berlin's Indo-German Film Week and RIFFA in Canada.

Presented by Samiksha Oswal, Max, Min & Meowzaki is written and directed by Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy and produced by Shael Oswal and Samiksha Oswal under the banner of SSO Productions. The film releases exclusively in theatres on July 24.