Film Review - A Rainy Day

A Superlative Effort

Film: A Rainy Day (Marathi/Konkani with English subtitles)

Cast: Subodh Bhave, Mrinal Kulkarni

Directed by: Rajendra Talak

Duration: 90 mins

Rating: *  *  *

Made by the most prolific film maker in Goa, A Rainy Day is released in both Marathi and Konkani languages. Director Rajendra Talak’s previous film O’ Maria was the biggest hit among contemporary Konkani films and had a remarkable run at the theaters. It would be fair to say that with A Rainy Day, he has pushed his aesthetics of film making, a notch higher.

The problem with many other modern day Konkani films is that they don’t follow the basic grammar of cinema. Perhaps that could be because of lack of formal training in film making. But Talak has been working with well known names like cinematographer Debu Deodhar, till he passed away a few years back. This time, he has teamed up with Resul Pookutty for the sound design. Besides that, he has been choosing subjects which the audience can relate to- whether it is the mining problem in Aleesha or the real estate issue in O’ Maria.

This time, he has dealt with corruption and morals. Subodh Bhave plays a corporate executive who has no qualms about getting the job done by hook or crook. Just when he gets the news that his wife (Mrinal Kulkarni) is expecting, there is something unexpected in store. 

One by one, his wife reminds him of his dark secrets and the misdeeds he has done. Right from an incident in his childhood to the ones in his professional life where he bought expensive gifts to bribe government officials and was also indirectly responsible for the death of an activist, she knows it all. It remains a mystery to him as to how she found out the details of these incidents and consults his friend (Ajinkya Deo) to decipher out more about it.

The climax is not so much of a mystery because there are enough hints during the course of the film as to where the answer lies. So in that sense, the final outcome is a tad disappointing after the strong build up.

The biggest strength of the film is the narrative which is aided by some excellent camerawork by Sanjay Jadhav. Some of the visuals of a wet and rainy Goa are quite striking and the scene at the cemetery stands out. Considering there is the sound of rain throughout the film (there is no background score) the sound design too plays an important role in giving you the right feel, the delicate sound of thunder though was overdone  a couple of times.

The acting largely hinges around the lead pair of Mrinal Kulkarni and Subodh Bhave and they’ve executed their roles efficiently, particularly the lady who has put up a good show. The supporting cast of Manoj Joshi, Neha Pendse, Harsh Chhaya, Prince Jacob and the rest is competent.

On the whole, A Rainy Day has a few flaws but it is still worth a watch and considering it’s a regional film, there is all the more reason to promote it. After all, it is better than many mainstream Bollywood and Hollywood films that we get to see week after week.

Published in The Navhind Times on 2nd Feb 2014

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