Film Review - Lokmanya: Ek Yugpurush

Freedom Struggle 

Film: Lokmanya : Ek Yugpurush (Marathi with English subtitles)

Cast: Subodh Bhave, Chinmay Mandlekar, Sameer Vidwans
Directed by: Om Raut
Duration: 2 hrs 25 mins
Rating:  * *  

When it comes to biopics, you want to applaud the effort put in by film makers when they tell an inspirational story. But going by the evidence of biopics in Indian cinema, it is an uphill task to make a film that will rightly capture the spirit of what these idols stood for. Director Om Raut’s effort to shed light on Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak life is a sincere and noble effort but sadly it doesn’t translate into a film that will do justice to the life and the thoughts of the great man. 

There are some inspiring moments but there are is a bit of melodrama as well and there is no point in stylizing such content – for instance we see Lokmanya Tilak running in slow motion at least thrice in the film. Such stylization is best left for commercial potboilers and not for a man who gave all his life for the freedom struggle and to reform the society.

Many of his contributions are well known, his advocacy of Swaraj, the Swadeshi movement, public celebrations of festivals like Ganesh Chathurthi, Kesari the news paper and in the field of education.  Plus his role in the shaping the freedom struggle has also been highlighted in school history books. 

The film is told cutting between the past and the present, a journalist (Chinmay Mandlekar) is inspired by the life of Tilak after reading about him, a la Rang De Basanti.  The leaders life is recounted through various incidents that occurred during his life time, his friendship with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (Sameer Vidwans) with whom he shared the same ideology to begin with but then split later right to the bubonic plague that struck Pune in 1896 to his six year imprisonment in Mandalay, the film covers it all.

But the narrative is faulty. At times it is a bit all over the place and doesn’t stick a particular thread. Also the fusion of the past and present doesn’t really amalgamate well and looks artificial. 

The highlight is Subodh Bhave who is excels in the lead role. It is his effort that has adds considerable value to the film, which, though it tells an important story cinematically it leaves a lot to be desired. But it remains an important story all the same. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 4th Jan 2015

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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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