Praveen Lulekar
Finally they get it right! Marathi films
have been struggling with this so-called genre of romantic films for almost two
years now. They tried the costumes of the 70s, cheesy dialogues, slowmo songs,
long pallus, transparent shirts, bizarre interpretations of the
complexities of youth …nothing worked. The primary and the most prominent
reason was that they were aping. Duniyadari, Pyarwali Love Story,
Ishq Wala Love, Bavare Prem He, Mitwa…all lacked a soul.
They were mixing and matching the same old elements.
Coffee Ani Barach Kahi comes
with a refreshing originality. It is a non-fussy, non-flowery tale of love
which would make you smile through its simple observations and delicate
punches. It understands youth with its messiness and confusion. Most importantly,
it does not glorify this. Just smiles wryly at it!
Jaai (Prarthana Behre) is one day, rather
awkwardly, told by her parents that a boy will be coming to ‘see’ her for
marriage prospects. In a cafe, Nishad (Vaibbhav Tattwawdi) is waiting for her
with red roses and a rehearsed proposal. Enter Anish (Bhushan Pradhan) and he
senses the anguish in Jaai. Once he asks ‘who’s the guy?’, Jaai narrates to him
a cliché but very warm love story.
The crux of the story is in its
characters. Jaai is a typical dreamy girl who is probably in love with the
concept of love. She expects grand proposals, romantic dates and all the strings
attached. Nishaad, on the other hand, is an introvert, shy guy. He is too
subtle for all these things. Both know they love each other. But who will say
it first, remains the purpose of the story.
All this might sound very pink.
Fortunately, it is not. Jaai is self-aware and knows her romantic ideas are
rather stupid. She is in the baffling state of being where you know your
problems but just unable to overcome them. Behre portrays the character with a
lot of spontaneity. Her awkward shyness with Nishaad, her frankness with
Anish...she imbibes all of it naturally in the character.
The under-spoken Nishaad is trapped in
his quiet nature and a need to express. His emotional problems are underlined
by the fact that he does not have a mother. But this is never told yelling from
the roof top. The character does not beg for pity. Tattwawdi emerges with
absolute grip on the character. He finally gets a place where his talent is
actually explored.
Nishaad is balanced by two wonderful
supporting characters. His father (Avinash Narkar) and the coffee shop owner
(Sandesh Kulkarni) are people to whom he opens up. Both the actors do a
fantastic job. Kulkarni, especially, seems to be carrying the director Prakash Kunte’s own perspective. He is
simultaneously sarcastic as well as sympathetic about the whole situation. All
the other actors – Vidyadhar Joshi, Ashwini Ekbote, Suyash Tilak, Ila Bhatey –
pitch in with good performances.
The
film can probably also be seen in the light of ‘what it could have been’
(critics!!). Many will see Jaai as a typecast girl. Her practical sister Abha’s
(Neha Mahajan) character is supposed to balance that out. But the latter is not
well-defined. Mahajan plays it with an air of mystery rather than clarity. Jaai’s
naive nature also spurs from the fact that she’s tad younger than Nishaad.
She’s referred to as the ‘new recruit’ while Nishaad is the Team Leader in an
IT company. This is intended but does not come through.
Yet, the film charms with its soft
taking. The story structure and narration are very simple and keep you engaged.
This is complemented by timely background music. Also, the film successfully
captures nuances of urban life. The kandepohe, the futile discussions on
Iraq and Syria, the effortful ‘liberalism’ of the girls’ parents...everything
will tickle you. This is a film you will relate to. It entertains through a
story, not rhyming dialogues and item numbers.
m4m says: One time Watch
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