Praveen Lulekar
So Kranti Redkar decides to direct a film! We know
the lady for the song Kombdi Palaali…(film Jatra). Some people
thought her expressions in the song were comic as well as sensual. One of them
was probably Mahesh Manjrekar, who went on to cast her in Shikshanachya
Aaicha Gho, Fakt Ladh Mhana etc. She is also a regular in Kedar
Jadhav films which are getting rarer by the year. Not that the world is fair,
but Redkar’s limited acting prowess has got her nowhere.
After a hiatus, now Redkar decides to make a film
called Kaakan. Highly fantastic and romantic in nature, it is a
misdirected, misconstructed piece which hardly stands as a cohesive film. The
proceedings are drab, lengthy and unintentionally funny.
Gopi (Ashutosh Gaikwad), a school-going boy in a
Kokan village, discovers friendship in an old rag Kisu (Jitendra Joshi). He
finds out that there’s a love story behind the man. Flashback; we have
Sudhamati (Urmila Kanetkar) yelling Kisu’s name in slow motion. Turns out the
girl is rich and the boy is a poor fisherman (originality!).
To compensate for Sudha’s lost Kaakan – a bangle,
Kisu mortgages his house and land (for Rs. 1500!) and ‘goes to the city’ to buy
a new one (because that’s what all village people have to do for
accomplishing any menial task!). As he comes back, Sudha is married. Hearing
the story, a teary eyed Gopi decides to ‘go to the city’ and give Sudha the
Kaakan that has been with Kisu for 32 long years!
It would have still been bearable if it all ended
here. But Redkar plans to explore many angles of her parallel universe which
she thinks is reality. My jokes were exhausted after a new story starts when
Gopi reaches ‘the city’. He finds a friend in chaiwallah Wasim (Akash
Banerjee – a really good actor). Gopi needs to earn Rs. 500 to bribe an MTNL
employee (the corruption angle) and attain Sudhamti’s address. So he starts
working with Wasim (whose parents are dead in a bomb blast and sister sold as a
housemaid for Rs. 15,000! – social angle.) and live with him in a pipe.
Gopi and Wasim have a boss named Anna who constantly
says that a Tata Ace is going to revive his business. Later, as Gopi and Wasim
are to celebrate the address retrieval of Sudhamati, a pizza delivery boy comes
there and says they are present wherever ‘khushiyaa’ are present. Now
that’s where you see Redkar’s real creativity! (the commercial angle)
If you’re thinking now Gopi will go to Sudha,
present her the Kaakan and all this will finally end, a part of the saga is
still left. The older Sudha’s husband (Ashok Shinde) is an ignorant man who is
not aware of his wife’s pain and needs (the feminist angle). Sudha (who has
turned tan with age!) runs an NGO type thing which does shawl distribution type
activities (again, the social angle).
Okay, I’m
tired now. Gopi meets Sudha. Sudha goes to the village. Makes Kisu push the
Kaakan in her hand and the man finally dies (who has been vomiting blood
because of acidity!).
The only reason I’m adding a serious conclusion is
all this needs to stop. Yes, people have creative liberty and if they have the
funds, they should go ahead and make films. But please do not make a joke of
this art. From what I’ve seen and observed in films, any story can be made
believable if a director has the will to go into the details. Redkar not only
lacks a cinematic sense but also wastes good actors. There’s no character to
the older Kisu and the younger one seems confused. The child artists come off
really bad (always a director’s fault) and Kanetkar tries hard but Sudha
fluctuates too much to be raised as a single person.
No government, no policy can help Marathi films if
this is what we choose to produce and show the audience. Kaakan and many
others are a really gloomy aspect of our industry!
m4m says: Watch at your own Risk
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