Vaastav (1999)

My Reviews,

Its Sanjay Dutt’s birthday this week on 29 July. As he turns an year older, we revisit one of his iconic films – Vaastav: The Reality. Sanjay Dutt plays Raghu, a simple guy turned gangster. He gets sucked into the unforgiving underworld that turns his life into hell. He is given opportunities to return to normal life but that decision is not easy.

Sanjay Dutt won the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his impressive performance. This was Mahesh Manjrekar’s directorial debut in Hindi cinema and he made an engaging and memorable film. He is credited for the story, screenplay and direction. The film did decent business inspiring a sequel Hathyar (2002).

The Plot

The film begins with a scene depicting the funeral rites of the gangster hero. His son asks his grandmother about his father. She responds and narrates the story of her son and his transition from a simple to a bad man.

Raghunath Namdeo Shivalkar called “Raghu” (Sanjay Dutt) is the name of the hero. He stays with his family in a chawl in Mumbai. His father is Namdeo (Shivaji Satam) and mother is Shanta (Rima). He has an elder brother Vijay (Mohnish Behl) who is a graduate and searching for a job. Raghu has been trying to clear the matriculation exam in multiple attempts. His parents and brother keep reminding him to concentrate on his studies. It is evident he has no inclination towards it. It will be enough if he manages to complete his school education successfully.

Vijay is in love with his neighbour’s daughter Pooja (Ektaa) but cannot marry her until he gets a job and settles down.

Raghu likes to spend time chatting with his friends, eating, drinking and playing carrom on the terrace. His closest friend and neighbour is played by Sanjay Narvekar who goes by the nickname Dedh Footiya because of his short height. Dedh Footiya is also unemployed. His parents are played by Usha Nadkarni and Kishor Nandlaskar. His father is a mill worker who stays home as the mill has shut down. His mother is forced to work as a maid and is the only source of income in their house.

The other friends are played by well known actors like Bharat Jadhav, Makarand Anaspure, Nilesh Divekar, Atul Kale, Mangesh Satpute and Satish Rajwade who were fairly new when the film was released.

Also living in the chawl is Kishore Kadam (Deepak Tijori) who has recently become a police sub inspector. He tries to help Raghu and his friends whenever they are in trouble.

Raghu’s parents are shown to be quite practical. Knowing their son’s disinterest in studies, they ask him to start some business. Raghu says he can open a pav bhaji stall but for that a capital of Rs 40,000 is required. He is confident of success. His father agrees to arrange the amount from his provident fund. Soon, Raghu sets up a pav bhaji stall with his friends. They sing a song Kad chhota aur pet bada hai, paisewala seth khada hai.

The business is successful. Raghu’s parents are happy. Dedh Footiya’s parents are also relieved that their son is working hard and earning money. There is a grand celebration in the chawl on account of the annual Janmashtami / Govinda festival. Raghu and his friends participate singing Har taraf hai ye shor aaya Gokul ka chor. All is fine until one night an incident occurs at the food stall.

A man refuses to pay the bill and insults Dedh Footiya when he approaches him for the payment. The man boasts that he is Munna, the brother of well known gangster Fracture Bandya (Jack Gaud). Things are about to escalate when Raghu steps in and pulls back Dedh Footiya and apologizes to Munna.

The next night is a repeat. Munna arrives with his friends for a free meal. This time they intentionally call Dedh Footiya and beat and abuse him. Dedh Footiya retaliates. Things become unpleasant and Raghu hits Munna with the heavy iron tava. Munna apparently dies. Dedh Footiya crushes Munna’s friend with a stone. Both friends are shocked with what has happened.

Circumstances force Raghu and Dedh Footiya to abscond from the scene. Kishore hides them initially as their parents come to meet them. The parents are equally shocked. They discuss that Raghu and Dedh Footiya should surrender but realise that this may not be the best solution. The local police are hand in glove with the influential Fracture Bandya and will follow his instructions. The police cannot be trusted. Kishore tells them to remain in hiding until he can think of something.

The local corrupt inspector Rane (Sunil Shende) visits the chawl and threatens the families with serious consequences if they try to hide anything and help the absconding friends.

Kishore suggests them to go to Vitthal Kania (Ashish Vidyarthi), a gangster and Fracture Bandya’s enemy. They tell Vitthal that they want to surrender to the police. But he reiterates that the police are corrupt and they will not receive justice. He welcomes them to stay with him until the matter cools down.

Fracture Bandya is not amused. He, along with Chhota Fracture (Ganesh Yadav) goes to Suleiman Bhai (Paresh Rawal) who works as a negotiator between gangsters. Fracture Bandya demands Rs 20 lakhs from Vitthal Kania in return of sparing the life of Raghu and Dedh Footiya.

Vitthal Kania is reluctant to go ahead with this proposal. Fracture Bandya used to work for him but had back stabbed him and set up his own shop some 5 years ago. He doesn’t trust the man. But Suleiman convinces him and the mandawali (settlement) date and venue is decided.

Unfortunately things don’t go as planned. Raghu ends up killing Fracture Bandya. Raghu is totally broken and wants to give himself up to the police. He cannot carry on like this. But Vitthal Kania calms him down and convinces him that what he did was right. He offers him liqour and welcomes him into his gang. Raghu becomes Raghu bhai. Extortion, killings are business as usual for him.

Later, Vitthal Kania gets killed by Chhota Fracture. The revenge drama continues. Raghu gets introduced to the state home minister Baban Rao Kadam (Mohan Joshi). He is a corrupt politician who makes use of gangsters like Raghu to fill his own pockets.

So, Raghu becomes a dreaded gangster. His family and Kishore try to convince him to give up this destructive path. But that is easier said than done. Raghu has to live with his insecurities and inner conflicts. In between all this, he gets introduced to Sonia (Namrata Shirodkar), a prostitute. He marries her when he learns she is expecting his child. They enjoy a honeymoon in Switzerland courtesy of the home minister. (They sing a duet Meri duniya hai tujh mein kahi). Sonia hopes to bring some normalcy and stability in Raghu’s life. They have a son called Rohit.

All this leads to the climax where Raghu looks for a way to relieve himself from all the pain and suffering that he is undergoing. It seems death may be the only solution. The death scene involving Shanta and Raghu is highy impacting and an emotional high point of the film.

The Music

The songs are written by Sameer and composed by Jatin Lalit. They suit the mood of the movie. Kumar Sanu, Vinod Rathod, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Atul Kale and Sonu Nigam lend their voices to the earlier mentioned songs. The Ganpati aarti Shendur laal chadhayo is composed by Rahul Ranade and sung by Ravindra Sathe.

Kashmira Shah performs an item number Jawani se ab jung hone lagi, sung by Preeta Mazumdar.

My Thoughts

In a way the story is predictable and we know the outcome but Mahesh Manjrekar manages to keep the viewer engaged. There is too much of action and violence as the story progresses. There are many characters but they leave their impact in spite of the limited screen time. Shivaji Satam, Rima, Paresh Rawal, Mohnish Behl, Usha Nadkarni, Himani Shivpuri, Deepak Tijori are impressive. The villains are convincing. This is undoubtedly one of Sanjay Dutt’s most memorable roles. He looks older for the character but manages to carry it off with his compelling performance. You feel for the character when he feels helpless and cannot get out of it. Special mention for Sanjay Narvekar who plays the loyal friend. He owns the character of Dedh Footiya.

“Songs Addressed to the Wind”

My Lists,

Songs depicting the wind in various forms have been popular in Hindi cinema. Hawaa or its variations pawan, purwai, purwaiyya, saba, vaat are used by lyricists to create memorable songs. They evoke a wide range of emotions including romance, separation, mischief, pathos etc as per the situation.

Today’s post features songs where the onscreen performer is addressing the wind. It is either a request, a pleading or an invitation. In spite of being invisible, the hawaa makes its presence felt enabling the actor to converse with it freely. It becomes a means to voice out their feelings. So, over to 10 songs on this theme.

1) Song: Ae Baad-e-Saba Ahista Chal
Film: Anarkali (1953)
Credits: Rajendra Krishan | C. Ramchandra | Hemant Kumar

This is a nice song which is less talked about compared to other hit songs of this movie. The song plays during the titles. The singer is narrating the love story of Salim and Anarkali. He requests the gentle breeze (baad-e-saba) to blow softly as this is the resting place of Anarkali. The eternal wind blows over the mazaar (shrine or tomb) which is a mark of their romance.

Ae baad e saba ahista chal…
Yahan soyi hai Anarkali…
Ankho me jalwe Salim ke
Liye khoyi huyi hai anarkali

2) Song: Hawaa Dheere Aana…Nanhi Kali Sone Chali
Film: Sujata (1959)
Credits: Majrooh Sultanpuri | S. D. Burman | Geeta Dutt

There was a time when lories were popular in Hindi cinema. This is a beautiful lullaby where the mother (Sulochana) tells the wind to be mindful as her young one is about to sleep. The lyrics begin with the phrase hawa dheere aana. The picturization is interesting as an orphan baby girl is crying nearby and she calms down after listening to the lullaby. The girl grows up to be the protagonist “Sujata.”

Hawaa dheere aanaa…
Neend bhare pankh liye jhoolaa jhulaa jaanaa,
Nanhi kali sone chali hawaa dheere aanaa,
Neend bhare pankh liye jhoolaa jhulaa jaanaa

3) Song: O Basanti Pawan Paagal
Film: Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960)
Credits: Shailendra | Shankar Jaikishan | Lata Mangeshkar

Basanti pawan is the term used in this song. It is not clear whether the heroine is referring to the wind or using it as a metaphor for the hero. It is difficult to stop the flow of the wind. Whatever, it is a great song where Padmini pleads Raj Kapoor to stay back for the sake of love.

O basanti pawan pagal,
Na ja re na ja roko koi,
O basanti…

4) Song: Dheere Dheere Chal Ae Bheegi Hawaa
Film: Boyfriend (1961)
Credits: Hasrat Jaipuri | Shankar Jaikishan | Mohammed Rafi

A rare film starring Shammi Kapoor and Madhubala. Madhubala is pretending to be asleep and enjoying the hero’s attention. He sings and requests the moist wind to blow softly as his beloved is sleeping. Strangely, it is a fast faced song which makes it irritating to listen and watch! A softer approach would have created a winner of a song.

Dheere chal dheere chal ae bheegi hawaa,
Ke mere bulbul ki hai neend jawaan,
Ke kahin laage naa kisi ki use badnazar,
Ke meethe sapnon mein khoyi hai wo bekhabar,
Ke dheere chal dheere chal ae bheegi hawaa..

5) Song: San Sanan Jaa Ri O Pawan
Film: Sampoorna Ramayana (1961)
Credits: Bharat Vyas | Vasant Desai | Lata Mangeshkar

This is a film based on Ramayan and this song depicts the period when Sita is held captive by Raavan. Sita desperately pleads to the wind to pass on her message to Lord Ram. This is arguably one of the best songs of Lata Mangeshkar with its piercing high pitch rendition. It is based on raag Chandrakans (rare in Hindi films) which is effective in bringing out the emotions. Great composition by Vasant Desai.

San sanan sanan sanan jaa ri o pawan,
Door desh leja sandesh jahan mere sajan,
Jaa ri o pawan

Chhu ke charan kehna pawan, birha agan ab ho na sehen,
Tan hai yaha aur praan waha, meri puja yaha aur bhagwan waha,
Ye doori sahe kaise man ki mayuri, baraste hai naino ke ghan,
O o san sanan…

6) Song: Jaa Ri Pawaniya
Film: Do Boond Paani (1971)
Credits: Kaifi Azmi | Jaidev | Asha Bhosle

Feeling wise the song is similar to the earlier song. Simi Garewal requests the wind to deliver a message to her husband. Her husband has left the drought ridden village and gone to work far way on a canal construction site. She is left alone and remembers him.

Jaa ri pawaniya, piya ke des jaa,
Itna sandesha mora kahiyo jaa,
Piya so sandesha mora kahiyo jaa..

7) Song: Sun Jaa Ae Thandi Hawaa
Film: Haathi Mere Saathi (1971)
Credits: Anand Bakshi | Laxmikant Pyarelal | Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar

This is a catchy, romantic song from the blockbuster Haathi Mere Saathi. The picturization is unique as the hero and heroine are swinging in hammocks throughout the song. They invite the wind to visit them but warn her not to gossip about their romance. They remind her that she too goes to meet the cloud who is her companion.

Sun jaa ae thandi hawaa,
Tham jaa aye kaali ghataa,
Kuchh pyaari pyaari baatein hamaari,
Aa jaate jaate tu bhi sun jaa

8) Song: Sun Ri Pawan, Pawan Purwaiyya
Film: Anuraag (1972)
Credits: Anand Bakshi | S.D. Burman | Lata Mangeshkar

Anuraag was the story of a young blind girl who falls in love. In this raag Bhairavi based song, the heroine Moushumi Chatterjee talks about her life by speaking to the pawan purwaiyya. She talks about being alone and if the wind can become her companion.

Sun ri pawan pawan purwaiyya,
Mai hoo akeli albeli,
Tu saheli meri ban ja sathiya..

9) Song: Chupke Chupke Chal Ri Purwaiyya
Film: Chupke Chupke (1975)
Credits: Anand Bakshi | S.D. Burman | Lata Mangeshkar

The well known title song from Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s classic is picturized on Jaya Bhaduri and Amitabh Bachchan. She addresses the eastern wind or purwaiyya. The reference is obviously to the young woman’s feelings, about blossoming of love and the accompanying hesitation.

Chupke chupke chal ri purawaiyya…
Baansuri bajaaye re, raas rachaaye dayya re dayya,
Gopiyon sang Kanhaiya,
Chupke chupke chal ri purawaiyya

Pagal pawan se, kaise koi bole,
Gori ke mukh se, ghunghata na khole, dole,
Haule se man ki naiyya, gopiyon sang Kanhaiyya..
Chupke Chupke…

10) Song: Ae Ri Pawan Dhoondhe Kise
Film: Bemisaal (1982)
Credits: Anand Bakshi | R. D. Burman | Lata Mangeshkar

Picturized in scenic Kashmir, the song stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee and Vinod Mehra. In a literal sense, Rakhee converses with the wind, but deeper, a woman is thinking about her loneliness, relationship, and her purpose.

Baadal se tera kya hai kuchh naata,
Ho, baadal se tera kya hai kuchh naata,
Kaahe jhoome naache gaaye aaye jab saawan,
Baanwari si tu phire, Kaun hai tera sajan,

Ho, ae ri pawan dhoondhe kise tera mann
Chalte chalte

Savarkhed Ek Gaon (2004)

My Reviews,

Good thrillers have been rare in Marathi cinema. Savarkhed Ek Gaon (Savarkhed: A Village) is a sincere attempt in this genre. What happens when a model village is surrounded by unexpected terror? How the villagers deal with it is depicted in Savarkhed Ek Gaon (SEG) made under the banner of Eera Films. The story, screenplay, dialogues and direction are credited to Rajiv Patil. Rajiv Patil directed 3 films including the much acclaimed Jogwa (2009). He passed away in 2013.

The Plot

SEG in a sense is a story of 2 political opponents – Tukaram Patil (Vikram Gokhale) and Sampatrao More (Sadashiv Amrapurkar). Patil is the local MLA. More used to be Patil’s close supporter once upon a time but then he moved to the opposition camp. More is proposing a new industrial development corporation in Savarkhed but Patil is against it. He is clear that agricultural land is not to be used for industrial purpose. More feels that a village is considered prosperous only when there is money in the pocket of its inhabitants. Opening of industry will ensure this.

Savarkhed has been recently recognised as a model village. A young reporter Sneha Raut (Sharvari Jamenis), working for the newspaper Lokmat has arrived in Savarkhed to work on an article about this achievement. She will be staying in the village for a few days. Patil has invited her to stay in his bungalow. Sneha starts her work by interviewing Patil and More among others to gain material for her assignment.

Patil’s son Rahul (Ankush Chaudhari) is returning to the village after completion of his studies. His friends are looking forward to welcome him. There is Priya (Sonali Khare), who is his romantic interest and also More’s daughter. Her cousin brother is Ajay (Shreyas Talpade), who is More’s nephew. Ajay’s parents have passed away and he stays with his uncle’s family. The other friends are Ishwar/Ishya (Makarand Anaspure) and Baban (Balkrishna Shinde), an auto-rickshaw driver.

Ajay is in love with Samidha (Sanjyot Hardikar), who is Ghorpade’s sister. Ghorpade is a close confidante of Patil. He warns Samidha to stay away from Ajay as he is from More’s family and hence an opponent of Patil. Samidha tells him that she wants to marry Ajay but he silences her with a slap.

Rahul is back and all are happy to see him except one person. This is Suresh (Upendra Limaye). Rahul and Suresh used to be close friends but they had a tiff 3 years back and are not on good terms. In a nutshell, there is some discontent in the village but in general people live peacefully, like a model village.

But the peace is about to be disturbed. One night, someone starts throwing stones at More’s bungalow. The windows are shattered. More calls for Inspector Deshmukh to look into the matter. Unfortunately, there are very less clues available. The villagers gossip about black magic being involved.

Next day, Rahul and his friends go to visit the local temple. They are returning in the night when fireballs are suddenly thrown at Rahul’s jeep. They escape unhurt but all are shaken. Later, Ishwar is returning home when he apparently sees a “ghost” in the fields. Again, in the following night, some houses in the village are set on fire. There is definitely something sinister happening.

Sneha is keen to publish the news about the strange happenings in her newspaper. Her article is ready and she attempts to fax it from Patil’s bungalow when she is stopped by Rahul (on his father’s orders). He requests her to postpone the publishing until the matter is sorted. They quarrel but she is adamant to go ahead. She steps out to go to More’s bungalow to fax the article. This means walking down the deserted road in the night. She disappears and nobody knows her whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Ajay goes to meet Samidha. They board Baban’s rickshaw and go to his house. Ajay tells Samidha that they will get married tomorrow as her brother will never agree to their match. Baban is supportive of this decision. Rahul suddenly arrives. He tells them about Sneha. She has not returned and he is worried. It is decided that they will drop Samidha back to her house (for now) and continue the search for Sneha. It is important to locate Sneha, it is a question of the village’s reputation. They reach Samidha’s house where tragedy has already struck. Her family has been murdered. This seems like a planned conspiracy.

It is noted that the events occur only during the night. The friends along with the villagers team up to undertake night vigil and patrolling to catch the culprits. Rahul and Suresh bury their differences and join hands.

But is it easy? There is another shocking murder. Who is behind all this and will it end soon?

The Music

In spite of being a thriller, music is an important part of the film. Ajay-Atul give memorable tunes to Dasu’s lyrics. There are 3 songs which pop up at the appropriate time in the story and not meant as a diversion. The first one Varyawarti gandh pasarla is placed at the beginning when Rahul returns home (in happier times). This was Kunal Ganjawala’s first song for a Marathi film, and was well received.

The second song Hoshiyaar (by Swapnil Bandodkar. Ajay and Yogita Godbole) is sung by the friends as they prepare to patrol the village. The climax song is the gondhal number effectively rendered by Ajay. (Gondhal is a traditional and popular folk art form and religious ritual in Maharashtra. It is a ritual performed to pray to the family deity (especially Tulja Bhavani or Renuka Mata). It succeeds in creating the atmosphere of suspense and dread as the villagers make a final attempt to catch the perpetrators. Arguably, it is one of the best songs by Ajay-Atul.

My Thoughts

I felt this was a sincere attempt to make a thriller film in Marathi. There are some loopholes but the director succeeds in managing the ensemble cast, multiple sub plots and still retain the audience’s attention till the end. Thankfully, there is less focus on the romance tracks and an absence of romantic songs. The attention seemed to be on the younger actors including Ankush Chowdhari, Shreyas Talpade and Upendra Limaye, and the 3 female actors. In that sense, veteran actors like Vikram Gokhale and Sadashiv Amrapurkar seem under utilized. The film ends with a voice over mentioning a twist which is not very satisfying but that can be overlooked. It highlights the sad reality of politics and its associated compulsions.