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.

Yahan Wahan (1984)

My Reviews

Yahan Wahan (YW) means here and there and in this case is the name of a delightful film. It is a low budget, light comedy film reminding you of the likes of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee. The film is produced by Usman Khan and directed by Rajat Rakshit.

YW is a story of 2 ordinary people meeting and falling in love; they have to face some challenging but hilarious situations. Starring Farooq Shaikh, Surinder Kaur, Jagdeep, Aruna Irani and Dina Pathak, it is a less known but nevertheless enjoyable film.

The Plot

The young couple in YW is Rashi Verma (Surinder Kaur in her debut film) and Rajesh Chopra (Farooq Shaikh). Rashi is a young working woman (an interior decorator by profession). She stays with her childhood friend Neeta (Aruna Irani) in a small rented flat. The flat has its problems like unreliable water supply, a squeaky fan etc. The 2 friends carry on their routine in spite of the hardships.

It’s Rashi’s birthday. Neeta wishes her in the morning before they leave for their respective jobs. Rashi works as an interior decorator. Her boss is Mr. Kapoor (Col. Raj Bharti). She is not expecting her office colleagues to remember her special day but she is in for a pleasant surprise when her boss and colleagues wish her. Mr Kapoor announces that the afternoon tea and snacks (read cakes) will be sponsored by Rashi. She agrees knowing too well that Kapoor is crazy about cake. He loves them and likes to eat them all.

Rashi has gone to “Commerce Building” for some work. Here she meets the hero Rajesh for the first time. They are riding in the same elevator when it suddenly stops. Rajesh is hyper and can’t stop talking nonsense. Rashi is irritated by his behaviour but is somewhat impressed by this good looking man.

The two meet again when they are trying to get a taxi. Later, Rashi is looking for a carpet for one of her clients when Rajesh arrives in the same shop. Rajesh assumes that she is purchasing the expensive carpet worth Rs. 40,000 for herself and must be from a rich family. He tells her clearly that he has not been following her and this is a meeting by chance. He notes that it is a coincidence that they have met three times in a single day.

Back home, Rashi tells Neeta about Rajesh, his personality etc. She is so impressed. Neeta tells her to consider it as a one-off meeting and forget about it. But can Rashi do so?

Rajesh is in a similar condition. He dreams that a rich and snobbish Rashi is visiting his home. She is embarrassed to see his small house and insults him on his face. Rajesh wakes up. He decides to try and meet her again by going to the same building. Rashi thinks of doing the same. But they end up missing each other. However, luck is on their side. By another coincidence, they go to attend the same ghazal performance in the evening. There is a sense of relief when they see each other. Love is in the air!

Rajesh takes her to a restaurant. He praises her for her simplicity in spite of being so rich. She does not correct his assumption. He offers to drop her home. But she is reluctant. She cannot have him seeing her accommodation with all its issues. He is bound to feel insulted after knowing the truth. She makes an excuse that she has to go and see a friend who has met with an accident. They agree to meet again for lunch.

Next day, Mr Kapoor informs Rashi about their new client Mr. Chopra whose flat needs to be redecorated and the job has been assigned to Rashi. Chopra has gone to New Delhi for a week and left the flat’s keys with Kapoor. Rashi can visit his house and start her work. Unknown to Rashi, the new client Mr Chopra is none other than Rajesh. Additionally, Rajesh was supposed to go to New Delhi but that has been taken care of. He will stay in Mumbai.

Its their lunch date and Rajesh insists that post lunch, he will come to her house. He is free today and there will be no excuses this time. Rashi finds herself in a tight spot. She cannot take him to her place as she fears the truth will be out. She needs to keep with the pretense. She comes across the keys of Mr. Chopra’s flat in her purse. An idea strikes her. She decides to take Rajesh to her client’s flat and behave as if it is her flat.

So they go to “her” flat in Gulistan apartments on Pedder Road. Rajesh doesn’t know what is happening when he arrives at his building, on his floor and enters his flat. It is humorous to watch as Rashi cooks up one lie after another when Rajesh asks her “awkward” questions.

Rajesh goes to his friend’s house as he cannot stay in his own flat now that Rashi has “occupied” it. His friend is Fatikchand Bandopadhyaya (Jagdeep), an eccentric Bengali who talks in extra pure shuddha Hindi. Rajesh realises that Kapoor must have rented his flat to Rashi as he had the duplicate keys. Rashi is an honest girl and not to be blamed.

Rashi on the other hand feels guilty that she is lying to Rajesh and staying in a client’s flat. What will happen if the client suddenly returns. She will not be able to face the consequence. Neeta tries to calm her down and asks her not to overthink and enjoy their stay in the luxurious flat.

So, the drama falls into place. But there is one problem after the other. Rajesh’s mother (Dina Pathak) comes to the flat to meet her son (she calls him Billoo fondly). She is perplexed to find two young ladies staying there. Hurriedly, Neeta tells her that there was a telegram stating that Mr. Chopra’s mother will be arriving. This old woman must be the client’s mother. They cannot ask her to go away. They make up a story that they have purchased the flat but she can stay with them. They will help to locate her son’s new address. Seeing no option, Rajesh’s mother settles down in the flat.

The chain of problems, half truths and cover ups continues. Fatik and Neeta also fall in love and decide to spend the rest of their lives together. Amid all this Rajesh and Rashi get closer to each other. There is some misunderstanding created between them. But eventually, the truth is revealed and everything is forgiven and forgotten.

The Music

Indivar and Kalyanji Anandji are credited for the lyricist and music direction. Suresh Wadkar and Alka Yagnik are the singers. One song that stands out is the beautiful ghazal Taj Mahal mein aa jaana…performed by Rajendra Mehta and Nina Mehta on screen.

My Thoughts

YW is a simple film. There are no big stars or budget. There is no villain and scenes of action and revenge that you would find in a typical potboiler. Farooq Shaikh and Surinder Kaur perform brilliantly. There reactions are hilarious to watch as they have to invent a new story every time to cover the lies. Surinder Kaur may not be the conventional Hindi film heroine but she is impressive in her debut film. I was wondering what would be the outcome if Deepti Naval had been paired with Farooq Shaikh. Dina Pathak is fine. Jagdeep and Aruna Irani are most irritating with their over the top acting, expressions and and body language.

Pehla Nasha (1993)

My Reviews

Lagaan (2001) is in the news because it is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. In focus is obviously its director Ashutosh Gowariker (AG) whose script and vision came alive on screen with the help of Aamir Khan. That reminded me of the first film directed by AG. He debuted in 1993 with Pehla Nasha, which attempted to be a thriller cum suspense film but failed at the box office. It was inspired from the English film Body Double (1984). He followed it up with Baazi starring Aamir Khan which was also a flop. Interestingly, Lagaan was his first hit film and the rest as they say is history!

So, today’s post is about Pehla Nasha starring Deepak Tijori, Raveena Tandon and Pooja Bhatt in the lead roles. AG makes a sincere effort to present his first offering. The spark is visible but unfortunately the outcome and impact is not the same as seen in Lagaan or subsequent movies.

The Plot

Deepak Tijori (credited as Depak Tijori) plays Deepak Bakshi, a struggler who dreams of becoming a film star. At the very beginning there is a long dream sequence. Deepak imagines himself as the hero of a film called Baazigar(!). The film’s premiere is in progress. The film ends with the hero defeating the villains. The audience claps in unison.

And surprise! Sitting in the audience are 5 heroes of the early 1990s. They play themselves in what may be one of the prominent cameo appearances in a Hindi movie. We see Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rahul Roy and Sudesh Berry getting up and congratulating Deepak on his performance.

The dream ends abruptly and Deepak is brought back to reality. He is searching for work and finding it difficult to make ends meet. People like his landlady (played by Shammi) and milkman keep chasing for the dues. Things reach a point where the landlady dares him to come back without the money for the rent.

Poor Deepak spends his days giving auditions hoping for a good break. One day, he is at a producer’s office where he meets an old friend Vjay (Jayant Kripalani). Vijay’s uncle is a film financier. Vijay manages his uncle’s finances and has come to collect an agreement in the producer’s office. Once upon a time he wanted to be a film writer but has now changed tracks. Deepak is happy for him and tells Vijay about his own struggles. Vijay tells him to meet director Mahesh Ahuja (Jalal Agha) who is casting for his next film.

Luck shines. Mahesh Ahuja is impressed by Deepak and casts him as the lead hero in a film called Maut Kaa Kuaa. On the very first day, the climax scene is being shot near a well. The hero (Deepak) is being lowered in the well by the villain. However Deepak is unable to deliver his dialogue. He freezes and has to be brought up urgently. He reveals he has a fear of dark and enclosed spaces (claustrophobia).

Vijay is on the set and is concerned about Deepak. He offers to drop him home. Deepak is thankful and tells him about his medical (or rather psychological) condition and also mentions his accommodation problems. He cannot go to his old place and is searching for a new place. Vijay hears all this and is sympathetic.

Deepak is in luck. Vijay takes him to his flat located in Apollo Towers which is actually his uncle’s house but he uses it too. Vijay tells Deepak he can stay there for a few days. In the meantime he is going to Delhi and will be back in 2 or 3 days. The flat is well stocked with food and other luxuries. The only concern is to water the plants in the terrace at 8.00 p.m. daily else his uncle won’t leave him alone.

Vijay shows him the view of the city from the terrace. Before leaving he shows a telescope placed on the terrace and invites Deepak to have a look. He points the telescope at a nearby bungalow. Deepak sees a young woman dancing and singing a song Aaj raat bas mein nahi dil. Apparently, this happens everyday at the same time. Vijay tells Deepak to enjoy the view and leaves.

Deepak settles down. He is watching Satyajit Ray’s Charulata on TV where the heroine is shown holding binoculars in a scene. Deepak is distracted and is reminded of the telescope and the young woman and goes to the terrace. He sees a man in the woman’s bedroom. They seem to be having an argument. The man slaps her and leaves. The woman lies down crying in bed. Unfortunately he is unable to see the the faces of the man or the woman.

Next morning, Deepak calls the studio and is informed that he has been replaced. A frustrated Deepak goes to the studio and creates a scene but it is of no use. That night he is again treated to the young woman’s dance. That’s two nights in a row.

On the next day, Deepak is driving Vijay’s car (yes, Vijay has offered him that permission too). He sees the woman in the bungalow coming out in her car. He sees her face for the first time. He notes she is a stylish, rich and ravishing woman (played by Raveena Tandon). He also notices she is being followed by a suspicious looking looking character (Makarand Deshpande).

The woman enters a shopping centre which has a deserted look. Deepak follows her out of curiosity and also to warn her of the person following her. She enters a shop and purchases stockings. The woman goes back to her car when she notices Deepak. For some reason she throws the bag with the stocking in the trash can. Deepak retrieves them and puts them in his pocket.

The woman seems to be on her way to meet someone out of the city. She drives and reaches Igatpuri(?) and books into a hotel. Deepak has been following her. He sees her speaking on the telephone and hears that the other party won’t be coming after all. The woman looks dejected and goes outside the hotel. It is quite a secluded area. Deepak goes down and greets her. He tells her someone has been following her. She gives him a knowing look.  He assures her it’s not him but another man.

Unknowing to both, the man has been watching them. He rushes towards the woman, grabs her purse and flees. Deepak chases him and is about to catch him when the man enters a tunnel. Poor claustrophobic Deepak is helpless. He can’t move ahead in the dark tunnel and is left gasping. The man taunts him. Then takes something from the purse, drops the purse and runs away. Deepak picks the purse and finds the driving license of the woman. Her name is Avantika Bajaj. The woman reaches Deepak and he informs her what has happened. She assists him to come out of the tunnel; he becomes normal once he is out in sunlight.

Deepak is taken in by her beauty and embraces her. They have a moment of intimacy before the woman walks away.

Back home Vijay calls him to inform that his return has been delayed. Deepak spends his time spying on the neighbouring bungalow. He imagines singing a romantic song with Avantika conversing on the telephone. Deepak is lost in Avantika’s thoughts when he is jolted back to reality. He sees the same man entering Avantika’s bungalow. Deepak dials her number and tries to warn her. She sees the man in the nick of time and tries to save herself by spraying deodorant on his face. Later, she tries calling the police but the line is busy.

Deepak rushes towards his car to drive towards Avantika’s bungalow. He realises he has forgot the car keys and starts running instead. But he is too late. The man gains consciousness, strangles Avantika and leaves as Deepak enters to find her dead body.

The police come in. Inspector Mujumdar (Paresh Rawal) is a shrewd investigator. He makes Deepak blurt out everything. How he spied on Avantika, followed her, the shady man and so on. Mujumdar finds something fishy about Deepak. Additionally, the stockings are found in Deepak’s pocket leading to some awkward moments. But he knows Deepak is not the murderer and lets him go.

A further twist is about to come. Deepak goes to a dance bar with a friend. He sees a girl Monika dancing with her troupe. All is fine until he sees her performing the same dance step which Avantika used to perform. He shouts “Avantika” in the middle of the performance. Monika and her 2 twin brothers John and Jack (Amin and Karim Hajee) are not amused.

After this, it all downhill. Deepak tries to make sense of the Monika’s identical dance move. Did she know Avantika? He tries to meet her to get to the bottom of the mystery. All this leads to a boring climax where the villain/ murderer’s identity is revealed.

The Music

Anand Bakshi has written the songs with music provided by the brothers Uttank and Neeraj Vora. The songs were sung by Vinod Rathod, Sadhana Sargam and Asha Bhosle. 2 songs had became famous. One is Mr. Zero Ban Gaya Hero which Deepak sings with his friends and telephone duet Tum Ho Haseena Main Hoon Deewana which has a catchy tune.

My Thoughts

The film has a dark look throughout and does not make it pleasant to watch. The direction is slick in places. The first half till the murder is engaging but after that the director seems to have lost his hold. The plot is full of loopholes and many scenes seem half baked to say the least.

This was Deepak Tijori’s first movie as a solo hero. He performs well but is not consistent. A more seasoned actor would have worked well in the tight scenes. Raveena suits the character mainly because of her looks and screen presence. Pooja Bhatt’s character is irritating and gets repetitive. There are many actors from Lagaan who are associated with the movie including Aamir Khan, Amin Hajee, Aditya Lakhia and Daya Shankar Pandey. There are gimmicks in the form of the cameo appearances by the 5 heroes and a heroine (Juhi Chawla). Sadly, it does not make any difference to the film. AG’s effort is visible but unfortunately it does not translate into a well made and memorable film.