Duniya Kari Salaam (The World Salutes) is a Marathi movie based on the famous Hindi proverb Duniya jhukti hai, jhukanewala chahiye meaning “the world bows, we need the one who makes that happen.” Directed by Anant Mane, the movie makes an attempt to share a social message wrapped in an entertainment package.

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The Plot

Amol (Ravindra Mahajani) and Arun (Ramesh Bhatkar) are 2 unemployed postgraduates. They are looking for soft and cushy jobs and not ready for any hard or physically draining work. One day, after another unsuccessful interview, they are sitting dejected at a restaurant when they are joined by an old classmate Anand (Ashok Saraf) who had been rusticated from college. Anand joins the conversation stating hard work does not earn money. Money can be earned only by fooling people. The friends do not agree. He gives them a couple of demonstrations to show how people are gullible and it is not difficult to fool them. The title song follows.

He then takes them to a jeweler who is known to buy smuggled gold. He makes a fake deal with the jeweler to supply him gold in exchange of cash. The jeweler sends his two men in the night in a secluded area to complete the transaction. Amol and Anand complete the exchange. They get the cash but give a bag of stones in return. The 2 men attempt to chase and beat Amol and Anand. Arun, wearing a police uniform blows the whistle and the jeweler’s men are forced to run away empty handed. Anand convinces his friends that people are waiting to get fooled and they can make the most of it (i.e. get rich).

Next day, they are sitting at the same restaurant thinking of a plan. They are joined by Amol’s classmate Padma (Ranjana). Ranjana is a rich modern girl who has become a disciple of Acharya Bhajneesh. She calls herself Bhogini “Popins” and is trying to follow the path of spirituality. The 3 friends get a warning letter from the jeweler to return the money or be ready for the consequences. Anand hatches a plan to run away from the city and set up an ashram posing as sadhus (godmen). The others have no choice but to agree. Padma volunteers to join but Anand tells her she will be called later once they have settled.

So they come to a village and scout for an ideal location to set up the ashram. There is a lavani performance (Raghucha tapun basalay thawa) at the local temple in the night. The next day, the trio arrive outside the temple dressed as sadhus. They are Swami Parmanand (Amol), Swami Shivanand (Anand) and Swami Swanand (Arun). The priest and villagers approach them. They make up a story that the temple’s premises need to be purified after the song and dance performance as a sin has occurred. Anand performs a so called purification test to confirm a sin has indeed been committed and repentance is required.

The priest (Suhas Bhalekar) and villagers are convinced and they go to the Sarpanch (village head), but the Sarpanch (Jairam Kulkrani) refuses to believe them. He thinks the 3 sadhus are imposters. The 3 sadhus share an elaborate plan to complete the temple purification obviously involving a lot of expenditure. They continue to demonstrate (so called) miracles to gain the villagers’ confidence and they succeed.

Rich people start visiting the ashram, to meet and seek blessings from the godmen. Their “voluntary” contributions are most welcome.

One day, they have an unexpected visitor in the form of Anand’s wife Jyoti. The debtors are chasing her and she has no money. Anand gives her money and asks her to leave. She is adamant and he lets her stay in the ashram as a so called disciple.

The Sarpanch is not happy with the success of the sadhus. He approaches the lavani dancer Maina (Usha Naik) to entrap one of the sadhus and expose their real faces. Maina sings a song Ya dhagana laal laal and catches the attention of the sadhus. But she is unsuccessful in her mission as the sadhus are alert and are not influenced by her seducing charms. Maina is repentant of her actions and decides to join the ashram and serve the sadhus.

Meanwhile, Padma/Popins has contacted the trio and arrives in the village to a grand welcome. There is a boisterous celebration song on the occasion of Guru Pournima, Bhagawan aa raha hai. The Sarpanch is not impressed. He goes to the police station to complain about the ashram.

The sadhus have begun a new scheme where devotees are invited to confess their sins. The confessions will get recorded and the confidential information can be used to extract money from the confessor. The corrupt start arriving and confessing to their ill gotten wealth. This includes builders, doctors, government officials etc. The sadhus decide to target such corrupt people who loot the society. They begin with a builder who has stashed Rs 7 lakhs in his bathroom. The sadhus disguise themselves as income tax officers and raid the builder’s house and loot the cash. Unfortunately, the builder passes away due to shock the same night. The police come investigating and find a digging tool left behind by the robbers.

The police investigations bring them closer to the truth and they suspect the ashram and its inhabitants. They send a spy (Jyoti Chandekar) to the ashram. Will the police be able to raid the ashram and catch the perpetrators? Who will win in the end?

The Music

Veterans Jagdish Khebudkar (lyricist) and Ram Kadam (music director) share the music credits. Somehow the songs are not that effective compared to their more famous songs. The songs are quite situational. Dev jagavegala ho, dev jagavegala is melodious.

My Thoughts

Among the performances, the focus in mainly on Ashok Saraf, Ravindra Mahajani and Ranjana and they are entertaining. The others including Ramesh Bhatkar, Roohi and Usha Naik seem like supporting characters.

The film’s plot is good but fails somewhere in its execution. Right from the initial scenes, it is shown how easy it is to fool people. And the protagonists get out of tight situations very easily which is not really believable. Their transition from fraudsters to Robin Hood like sentiments is abrupt and not very convincing. As if they suddenly remembered there is a social message to be passed to the audience. It could have been a better film with the all the talent and known faces.