Its the time of the year to welcome the elephant God Ganesha / Ganpati and I thought it was apt to write about a movie dedicated to this revered deity. Last year, I has written about Ashtavinayak, a Marathi film which revolved around the believer v/s non-believer theme. Today I am writing about a 90s film, Tu Sukhkarta (loosely translated as someone who gives or brings joy and happiness).

It is primarily a comedy film but gives a message that if you have full faith in your devotion of Ganpati, it can turn difficult challenges into achievable goals. The star cast consists of familiar faces like Ashok Saraf, Nivedita Joshi-Saraf and Laxmikant Berde among others. The film is directed by N. S. Vaidya.

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The Plot

The story revolves around the Devbhakta family. Sudhir Joshi is the head of the family. His wife is Nayantara. They stay in a bungalow with their 2 children – Varsha and Manya. We don’t see any servants in the house and both husband and wife spend the whole day at home!

Varsha (Nivedita Saraf), is a science graduate. But she too stays at home immersed in the devotion of Ganpati. She is spiritually inclined. She is a vegetarian, likes to dress in traditional attire and stays away from the latest fashion trends. Her parents want her to get married soon and have been looking for a suitable match. One of the prospective grooms is Mr. Sontakke, a doctor who is moving to the US. But Varsha is rejected because she is not “modern” enough and unfit to settle in the US given her background and beliefs.

Varsha’s father is furious at her. She tries to calm him down stating that if Ganesha wants her to get married, it will happen at the appropriate time. It is the will of the God. But he has had enough. He questions her belief terming it as superstition.

Varsha’s brother is Manohar alias Manya (Laxmikant Berde). He is the working member of the family. His love interest is Aarti (Nishigandha Wad), who has recently completed a nursing course. Aarti’s aunt (played by Ashalata Wabgaonkar) is a dominating character. For some reason she despises men and is against Manya’s marriage with Aarti. This results in a comedy track between the 3 characters.

Aarti’s aunt works a matron in Siddheshwar Clinic run by Dr. Vijay (Sunil Shende). She arranges for Aarti to get a job in the clinic. Vijay is supportive and Aarti is appointed as a nurse.

Vijay is a close friend of Manya and Varsha is like a sister to him. Manya tells him about the marriage proposal rejection. Vijay recommends him a marriage bureau called “Hamkhas Vivah Mandal” which had helped him to get married. Manya immediately goes to the Hamkhas office and registers Varsha’s name. He is told that their representative will pay a visit to Manya’s house.

Dr Vijay’s clinic is called Siddheshwar Clinic whereas the Devbhakta bungalow is named Siddheshwar Niwas. As both are located very close to each other there is a frequent confusion between the patients and visitors of the two parties. This confusion leads to the arrival of a man called Vinayak Vighnaharte (Ashok Saraf) in the Devbhakta bungalow.

The family has been desperately waiting for the marriage bureau representative to visit their house. They mistakenly assume Vinayak as the man they were looking for and welcome him wholeheartedly. Vinayak tries to explain that he is looking for Dr. Vijay but the family assumes he is referring to Vijay’s recommendation of the marriage bureau. Vinayak politely explains that he cannot accept their request to arrange Varsha’s marriage. Manya and his parents are angry at this behaviour. Vinayak is about to leave when he hears Varsha singing a devotional song.

He sees her and is impressed by her simplicity, beauty and singing talent. He is surprised that such a girl is still unmarried. He accepts the challenge to get her married as soon as possible.

He meets her again in a Ganpati temple that she visits regularly. Apparently, Vinayak Vighnaharte is not a believer in spite of his weird name which literally means Lord Ganesha, the supreme leader and the remover of all obstacles and difficulties. But he doesn’t mock her belief. He handles her in a subtle way and convinces her of a makeover. Gone is the traditional attire, and a fashionable Varsha emerges much to the relief of her parents and Manya.

The Devbhakta family is impressed by Varsha’s transformation and Vinayak’s initial success. What remains is getting her to agree to a suitable match. But this is not so easy as Varsha has started liking Vinayak. They spend a lot of time together but Vinayak is reluctant to get close to her. He has his own reason for doing so.

All is fine until one day it is revealed that Vinayak has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. That is the reason he had come to meet Dr Vijay. The diagnosis has been confirmed and he has only a few months to live. The truth is revealed to Manya by accident. He goes to meet Vinayak, who is set to leave the city. He requests Manya not to tell Varsha about the real reason for his sudden departure.

But Varsha gets to know the truth eventually. She agrees to get married but the groom has to be Vinayak. She has full faith in her Lord and he will help them in this crisis. Can divine intervention cure a terminal disease?

There is another unexpected revelation made about Vinayak’s background (hint: Aarti’s aunt).

Where will this lead to? Will Varsha and Vinayak be able to unite? Will Varsha’s devotion be successful? The answer lies in the hands of the almighty Ganpati.

The Music

The songs are written by Shantaram Nandgaonkar and Varsha Desai. The music is credited to Amar Amit S. The playback singers are famous names like Ravindra Sathe, Uttara Kelkar, Vinay Mandke and Sudesh Bhosle among others. Unfortunately, the songs are forgettable and fail to leave an impact. There is a medley of Hindi film songs as well. Wish they had done it comprising of Marathi songs.

My Thoughts

The film is partly saved thanks to the casting. Ashok Saraf, Laxmikant Berde, Sudhir Joshi are entertaining as always. The women provide able support. Nivedita Saraf performs the predictable role comfortably. The songs and background music could have been better.

Tu Sukhkarta is an entertaining film until it reaches the point when the truth about Vinayak’s life threatening diagnosis is revealed. After that the plot stretches and things get boring. The sub plot involving Vinayak’s background doesn’t add anything meaningful. It would have been good if the movie had ended 30 minutes earlier. The climax seems clumsy and rushed. The film does not present the conflict of the believer v/s the non-believer. It relies more on the “your devotion will not go unnoticed” angle.