Pedgaonche Shahane (The Shahanes of Pedgaon) is a Marathi comedy movie produced and directed by Raja Paranjape. He also plays the main role(s). The movie is based on a theme very common in cinema – long lost siblings, twins in this case. A mix of well written dialogues, general goofiness and some serious situations deliver a satisfying movie. There are some drawbacks but those can be ignored considering the era when the film was made.

Trivia – Pedgaonche Shahane is a Marathi phrase attributed to a historical incident which took place in Pedgaon in the 17^th century. The Moghuls were tricked and looted by the Maratha army without a battle or bloodshed. The defeated Moghul Sardar was deemed as aati-shahana (i.e. oversmart or foolish) and hence the term Pedgaonche Shahane. In the movie, it refers to the family named Shahane and the events occur in Pedgaon.

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The Plot

The movie starts with a scene in the mental asylum/hospital in Pedgaon. An aged Dr Shahane (Raja Paranjape) moves around and meets the patients. He enters Dr Manohar’s room in the hospital premises. Soon, Dr. Manohar enters with a nurse.

We come to know that Dr Shahane is a patient at the hospital. He was a well known surgeon. One day he was asked to operate on a close relative named Malati. Dr Shahane was not willing to operate, but she insisted and he had to agree. As fate would have it, he loses concentration during the operation when he picks the surgical scissors. There is darkness in front of his eyes. He is unable to complete the operation and Malati dies. Dr Shahane blames himself for the incident and is mentally impacted. Ever since, he has been living in the mental hospital. He is otherwise normal but reacts whenever he sees a pair of scissors. One night, he manages to run away from the hospital.

The scene moves to a bungalow. This is the house of Balwantrao Shahane (G.D. Madgulkar) who works in a bank. His wife is Sarla (Nalini?). Sarla is keen to learn music. She aims to make their family modern as in “America.” They have 3 children. The elder son Ranga (Chittaranjan Kolhatkar) has completed his studies and is employed. Their daughter is Prema alias Baby (Nayana?). Prema takes daily dance lessons from Chandrabhushan (Prasad Sawkar). The younger son is school going Babu alias Bob (Master Dwarkanath). Another house member is a singer from the South – Sarang Bua/Mama (Dhumal), he is Sarla’s music teacher.

The opening scene is entertaining as we get introduced to the characters. Sarla, Ranga and Sarang are chatting on the breakfast table. Sarla is reading the newspaper and mentions the patient who has escaped from the mental hospital. But Ranga is more interested in the coverage of the horse races. He spends his time betting on horses and playing rummy on Sundays.

Suddenly there is a loud sound from the kitchen and all of them rush in to find Babu meddling with the stove. He is a mischievous boy and a keen experimenter, who has the habit of “exploring” and “fixing” things like a stove, radio and so on.

And then we have the young couple Prema and Chandrabhushan. They are upstairs singing and dancing on a Hindi song Muze dejaa rumaal.

Balwantrao is ready to leave for the bank. He asks his wife timidly if he can get a cup of tea if their (implying his family’s) “cinema” routine is over. Sarla lectures him that she is struggling to make their family modern and he is not appreciative at all. She will do as she wants. Just then the bell rings and all members (except Balwantrao) rush to open the door. A telegram has arrived confirming that Kakasaheb (uncle) will be arriving today as informed in his letter.

Balwantrao is confused and asks if any letter had come. Babu says yes, a letter had come from Africa and he has added the foreign stamp to his collection. A meek Balwantrao requests to hand over the letter. After deliberation by the members, it is discovered that the letter has been kept in a locked drawer. But the key is missing as all family members are “busy” in their activities.

Babu takes the lead in opening the drawer with a screw driver. Again there is a hilarious scene as the family gathers to open the drawer and retrieve the letter. Finally, the letter reaches Balwantrao who utters a sigh of relief. The letter is from his step uncle Kakasaheb Shahane who is returning from Africa. Apparently, he is a rich businessman with lakhs of rupees. He plans to spend the rest of his life with Balwantrao’s family. The family is excited to have a rich relative staying with them. Balwantrao instructs Sarla to go to the railway station and receive the relative.

Meanwhile Dr Shahane (after escaping from the mental hospital) has reached the railway station to catch a train and run away from Pedgaon. The police are also on the station to foil his plans and take him back to the mental hospital. The train arrives with Kakasaheb Shahane (also Raja Paranjape) and a comedy of errors follows. The police mistake the Africa returned Kakasaheb as Dr. Shahane and take him forcibly to the mental hospital. (Here, Kakasaheb mentions in passing that he had a twin brother who had gone missing many years back. But the police are in no mood to listen to his imaginary stories!).

Sarla meets Dr Shahane, assumes he is Kakasaheb and requests him to come home. He is puzzled at the woman’s behaviour and mention of his nephew. He reluctantly agrees and they arrive at the bungalow. He is introduced to the children, Sarang Mama and Chandrabhushan. Needless to say, their first impression is not very remarkable on the old man.

At the hospital, Dr. Manohar is relieved to have his patient back. Kakasaheb keeps insisting they have made a mistake, he is a businessman from “Zanzibar.” The word Zanzibar catches the fancy of the other patients who keep repeating it.

That evening, Balwantrao returns from the bank and meets Kakasaheb. He has an open chat with his uncle. Apparently its only Balwantrao who is the bread earner in the family. Ranga has lost his job. There are unnecessary expenses in the form of the music teacher, dance teacher, Ranga’s hobbies, special food demands by every member etc. He is finding it difficult to satisfy everyone and even taken a loan. He is glad that an elderly relative has arrived at his house and looks upon Dr Shahane as his saviour.

Dr Shahane agrees to put things in order. He is a disciplinarian and gets on to the task immediately. He starts taking harsh decisions much to the discomfort of the family members and to Balwantrao’s delight. Restrictions are imposed. The music teacher and cook are sacked. Sarla will manage the cooking everyday. Food will be brought from the ration shop only and so on.

The family accepts his decisions grudgingly. But gradually, he endears himself to them, and earns their genuine respect.

And what about the real Kakasaheb in the hospital? He is surrounded by entertaining specimens around him. The patients sing a delightful song – Duniya vedyancha bazaar….Zanzibar.

We know where all this will lead to. The twin brothers are destined to meet one day. Which they do, leading to a happy reunion and a sad farewell at the end.

The Music

Raja Paranjape’s movies are generally associated with great or rather all time hit music tracks. The music of this film is not bad. G. D. Madgulkar (Ga Di Ma) is the lyricist. Datta Dawjekar composes the tunes in line with the times. The problem is the story line does not offer much scope for songs especially the romantic tracks. They come and go, boring the viewer. The mental hospital song Zanzibar is the all time hit song. The lyrics are as rubbish as they can be and Vasantrao Deshpande’s singing is awesome.

My Thoughts

Movies depicting long lost siblings who meet after many years is not a novelty in cinema. But it would have been a fairly new concept when Pedgaonche Shahane was made. And also the fact that the look alike siblings are older in age (65+ ?), make it different from the usual lost and found plots.

Raja Paranjape is comfortable in both the roles. Rest of the cast are adequate. We see some veteran actors who are very young in this movie such as Sharad Talwalkar, Chittaranjan Kolhatkar, Prasad Sawkar and Madhu Apte and are difficult to recognize if you are not very observant! Special mention is G. D. Madgulkar who plays the helpless owner and has no say in his house. He is also the story, dialogues and song writer. His collaboration with Raja Paranjape is legendary and shines in this movie.

The initial part is funny as the family is introduced and the fake uncle settles down in his new residence. The solutions he offers may not seem very convincing today but that can be ignored. The later scenes in the mental hospital could have been funnier depicting the discomfort of the real uncle in those unexpected surroundings. Also, it seems very easy to run away from the hospital, so much for security. Nevertheless, the film is entertainment guaranteed. Raja Paranjape remade it in Hindi as Chacha Chowdhury (1953) and he played the role of the chacha.