2015 Diwali, though I was celebrating the 'non NRI Diwali'
:-) after two long years, more than the Diwali faral and sweets (no crackers
this time), I was more eager to celebrate two events 1) Zinnia's 9th birthday which
was incidentally falling on Diwali Padwa and 2) screening of much awaited movie
'Katyar Kaljaat Ghusli'. These 3 words ; the play itself; the songs and music;
and actors associated with it have a special place in the memory lane. Flash
back..Sometime in 80s, a young kid ignorant of Indian Classical music,
coincidentally came across this play on a Sunday evening on Doordarshan, which
changes…or perhaps cornerstones his views on dramas/ plays, song and music.
As he was unaware, it created an innate reckoning about all this for him to
cherish for the lifetime…. The impact made by Khansaheb (was that a Character or Doctor Deshpande
almost lived Khansaheb? ) is so deep-rooted that 'Soorat Piyan kI' and 'Ghei Chaand
Makarand' songs were the chosen companions, of the same and now grown up kid, in the few
months of ghostly stay, at 'Bromley' during H1 2015.
I wasn’t aware till
a few months back that the songs which I'm listening to almost daily during H1
2015 are actually getting rehashed on a bigger canvas on celluloid. So when I
got to know about the same a couple months back I was super excited and was very
eager to watch the movie - Not to mention the poster, promos and the songs released
before the movie have added to my anxiety……Well I'll stop referencing me, but
that’s how this is a Cineblog and not just a Cinesketch or a Cinebits (my other
2 categories of plain vanilla reviews.
The movie is told in
a bit different way, like how a movie is supposed to be told, a bit different than
the drama. It has got all the essence of new age Marathi cinema - the grandeur
(which is apt and not mind boggling), the period costumes, leveraging some of the
best musicians in the industry (Trio of Shankar-Ehsan-Loy), Maestro like Sachin
(the Marathi acting maestro, not the one on the 22 yards :-)) and few other stalwarts
like Subodh himself and Sahnkar Mahadevan in the lead roles. The concept of narrative by the Katyar itself
/ herself is excellent, full marks to Subodh Bhave (the director) or the
Production designers. My only take is if it could have been a bit younger and a
lot more sharper voice than Reema Lagu it would have been more appealing…(but just my
view)
The movie scores on
all fronts, well almost all. Full marks to the casting director. Sachin is born
for the role and like I mentioned earlier, this would fetch him multiple
awards.. I'd like to see him making big at the international levels (my hunch is UK
based British Raj kind of projects…) when it comes to portraying these Urdu
speaking characters…but why just that, in fact any other magnificent character
and he would make it a masterpiece. He and Doctor Vasantrao Dshapnde will be always
remembered for their Khansaheb portrayal, I still like the Doctor's more, as it was a
bit less filmy. However Sachin looks more convincing and original vocalist than
what Shankar is doing on the screen. BTW Shankar has given all he could to the
character of Punditji and full marks to him considering his first mainstream
acting attempt. Though I would have liked to have a seasoned actor portraying
this. Subodh Bhave's character spans during the second half mainly, but he gets
all the limelight through portrayal of Sadashiv - He has given a magnificent
performance while maintaining the subtlety…
Amrita Khanwilkar, Mrinmayee Deshpande and Pushkar Shrotri all have played theirs to
perfections. Duo of Chand & Usman, don’t have much to play as compared to
the original drama, and they probably couldn’t even made it memorable.
Subodh and the
producers have definitely played an anchors role to unravel the masterpiece on
the screen and did it keeping the originality of the drama. Some scenes, like
the one where Sadashiv (Subodh) and Zareena (Amrita) were lighting the diyas -
is a landmark in Marathi movie and also the other scenes during the Qawwali and
at the climax are great showman skills by Subodh.
Music for this genre
was a huge testimony and the Trio has crafted it beyond perfection - For the
new generation, they may not be able to differentiate between which ones are by
Abhishekibua and which ones are by the Trio. However during couple of songs like Ghei
Chaand and Surat Piya Ki (or another one) a visual display of Mridingam (while
I suppose Tabla is played in the background, and which is more apt as well) is
a bit unsettling (Is there any other percussion instrument used other than
Tabla in the Original Katyar…. I guess not)
Costumes are great -
I heard for the first time in Marathi movie they introduced a costume
consultant in addition to the designer, and Nachiket Barve has opened a
plethora of opportunities for him....and I am sure he would go places beyond
Bollywood, typically for the period movies.
Cant conclude
without referencing splendid performances which makes this Katyar the Katyar - Vocalist Rahul Deshpande, Shankar Mahadevan
and Mahesh Kale have given the millennials (Gen X) the heartthrob of classical
and musical 80's in a new age Dolby Digital format… And did I say remix?…well yes
remix without even a feel of remix, by not killing the rhythm, melody, content,
simplicity and the soul of the music.
It'll be a great
commercials success, Sachin to grab quite a few awards including a National
Award and should be able to launch himself in an international project, the
movie is capable of winning a few awards as well. Sincerely wishing that Subodh
will be enticed by many such subjects like Balgandharva, Lokmanya, Katyar etc.
and will lead the way of period movies and biopics taking MArathi movies beyond the regional /national boundaries.
Cant help but
conclude in Marathi - Before stepping inside the the movie hall, I was
wondering… Katyar ajun khol rutnar ki unmalun padnar…. But it lived beyond
expectations giving an awesome feeling as the 'Katyar fakta ghusali nahi tar
shekdo rasikanchya manat kayamachi ghatta rutun basnar…
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