This is rural Hum Aapke Hai Kaun.
Sweet, syrupy and ‘old – world’. It painstakingly salutes a period gone by and
a time freezed to nostalgia. Many may connect either directly or by some remote
connect. It starts from Mithunam but moves on to the larger than life
accusation against a generation that has moved on in search of its dream. Very
judgemental, it seeks to market the village backyard. HAHK meets Bhagbaan.
Added to this is the NRI facet. While one part of the script is dedicated to
the grandeur of the large joint family, the rest is an accusation on those who
have left behind the luxury of the status quo in search of their dreams.
Film-maker Sathish Vegesna makes a feeble attempt to contend that it’s the
extreme indifference that hurts. He clearly takes the side of ‘the left behind’
and suggests that the ‘parent forgetting’ gen-next is indifferent and
insensitive to the caring waiting parent. Once this prerogative is conceded,
you must admit that the film delivers and does not hold back. The full throat
narrative is willing to go whole hog and whole hog it goes.
Back there on the banks of the Godavari is the patriarch Raghava Raju (Prakash
Raj) and his wife Janakamma (Jayasudha) living with one bitter note: that their
children had moved on. The ‘empty nesters’ are pinning for the children to
return. They have their elder son Ravi in USA, second son Kalyan in Canada and
their daughter Jhansi (Indraja) and son-in-law Kishore (Raja Ravindra) in
Australia. A communication from Dad finds the siblings press the panic buttons
and land up at the ancestral home.
In the village the ageing couple is pampered and taken care of by absent minded
Kangarraju (Naresh) and his son Raju (Sharvanand). While Raju is the local Good
Samaritan, he has the proverbial gang that is with him. The NRI units one after
the other, arrive to clichéd stances. The NRI and the Indian village contrast
is established on predictable lines. The Aussie unit also has Nitya (Anupama
Parameswaran) who is the romantic angle to the story. The children are told
that the elderly couple are heading for a divorce. The children find it
difficult to accept the impending tragedy but do little to keep their parents
together. Though in India, they are shown to be wrapped in their own world (yet
another inaccurate, exaggerated black-while-divide qua the NRI). So Raju
decides to have the local cable network and communication tower disconnected to
ensure that the family that stays together, lives together. What pushes them to
a realization and after minor hiccup what brings the romantic couple to take
the plunge constitutes the climax of the film that lasts a little about 2
hours.
Apart from the ‘storyline’ the film has a team that is very sincere with
performances. Full marks for the casting director. Prakash Raj and Jayasudha
are vintage wine. Both ensure you have your paisa wasool. Not a false move
ever. Prakash Raj keeps the simmering facet to the predictable soliloquy to the
finale in a manner you have come to expect from him. While the rest of the cast
is reduced to cardboard cut-outs, Naresh shines as the absent-minded
man-Friday. Sharwanand is his usual confident self. He plays his role with
confidence and sincerity. Anupama Parameswaran makes for a good addition. One
visible loose end in the film is the giveaway accent of the cast. None of the
NRIs speak proper English – leave alone English with an accent – all this while
Prakash Raj fights hard to tone down his capacity to speak the language
properly.
The film is a “family entertainer” that you safely watch with family. It has no
violence, no strained humour line and the right ambience.
Rating: 3 stars.
+: Performers
_: Preachy.
L. Ravichander.