Date: 01 September 2017

Director: Milan Lutharia

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D’Cruz, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, Sanjai Mishra and Vidyut Jammwal

Ratings: 1.5 stars 

Set in the emergency era of 1975 Baadshaho follows a group of Rajasthani thugs who loot the gold confiscated from Rani Geetanjali during the Emergency and transport it to Delhi.

A two year leap, bombing of a palace in Jaipur and the arrest of Rani Geetanjali now confined to a dark cell, we are introduced to super hero  Bhawani/ Ajay Devgn who is unaffected by any calamity in the world including gas bombs and is, therefore, the perfect candidate to safeguard the queen..

If army officer Viddyut Jammwal is entrusted with stealing the gold recovered from Geetanjali’s palace and safely transports it to Delhi, Ajay Devgan is appointed to make sure that gold never reaches Delhi.

The positives of the film are the compelling action sequences from Ajay Devgan and Vidyut Jamwal and the intrigue surrounding the assembled wealth. The negatives, unfortunately, outweigh the positives. Baadshaho has poor writing/ editing, blaring music resulting in an insipid viewing.

It’s difficult to believe that a filmmaker who gave us Kachche Dhaage in 1999 and Once Upon A Time in Mumbai in 2010 can serve us Badshao in 2017.  A filmmaker of Milan Lutharia caliber must know that firing guns, bare chest bodies, raunchy numbers don’t make movies.

Movies call for a story and the sincerest performances in this case Sanjay Mishra and Emran Hashmi cannot replace content in a film.

I rate Baadshaho with 1.5 stars.

I still remember the winter of 1993 when I was shopping medicines for my ailing mother. The street was buzzing with Ganpati bappa morya and on an impulse, I said if my mother survives the dark night, if I don’t take her to the hospital again, I will celebrate this festival as long as I can.

My mother was not confident of my undertaking this massive responsibility and advised I experiment with the existing idols at home for a few years before making commitments to the elephant God. So for the next few years, I allotted a specific to a specific space and worshiped him with regular puja morning and night for 10 days after which my driver, Pramod, a veteran with Ganesh God would immerse the idol into the sea.

By 1999 I had exhausted all the idols at home and immersed them into the sea and in 2000 my mother passed away in her sleep. In the same year, I was returning home from work late evening when I found a man selling Ganesha idols on the road. Without thinking I stopped the car and picked a small idol.  My mother had gone but God had arrived home to bless me and has been coming ever since.

The years 2002 to 2007 are a blur. Every year on the eve of the festival I brought him home the previous night and like all growing children, he was always an inch taller than the previous year. He ate what I served him and went to bed when I was tired. Before leaving to work I offered him his pen and paper and I assume he loved his privacy and silence as much as I loved mine. In the evening we shared our day and load of work. I discovered he valued his privacy as much as I did. The neighbors got wind of my association with him only when I bid him farewell. Some of them came ahead for a closer look, asked questions, while others stepped aside and just stared at him. He has that aura. People always stand and stare when he passes by!

It is a special day for the family and they begin preparations for her arrival days in advance. They cook her favorite food and buy her favorite clothes. The home is dressed like a bride because the daughter is special and will stay with her parents only for a day.

Gauri has visitors all day because everyone is curious to know how she is and whether she is happy at her in-laws home.

Today, Gauri will leave for her home and everyone will be very sad.

Her parents will be desolate because they will have to wait another year for their daughter to pay them a visit and son Ganpati will be heartbroken to part with his mother.

It is said that if you watch a Gauri idol closely you will find her weeping on her way home. In the villages, all the women gather and cry together when they bid farewell to Gauri mata.

There is another story why Gauri has to depart before Ganesha. She will be waiting in the sea her arms outstretched for her son.

We think we immerse Ganesha into the sea, but that is far from true. Ganesha’s mother collects her baby in her arms before he can drown and carries him to their abode in the heaven.

What a delightful story and quite believable that too.

There are many in the film fraternity who are loyal fans of the elephant God. Nana Patekar and Jeetendra have brought the deity home for decades, so does Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, and many others.  Manish Paul does the Ganesh puja at his home with a lot of fanfare, so does Sonu Nigam and many more.

Lata Mangeshkar has housed the deity for as long as one can remember. The Bachchcans don’t bring the deity home but believe in Ganpati which is why when of AB Corp CFO Rajesh Yadav requested Jaya Bachchan to visit his pandal at Shree Mankeshwar Mandir, Byculla Jaya Bachchan could not refuse. There was much excitement in the atmosphere to welcome Bachchan and a moment of joy for the family when Rajesh Yadav and she performed the aarti together and offered prayers to the Mankeshwar Mandir Deity.

More on the Lord and his family in the coming days….

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In Mukul Anand’s Agneepath/1990, the underworld don hails from a small village Mandva and it has been a family tradition to bring the idol home. When the hero grows up and becomes successful he continues with the practice of bringing the deity home. The film featured Amitabh Bachchan in a dramatic climax where he is stabbed by his enemies amidst excited crowds bidding farewell to the deity at the seashore. In Satya 1998, the hero is exposed amidst the festival, dragged on a noisy street.

While the ten-day celebration exudes boundless energy in our lives, on screen it has portrayed myriad moods – pathos, triumph, drama and in some instances, courage. In Dil toh Pagal Hai /1997 Aroona Irani gifts identical silver idols to both Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit who are attracted to each other but unable to express their feelings. In My Friend Ganesha a little child discovers the deity and keeps him a secret from his parents. It was a film about innocence and faith.

In the following decade in the remake of Don Shah Rukh Khan jives to a robust number on the street. In the remake of Agneepath Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra dabble in colour to celebrate the elephant lord.

For all the attention we shower on the Elephant God, Lord Ganesha has limited presence in our films. It is difficult to list even ten memorable scenes projecting the God of wisdom.

Humse Badhkar Kaun/ 1980 told the story of families living in a colony and collectively celebrating the festival. The haunting number ‘Devaa ho devaa…’ singing paeans to the Lord proved a chartbuster and is even today chanted at all theGanpati  pandals. In Takkar, the villains hide the temple treasures inside the idol and hope to escape with the loot, but heroes Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Vinod Mehra follow them till the end sing ‘Murti Ganesh ki, andar daulat desh ki…’ and mange to expose the villains.

In 1981, Filmwala’s Kalyug was the first film to portray the immersion procession in all its glory. The film’s hero Shashi Kapoor is driving home and gets caught in the festival traffic. The chaos on the street reflects his inner turbulence.  A desolate Shashi Kapoor helplessly watching the traffic was an effective shot in the narrative.

Ajanta Arts’ Dard Ka Rishta 1983, supposedly inspired from Sunil Dutt’s personal life, delved on a young girl’s obsession with the elephant God. Baby Khushboo is in coma but hears echoes of the Lord coming home and begins chanting his name. To fulfil his daughter’s last wish, father Sunil Dutt seeks permission from the hospital to bring the idol to her hospital bed. The hospital allows him and baby Khushboo dies in peace.

Film Review: Sniff

Date:  25 August 2017

Producer: Trinity Pictures

Writer/ Director: Amole Gupte

Cast: Surekha Sikri, Kushmeet Gill

Rating: 3.5 stars

The opening credits travel you through a variety of colorful and aromatic dishes being prepared in an elaborate process. The visuals are strong and evocative and appeal to your senses. The Gill family of Bima Nagar Society are manufacturers of pickles and look forward to the season’s output when Biji/ Surekha Sikri, her son/ Manmeet Singh and grandchildren sit around the dining table excited to relish the delicious mixture. They have done this for years except eight year old Sunny/ Kushmeet Gill who has a permanent nose block and has never known any  smell, either fragrance or stench.

Sunny’s grandmother continues to be optimistic and takes him to the best doctors in town but nobody can cure his blocked nose, until one day an accident leads to a miracle and Sunny’s perennially blocked nose begins to sniff. For the first time in his life, Sunny senses smells, the sweet fragrance of the rose, the tangy aroma of the pickle and the distinguished aroma of ghee soaked parathas. Soon Sunny discovers that he can sniff not just food and fragrance but also fear, pain and deception.

The positive of the film is the novel subject, the treatment and the message. There are delightful moments in the film, for instance when Sunny walks into the classroom with soiled shoes and has everyone sniffing…When the kids excitedly open their Tiffin boxes during lunch break… The sequence in the laboratory is magical. Shot in real locations with mostly non actors, the film is vibrant, energetic and colorful.

The negative is that the second half gets predictable and the climax is a little exaggerated but Sunny /Kushmeet Gill and his colony friends make sure to keep you engaged and entertained.

One thing is for certain, nobody understands children as well as Amole Gupte. In 2007 he introduced us to dyslexia in Taare Zameen Par, in 2011 to students harassed by teachers in Stanley ka Dabba, in 2014 he gave wings to street children in the deeply sensitive Hawa Hawaii and now he turns his eight year old hero into a spy.

I rate Amol Gupte’s colourful and fragrant Sniff with 3.5 stars.

@bhawanasomaaya

The festive time has begun, adding fervor to our mundane lives. Tomorrow is Ganesh Chaturthi and the Elephant God will be welcomed in many households with a lot of fanfare. Delicious, aromatic food, aarti and rituals bring together friends, relatives and neighbors.

While festivals are an occasion for families, have you ever given a thought to those living far away from home? This is a lonely time for them, reminding them of their native place and the memories associated with the festival. For the first time Saregama brings a unique App that connects you to the festival without the help of a mediator like a pandit. This App tells you not only how a puja is to be performed but draws a list of the samagris required for the occasion.

Saregama India, introduces an unconventional way to stay connected with traditions through Saregama Shakti App which is a high-quality audio-video guide on the rituals and explains the significance of mythology.

Available worldwide on Apple and Android app stores Shakti is a free to download app with a one day trial period.  The world is changing and so is Ganpati Bappa.