The Marathi film industry is nowadays going through a good phase of entertainment. The films made in recent years are of strong story base and good cast and crew. The films are successful attracting the viewers to the cinema hall in large numbers. One of the recent movies released last week is “Deool”. The film did a huge business from day one. The theme of the movie is about the game of politics played today in the name of God. This situation is same throughout the country. So after watching the movie, it feels like the movie should not be confined to the maharashtrian audience but should reach to the audience of the whole country.

Deoul, produced by Abhijeet Gholap and directed by Umesh Kulkarni, is a beautiful presentation of the confusion prevailing nowadays between religion and false beliefs. Today, facilities of schools, hospitals, colleges, roads, drinking water and sanitation are absent in most areas of the country. Most importantly, the residents of the so-called modern societies of Mumbai like Arey Colony, Sanjay Gandhi National Park are also devoid of such facilities. The electricity in many film studios of Arey colony is used without any reason for the whole night while the poor people are living in darkness.

Although the country is trying to prove that there is a shortage or rather mismanagement of all these facilities but the number of temples are increasing in multiple times. If we take a walk on the roads of any city of the country, we will find scores of variety of temples. Religion does not form the base of building a temple but the only reason is to fill one’s own pocket. Every temple has on an average, daily collection of 500 – 1000 rupees. Today many villages are crowded with temples but there is absence of quality hospitals.

The rural areas of India are changing enormously and rapidly. The cities are trying to enter in the villages while the villages are rushing towards the cities. The village youth are trying to adopt the modern lifestyle. The use of mobiles, television enables these young people to watch the colorful and attractive city life but the situation in which they are dwelling prevents them from living this life. They are always in a hurry to change this situation. Cities are changing so they believe that their villages should also change. But what this change actually means to them? It means that they should get all those things, which are required to lead a lavish life. Such youths falls prey of today’s hungry and selfish politicians. They utilize the energy and determination of these youths for their selfish intentions. Every political party wants these youth-league for their agitations, acclamations etc., which gives birth to negativity in these young people.

The story of Deoul forecasts all these above factors. The film shows the situation of a small village called Mangrul. The village does not have a good hospital. The village leader Bhau Golande and archaeologist Anna Kulkarni makes a plan to build a hospital in the village. In the mean time one of the villager have a revelation of Shri Dutta Digamber. The news of revelation spreads in the village like fire. The nephew of Bhau Golande, in order to outwit his uncle makes a plan to build a temple of Shri Dutta Digamber instead of hospital. For this purpose he even takes the MLA in his side and finally a temple is build in the village. The film focuses brilliantly on the way by which the propagation of this temple is done. Nowadays we see stickers and posters, which publicize a divine place. The whole country has thousands of such awakening divine places then why do these awakening places bring about the development of the country?

Umesh Kulkarni has given full justice to this burning topic. The film shows how

1)      Marketing is done under the name of God.

2)      The pockets of one’s own and one’s relatives are filled.

3)      The coconuts and the garlands, which the devotees offer to God, are brought back and sold.

4)      The devotional songs are composed and sung on the filmy beat.

This is a fact but no one cares. A devotee when comes to worship with full devotion, he catch the sight of these things and gets hurt. In the temple, which is the place of faith of lakhs of devotees, thousands of rupees are taken as bribe to enable them to enter the queue. In spite of paying the bribe, the devotee is not able to obtain the sight of the God even for half a second. This is the situation today. Besides these, due to 50% reservation the females are elected as the head of the village. Their condition of such females is also beautifully shown in the movie. The changing status of village, the increasing promotion of mobiles, T.V and set top box and its effect on the village life is also shown very intellectually.

            The director of the movie has tried to open the eyes of the people by handling this sensational topic. The Cast of the film which includes Nana Patekar, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Sonali Kulkarni and others along with the director, producer and all the crew members are truly deserves a big thanks. The film is worth watching in order to awaken one’s own strength.  

KEY

The title iam going to discuss is a  regional movie, i was impressed with the content of the movie. No doubt it is a low budget movie without duets, it is not a love story or a thriller or a drama or socio fantasy, but it is just about a selection of a right candidate for an important position of a reputed organisation. Hatsoff to the producer to really encourage such a subject. The plot is that 9 candidates are shortlisted  for a final stage of selection. Each candidate has professional achievement and profound in their relevant fields like journalism,science,law,business. model etc etc.

Now how are they selected? what is that they are asked? is the plot of the movie.The candidates are taken to a custom made hall which has a security guard with pistol and ofcourse they are observed by a CCTV. The examiner tells the  rules.

Rule number 1- the candidates intentionally ot nonintentionally should not spoil the paper else he will be thrown ot and disqualified.

Rule number 2- the candidate should not try to talk to examiner nor should not go out of room nor do such acts which the guard will pull him/ her out and disqualify

Rule number 3- The duration is 150 minutes.

The examiner leaves the room, now the candidates see the paper on the desk and all are astonished because there is no question.Now they have understood that they have to search the question in the room and answer but how? one candidate takes a chance speak to other the guard has not reacted, so they can speak to each other. The candidates started discussion on what would be the question and the ways to find it. First they tried the paper with light but there no encryptions, meanwhile one eager candidate has written "OM" on his paper he was thrown out, now one competitor is down.Now the candidates take the answer sheet of the disqualified and shade with pencil but this is also futile.When the candidates discussed with each other, each had own view of why they applied this job, one said for money, one for money and status, one for a change, one for doing a good job, one for marriage etc etc.

Now the time is ticking down they are left with 90 minutes, one candidate who is a lawyer intentionally spoils a model's paper she was sent out.The competitors came down, again he does same trick with other candidate whose finger  has a cut when they broke a glass. Soon the other candidates realizes the crooked mind.One scientist unknowingly puts pencil on paper he too gets disqualified. Now 6 candidates are left with 60 minutes remaining.The lawyer candidate has a medical problem he has to take a capsule at regular intervals ohterwise he will get unconscious and die. The other candidates ties him to the chair and one candidate throws the capsule into the drain.The law candidate says he knows the question but he tells only after he is saved.Meanwhile one candidate tries to talk to examiner as the law candidate is about to die, she is also disqualified. One candidate ties the psychological canddiate and interrogates her whether she knows about the examining organisation. She confesses that she already worked in the company and it is a medical foundation somehow she is also disqualified, but to know the question the candidates frees the lawyer.

Now the time left is 20 minutes with five candidates, then the lawyer picks the pistol from the guard and fires a candidate and says if he kills the rest he is the one remains and he will be selected. Just he opens fire the candidates rush ou of the room and off the lights. He completes his round but just before time tick to 0 one candidate hides behind a door switch on the light.

Now three candidates are in room one is shot. The examiner comes and disqualifies the lawyer and the selects the other candidate.

She asks why this kind of examination, the examiner then introduces himself as the CEO of the organisation who wants a selfless and dedicated person for an important post and explains how the inner character of the candidatesv like pride, moneyminded, arrogance,impatience, sorrow, slothing disqualified them. The shot candidate is not dead and is just a anaesthetia, however he is also disqualified becase of his rudeness.

So this is the KEY.

Warning: This article contains spoilers. To be read at your own discretion

Cast:Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Anupam Kher 

Director: Pankaj Kapoor

Pankaj Kapoor's 'Mausam' is a romantic story between a Punjabi Harinder Singh aka Harry  (Shahid Kapoor), and Kashmiri Muslim girl, Aayat (Sonam Kapoor). The story is set over a ten year period with interupting events of operation Blue star,Babri Masjid destruction, Mumbai bomb blasts, Kargil war, September 11 attacks in US and finally Godhra riots.

The romance lives upto the point of Harry getting letter to join Indian Air force. From this point the film loses its sheen until the air fight scenes that add some charisma. Surely men in uniform do attract a lot of attention :) .The film focuses on how the characters fail to contact each time due to one event or another arriving at the absurd climax of saving from fire the heroine, a horse and a crying child with the weirdest corny lines. We Hope we didn't hear that :)
The principal problem with the movie is that in the interviews the promise of the romance in  different stages of life over a period of 10 years like different seasons was indicated as the theme and reason for the title "Mausam". But as a viewer this premise is not delivered which is similar to serving pasta on the promise of ice-cream. Mr. Kapoor as a director disappoints though the other Kapoors score looks wise. The songs are the saving grace and the locations are too good to waste on a story like this. The film is a tad too long and the reasons for the main characters not able to meet are too illogical. Even films in 60s and 70s had a better means of communicating. Way better that people in army had always received letters and have a P.O. box set in their name. The film though has its own loop holes script wise would have been bearable had the pacing been a little good and the foot tappers in middle. The audience certainly doesn't sit for the end credits to roll just for mallo malli number. One wishes it would have been better had ended by intermission.

Watchable elements:
The air fight sequences are good upto the point of Aayat's interruption which had the audience laughing instead of crying.

Sonam and Shahid have good chemistry and equally good looks.

The railway scene and airforce scenes are pretty good.

Avoidable:
The climax.
Sonam's nightmares

I finished my coffee and placed the mug on the window sill, looking clumsily at the tiny drops of water on the glass. It was a cold December evening, with the chill crawling up my spine like a vicious serpent. I looked at the wet streets outside, craning my eyes to spot a speck of joy in the stressful panorama. The streets ran empty, trees stood with an expression of loss. Shops closed down with the skepticism of a stealthy rain and the chilling winter air pelted its ferocity on every poor thing in its reach.

Appalled by the devious sight, I picked up my coffee mug and rose to leave for more, when, suddenly, my eyes fell on the strange little creature on the other side of the street. It was a different sight, sarcastically aided by the fearful west wind. I looked at the distance, trying to engulf the reality, struggling to reason out the sudden deviation from normalcy. I saw a girl crouching behind the shadows, fighting the piercing cold with a set of tattered rugs on her body. Aroused by the sudden rush of adrenaline, I plunged my head out of the window for a better look, but the raging torment of raindrops bleared my vision of certainty.

There were many questions rushing up the stairways of my mind, but the confusion between ‘who was she’ and ‘what was she’ provoked the stigma of demonic forces inside me.I narrowed my eyes to reconcile the surge of curiosity within me. What was she doing on an empty street, when the churlish downpour turned every place into a no-man’s land.I had to know. There was a reason that out of the many geographic directions, this strange creature looked at mine, and I had to find out why. I did not stop to think. The next moment, I was out in the streets, the rain piercing my face like a magician’s scimitar.

It took me some time to spot the black-robed figure. I walked with heavy steps towards her, frantically observing the fact that she was staring at me, as if she already knew that I would come for her. Somehow, groping for proper directions in the darkness, I reached the place where she stood. There she was, clutching on to the side rims of the lamppost with one hand, while the other grabbed the filthy old rug around her chest. She looked at me with cautious eyes, eyes that tacitly defined the other side of hedonism.

It was a young face, yet the wrinkles of pain had crowded the soft texture of her skin. I went closer, wiping off the thick drops of rain from my face and leapt off with a cry of utter amazement.

 “Emily?” I squeaked, doubting the permeability for my inaudible voice in the terrible rain.

 I wondered whether she heard me, her feet stayed rooted to the ground, her eyes immovable like an age-old rock. I wondered if she was the same Emily I knew 3 years back. There were no signs of proximity from her, her eyes gazed unblinkingly at me, red as blood, as if they’d been open for an eternity.

There were extraordinary times in life which demanded extraordinary measures. I pondered how a bright sunny day could turn into a profound night of terror.My mind knew that the skeptic figure in front of me was an old acquaintance, but my heart feared the dire consequences of this unexplained rendezvous with her.

No one spoke for what seemed to be an eternity. Only the sound of thumping rain tortured our ears like a painful cry. I looked around in diabolic haste, hoping that there would be some place to shelter this unfortunate friend of mine, but the devastating downpour continued to devour all possible signs of life in my vicinity.I had to do what I was about to do. There was no way that I would leave Emily to wither in that dreadful weather, though the uncertainty of her stochastic emergence circled my mind like an American hurricane.

“We should not be out here,” I said, “let’s go inside the house and have something to eat, you look weak,” I finished, stretching out my hand adroitly to hide my hesitance.

She looked at my hand for quite long before stretching her own, as if calculating the risks of an overnight interview with me. I held her hand tight, it was cold, very cold. She limped painfully with little help from her two jaded legs, her fragile body falling in my shivering arms at each step.Somehow grueling with the stubborn rain, we reached the aisle of my apartment. Emily had still not spoken a word, and I had already started to fear the aberrant sense of diligence from a long lost friend. I walked my guest past the already open door and directed her towards the couch, looking disgustedly at the slurry of mud that her malodorous feet had brought in.

 The room was suddenly cold, as if my apartment was shifted to a distant army base on the Everest. The light from the 200 watt bulb suddenly seemed insufficient, the walls appeared darker with a hint of gloom all over them. I tried to reason out the sudden absurdities around me, but with each passing moment, the incisive manifestations of paranormal activities stirred a hypnotic stigma in me. I looked at the trespasser, who slouched on the sofa with a hunch, water dripping all over the floor from her unusual uniform. Clothes and food was all she needed, or so I thought.

I opened my cupboard and stared at the heap of dirty clothes that I hadn’t washed for months. After a rumbling of 15 whole minutes, I found an old sweatshirt that I used to wear back home. I folded it neatly; skillfully hiding the stains of ketchup it had on it, and went towards the living room, where Emily sat, unmoved.

 “Here, take this shirt, you must be pretty wet in those clothes. You can change in the bathroom,” I said, pointing towards a small door at the end of the hall. “I’ll be back with something for you to eat,” I added in a friendly tone.

 Why isn’t she talking? What on earth was she doing in this part of the world, when she settled in California 3 years back after marrying her rich boyfriend? What is wrong with her face, her clothes, her body? There were so many questions to ask, but all the answers waited at the other side of her tired lips. Probably, she was too weak to talk, I reasoned.

I opened the refrigerator to find some food for my poor friend. There was not much leftover, especially when you’re a 25 year old ‘teenager’, but fortunately, I hadn’t had any dinner that night due to a minor stomach ache. I took out the apple pudding, a bottle of beer and some freshly baked biscuits and strolled towards the living room, hoping that the dinner was sufficient for a starving unfortunate as her. I placed the pudding and the bottle on the table, noticing in anguish that the kurta lay untouched beside her. I leaned forward to pour the pudding in a bowl, but I was too late. Emily had already snatched the spoon and began stuffing the food into her mouth.

 I sat on a chair facing her, watching her devour every bit of the pudding I gave her. Old scenes flashed in front of my eyes, those parties at the college canteen, the refreshing hangouts before exam nights. I recalled the bike rides around the city, with Emily sitting on mine. She had a thing for me back in college, but the shackles of education compelled me to miss every bit of the beautiful life I could have had with her. It had been 3 years since we talked, the many moratoriums of life had taken us far apart from each other. And here she was, sitting right in front of me, in a state of complete melodrama. I wondered amazedly what time could do to us, while she munched hastily at the biscuits, two at a time.

I rose from my chair, and walked towards the telephone. A sudden thought drifted into my head as I flipped the pages of my diary hurriedly. I wondered if I had Karl’s contact number with me, probably he could explain the pathetic state of his wife, I thought.After an animus tussle with the tattered pages of my diary, I found what I was looking for.

“Karl Donavan, 56 President Street, California.”

I picked up the receiver and dialed the number, my heart racing at the pace of knots. I glanced back at the couch where Emily was seated, munching away merrily at the biscuits I’d given her. The bell rang at the other side and a deep grumpy voice answered it.

“Hello, is it Karl? I am Dan from college, remember?” I asked hopelessly, pretty sure that the rich bastard had flushed me out of his memory long ago.

“Hello Dan, long time,” confirmed his deep voice, much to my surprise.

“Karl, can I speak to Emily for a second?” I whispered, holding my breath, fearing how aberrant his next statement could be.

“She died in an accident this very evening,” he said.

I could still hear Emily, munching away at the biscuits as Karl hung up and the line went dead…..