Movie Review - Mukti Bhawan by Suhel Johar
Mukti
Bhavan Is A Tragicomic Film That Strings To Your Heart.
Septuagenarian Daya (Lalit Behl) wakes up one
morning to harry his son Rajiv (Adil Hussain) into accompanying him to Benaras
in order to spend his last few days there. Checking into Mukti Bhawan which
overlooks the Ganga, Daya and his son – who insists on staying along for the
fortnight, the maximum period permitted by his manager Mishraji (Anil Rastogi)
– strive to make themselves comfortable in the sparse and dingy tenement.
Directed by 24-year-old Shubhashish Bhutiani, Mukti Bhawan opens the gems of life
with relationships and acquaints them with their new aspectsas. It is a film
serves a dual purpose – to explore a father-son relationship and to showcase
some of the Hindu rituals at the time of death. So far as the second objective
is concerned, it succeeds – the film already having been exhibited at a few
film festivals abroad. Hindu rituals such as a calf being donated to the local
temple before embarking upon the ‘final’ journey or the shots of the stockpile
of wood intended for cremation are a few of the overt allusions.
This 99-minute film shakes our condolences and tears
in our short journey. We also change with the characters. Shocked in some
scenes. While a feeling of Mercy and Salvation overwhelms you in few others.
There is nothing normal about Benaras and Death
Business in the film. But Shubhashish
has not considered making any comment on this.
He has only presented with the pain of a radical, life and relationship.
Bhutiani ensures that it’s not all about funeral but funereal – instances of
Daya’s quips from his ‘supposed’ deathbed or watching his favourite soap-opera
in Mukti Bhavan enliven the proceedings.
Also, the well-written escapade of Daya pairing up with longtime
resident and widowed Vimla (Navnindra Behl, real-life wife of Lalit Behl) takes
away from the grey and dismal genre of the film.
Tajder Junaid’s background score with its serene
guitar strings and cinematography by McSweeney and Huwiler, are the plus points
of this artsy film destined for film festivals around the globe.
Theatre and film actors Palomi Ghosh as Sunita,
Rajiv’s daughter and Geetanjali Kulkarni as Lata, his wife, shine in their
small roles. Lalit Behl has unmasked dramatic sensations in the character of
father seeking mukti or salvation. Navnindra
Behl and Anil Rastogi make a decent contribution in their small roles. Banaras
is also a character in the film. Artistes
who come as members of the Mukti Bhawan capture the mood of Benaras. But the
film belongs to veteran Adil Hussain who underplays his role of an overburdened
office employee, a dutiful son and a father whose daughter’s wedding is at
hand, to perfection.
On the whole, Mukti
Bhavan is a film that you can see about death by laughing and is another must watch film..
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