Movie Review - Mukti Bhawan by Suhel Johar

Mukti Bhavan Is A Tragicomic Film That Strings To Your Heart.

 

When one has a premonition that death is imminent, there is bound to be consternation. And when the person happens to be a 77-year-old, there could be some amusing moments too.

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..