After waiting for nearly 6 months (much thanks to the reluctance of Mumbai theaters to show good movies) , I finally got to watch this movie today. Rather fortunately I saw Peepli Live 2 weeks ago (unfortunately for Peepli I suppose), and I cannot help but feel pity about the way such a sensitive topic was handled in Peepli (although it was intended to be merely a satire on the media).
The story is seen through the eyes of young Shyam (Chinmay Kambli) whose father (Mouli - played superbly by Bharat Kadhav) falls prey to the demons of debt. The innocence of the protagonist compounded with the simplicity of the rural background, the movie reminisces of the 2008 masterpiece 'Valu'.
There seems to be no doubt as to why Jhing Chik Jhing bagged all the Marathi movie awards, as the story and the acting had excellent collaboration. Chinmay Kambli was the true star of this movie, and watching Bharat Jadhav play such a serious role (for a change) and with such supremacy was a delight. The supporting cast (Madhavi Juvekar, Arti More, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Sanjay Mone) also manage to carve their niche with aplomb.
Where this movie scores over most movies I've seen in the past 5 years is the it held me back and made me think, hours after the movie was over (its not that you don't understand it easily, like with Inception). How a (now) meager amount of 10,000 can impel the incapacitated towards familial suicide, in a world where a large portion of the urban population spends the same amount in a single trip to a shopping mall. The most touching movie I've seen since Taare Zameen Par, it is a must watch.
