Gabhricha Paus

Recent efforts in Marathi cinema have been tremendous. It has been more fulfilling and satisfying than the brainless Bollywood films. So I decided to check out the movie that had an intriguing title.

Gabricha Pais is a great first effort by its director. It is the first movie on the farmer suicides that have been steadily increasing over this past decade. It tells us the story of a farmer called Kisna and his family.

The movie opens with the suicide of a farmer and everyone is worried now as it is the first suicide of the season. Kisna's wife beings to worry that he too will commit suicide. She along with her mother in law begin to keep watch on him to prevent his suicide.

What follows is one man's attempt to farm. Farm through too much rain, farm through no rain but steadily this man begins to fall into the pit of despair as he falls deeper into debt and no yields. There are some tiny bits of what you might call black comedy and the ending is one of the most powerful scenes I have witnessed in Indian Cinema

There are a few things lacking in this film. A good editor would have gone a long way in making this film a masterpiece and a more human side but even so these things must be overlooked. Indian cinema is becoming more realistic and intelligent and Gabricha Paus is helping it along.

This film is without a doubt one of the best portrayal of plight of poor farmer in India. The debt trap of the farmer, the indifferent government, local politicians, moneylenders and last but not least the indifferent (as if it is not supposed to be) weather; how they all come together and weak havoc in poor farmer's life.

Sonali Kulkarni delivers her career best performance. I have been to Rural Maharashtra and never seen a realistic portrayal of village women for whom their husband is their living god.

Climax actually is something which cuts you from within and you feel that internal bleeding inside you. You know something is wrong but the melancholy slowly sips inside you and refuses to go away for a very long time.

The film makes us feel how like a never ending downward spiral the lives of Farmers in india are. The advantage is that the film is shot in real locations. Girish Kulkarni and Veena Jamkar are the two best actors in the film. Sonali Kulkarni suffers at the hand of a wig and certain elements of her look that just don't fit in. But she as always doesn't do a bad job at all. One of the good films that depict the condition of the rural Indian farmer.

I saw this film at Noordelijk Filmfestival 2011 (in Leeuwarden, province of Friesland NL). The announcement text sounded intriguing. It had all the appearances of a non-Bollywood product and promised a honest view on average life in India, the latter known as a country with an ability to make interesting films. Apart from that, being grown up as a farmer's son, I have seen with my own eyes which problems a farmer has to face, strongly dependent on external influences like the weather, prices of seeds and fertilizer, etcetera.

The story revolves around a farmer (Kisna), his wife (Alka), their son (Dinu), and a grandmother with no name, all living in the same house. The opening scene shows a recent suicide of an other farmer, who could not cope with ever growing debts and failing income. Alka is afraid that her husband will follow this example, and assigns their son Dinu to accompany him all day long, and to report back anything out of the ordinary. We also see the forebodes of impending doom, as TV news announces that the usual monsoon (rain season) won't come at the expected time.

Alka has every reason to be worried. She attempts to influence his bad mood by cooking a rich meal. We see that she cannot pay the grocer, thereby only increasing their debts. Kisna is aware of this and a hefty quarrel is the result, defying the purpose of the mail she cooked with good intentions. She tries sex as another strategy, but Kisna is too worried to honor the invitation.

Along the story it becomes more and more clear that man and wife live in different worlds, metaphorically speaking. This natural separation is exposed in a core scene. That is when the grandmother remarks that she and Alka are so busy with their daily grind, that they fail in taking the time to understand the motives and the problems of the husband. Several other scenes confirm this not-so-splendid isolation as a fact of life.

All in all, apart from the need I felt to edit away some scenes to get a more compact final product, I was very satisfied having seen this film. I gave the maximum score for the audience award when leaving the theater, disregarding a few flaws, thereby hoping that we may see more of these film makers in the near future.

Highly under rated film. The script, the performances and the camera speaks above everything. Language shouldn't be a barrier, the emotions and scenario is universal. Superb acting by the young kid Aman Attar. The end is where you shatter from within. Must watch.