This Friday the M Town has a couple of releases, which certain has the one called Astu: So Be It. The Marahti movie has Dr. Mohan Agashe, Iravati Harshe, Milind Soman, Amruta Subhash, Nachiket Purnapatre, Devika Daftardar, Ila Bhate and Laxmi (the elephant) in the lead and supporting roles. The film is directed by Sumitra Bhave along with Sunil Sukthankar, while it is produced by Sheela Rao under the banner of the group called Gauurikaa Films. Sumitra Bhave who is the known and talented filmmaker in M Town has written the story along with giving the screenplay of the same. The film is a social drama, which raises certain pertinent questions about life and its phases. Let’s dig in deep into the film to get the crux of the same as under:
Plot
You have a man called Appa played by Dr. Chakrapani Shastri who is suffering from the ailment called Dementia. His daughter Ira and the husband Madhav help Appa to cope up his life from the decaying memory. However, one day this many goes lost which makes Ira in a panicking situation and thus trapped in the memory of her father. On the other side, Appa is seen living from moments with tramp couple and Laxmi the female element. The film is all about the father and daughter relationship and the way the roles are changed when memory of her father gets lost.
Review
One phase that defines the money is truth always has the base or awareness while there is hardly any awareness without the truth. In fact, this very line is quoted by the character in the movie at the very start of Astu. The movie debates whether the sense of man is everything. When you find that sense going missing, will you find the person living with him or her? Or do you find the person living in a hollow shell goes for an empty reminder of anyone now being lost forever. The Marathi movie Astu is thy name of intelligent filmmaking wherein the story is seen transcending from a number of events leading to a philosophical and ideological discussion regarding the things he meant to be human whereas it keeps people involved with the central characters along with their blossoming relationships. It is a shame that simple and humane based movie like Astu is seen taking such a long time in order to get the film released and thus seen resorting to crowd funding but it would simply touching to finally catch up the same in theatres.
If you are seen generalizing the modern way of Marathi filmmaking, one can find two different contrast categories of movies – content oriented and entertainment oriented. The former gets applauded at the film festivals and getting awards while the other pleases the masses. The former goes to the next level in building up the brand of India globally. There are few exceptions to this rule; however, generally speaking the kind simply remains airtight if you talk about the audience. Both the directors are known for giving content rich movies and getting a couple of awards at the national level for Astu bears testimony to this.
The movie is seen developing two different converging timelines, and Astu simply works on a practical along with the metaphorical level. It is realistically portrayed the different stages of Alzheimer disease causing illness to the patient and the family. It narrates the story of a relationship in between a daughter and a father along with the need of that relationship that evolves into something different. The film then addresses the room kind of conditions wherein it is seen dealing with the younger generation caring for the parents and the feeling that arises for being ill and thus prepared for the task. Contrasting the man who is seen losing his memory over the animal that never forgets the movie has presented the irony before the audience apart from using this animal as the divinity symbol.
Talking about the performances, Astu is seen with an accomplished cast. Dr. Mohan Agashe and Iravati Harshe happen to be a powerhouse performer and is able to supported the best by actors like Milind Soman and Amrutha Subhash who has won the national awards for this film under the category of best supporting category along with having a competitive actor like Nachiket Purnapate being a couple backed a cool performance by the animal. Talking about the direction and other things, Astu seems to have set standards for other films to follow not just in M Town but other film industries as well.
Astu- Last Word
Well, it is said in M Town that the audience of Marathi movies are supposed to revisit their conventional definition of the term entertainment. The movies simply need to be confined to just melodrama, action, comedy or any other general formats to amuse the entertainers. Even a simple story like Astu has the potential to intrigue the audiences along with identifying the roles along with the story that makes you reckon, is entertainment. If you do not believe this better check the film Astu.
Rating – 3.5
