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Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara
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'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara' Thought Provoking

By Nitika Desai
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua’s movie Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara is not about the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The movie is about the Gandhian ideals that have been conveniently forgotten by today’s generation. The film is also a sensitive tale about a demented father and his caring daughter.

Uttam Chaudhry (Anupam Kher) is a scholar of Hindi and a retired professor. He has been a man of remarkable integrity and strong principles.

The

middle-class family of the professor comprises of a daughter, Trisha (Urmila Matondkar), and a son, Addy (Addy). The elder son of the family Ronu is in the US. Trisha is an NGO worker who shoulders responsibility of fending for the family. She is at a marriageable age. Addy is a carefree guy who wants to enjoy college life and take least possible commitments at home.

Things get complicated after professor Chaudhry starts having bouts of forgetfulness. Besides the occasional lapses of memory, the professor starts becoming absent-minded and delusional.

He no longer remembers when his wife passed away. He also forgets that he has retired and goes to lecture in the college.

And later, when Trisha’s boyfriend’s family comes to see her with a marriage proposal, professor Chaudhry acts in a demented way. The family goes back disappointed and Trisha’s boyfriend marries another woman of his parent’s choice, fearing that the dementia runs in the Chaudhry family.

Meanwhile, the professor’s condition begins to worsen. Flashes from his early memory begin to convince him that he is the man who killed Gandhiji. He starts getting paranoid and begins to see everything with suspicion, fear and trepidation. Normal life becomes impossible for him. Only his daughter Trisha stands by him in this terrible state of his.

Doctors give various possible explanations for the professor’s illness – paranoia, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia etc. But the problem lies deeper. The professor has a guilt deep inside which ought to be brought out. For this, Trisha and the docs decide to orchestrate a courtroom drama.

Jahnu Barua, the winner of several National awards and a consummate filmmaker, tells the story with great finesse. A sensitive subject like this one could have fallen flat, if not for Barua’s impeccable cinematic presentation that always focuses on the content and the emotive appeal rather than on style and technicalities. This is not to say that Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara is not technically competent.

Anupam Kher deserves an award for his performance in the film. He convincingly brings out the paranoia and the inner conflicts of his character. His performance in the movie’s second half particularly calls for applause.

Urmila Matondkar plays her part credibly. The sequences in which she stands out are the breakfast sequence (with Kher) and the scene of her outburst at her father after the family of her fiancé leaves their house.

Other actors that stand out are Raju Kher, Prem Chopra, Pravin Dabas. Waheeda Rahman has an inconsequential role, while Boman Irani (as lawyer) seems to overact at times. Newcomer Addy is adequate.

On the whole, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara is a thought provoking film that raises questions on many issues – the forgotten Gandhian ideals, the trauma of people in old age, the indifference of some children and the commitment of others.

The movie involves a viewer from initial reels and keeps him engaged until the end. Some viewers may not find the second half very credible and the whole orchestrated courtroom drama just to ensure a cathartic release of the guilt that is somewhere deep inside the professor may seem a bit far fetched.

But all in all, MGKNM is quality cinema.

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