Gharat Ganpati yet another proud moment for Marathi cinema

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In the steadily growing list of sterling movies being created in Marathi cinema that are also object lessons to Hindi filmmakers in how to make an engrossing and entertaining movie that is also original and has (not compulsory at all) subtle messages to society, Gharat Ganpati is another enthralling addition.

Not only does it tell a fresh family story that keeps us chuckling, smiling or touched in the right way, but it also delivers multiple homilies, about parents and children, the generation gap, of opening minds on caste and marriages, gender equality and sibling and family bonds that may rust as age increases.

The Gharat family lives in a hamlet in Goa, and it has been an age-old tradition to celebrate the Ganpati (Lord Ganesh) festival there for 7 days. The festival is not only looked forward to by the oldest members, Appa (Dr. Sharad Bhutadia) and Mai (Sushma Deshpande) but even the youngest ones and the villagers as well.

Appa’s younger son, Sharad (Ajinkya Deo) has moved to Mumbai to make a living and is very well-to-do. He comes to the village every year to celebrate along with his wife Ahilya (Ashwini Bhave), son Ketan (Bhushan Pradhan), who works in Delhi, and daughter Neha (Rajasi Bhave). The elder brother, Bhau (Sharad Mone) and his family live with Appa, as does the sister Kusum Atya (Shubhangi Gokhale), whose husband has left her, and her son.

A surprise guest arrives during the 124^th year of the Ganpati celebration: Ketan’s ‘friend’ from Delhi, Kriti Ahuja (Nikita Dutta), a Yoga instructor who thrives on Instagram. Ketan tells his family that she has come to experience everything about the week-long celebration. Ketan’s mother frowns upon this sudden intrusion but Kriti gradually wins over everyone else.

Obviously Ketan has brought Kriti there as they want to marry and wants her to win over his clan. Soon, this truth is out, but there are other issues simmering: Sharad has been financing the Gharat’s Ganpati festival as Bhau, essentially a farmer, can barely makes ends meet. Tensions arise as Appa is told that moneys being difficult, the week-long tradition has to be broken and from next year, the idol will be kept only for one-and-a-half days, the minimum period Lord Ganesh is traditionally installed prior to immersion. The youngsters protest, and alongside, there is an undercurrent where Kriti is unfairly made the focus of the unrest in the family by Ahilya.

As admiration mounts for Ketan’s ‘boldness’ and Kriti goes upfront about many aspects of the family, emotions and passions boil up to the surface and spill over…

There are several points in the last forty minutes or so where I did not want this heartwarming, ingeniously-conceived film to end. This is because, while we all know that the happy ending(s) will happen (as this is a mainstream, nor art film!), the ‘how’ of it can make a film go awry, as has happened in innumerable cases in cinema.

Navjyot Narendra Bandiwadekar is a dazzling new entrant as producer-writer and director in feature films after making shorts. Though trained in San Francisco in filmmaking, he is clearly initiated from there into the right aspects of film writing and making, as we can smell ‘Indian / Marathi cinema’ in every frame. The dialogues are a highlight and the technical values are upmarket. The music is average, but obviously the major booster for the film comes from the well-etched characterizations that lead to impeccable performances. Of course, the late Atul Parachure (of Main saamaan leke aaoon? fame from All The Best) does an intermittent voice-over as Lord Ganpati himself and does an excellent job of it!

Nikita Dutta, as the outsider, relays the perfect mix of determination and doubt and essays the perfect feel of someone wanting to belong, but on her own terms, to a sweet yet (in many ways) dysfunctional family. Dr. Sharad Bhutadia as Appa, Sanjay Mone as Bhau and Sameer Khandekar as Ashok Bhauji shine among the men, while the female honors go to Shubhangi Latkar as Bhau’s wife Sunanda, Shubhangi Gokhale as Kusum Aatya, Pari Telang as Deepali and Divyalaxmi Maisanam as Aashna. As Maai, Sushma Deshpande comes into her own towards the last half an hour.

Surprisingly, the only below-par performances come from Ajinkya Deo as Sharad, Ashwini Bhave as Ahilya, who tends to be stiff rather than stern, and Bhushan Pradhan as Ketan. But when a film is so above average, blips like these barely matter.

If you want to enjoy yet cherish an original film, do not miss this one even if you do not speak Marathi. There are subtitles and language dubs to help.

Rating: ****

Amazon Prime Video presents Navigns Studio’s & Panorama Studios’ Gharat Ganpati  Produced by: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak, Namrata Narendra Bandiwadekar, Navjyot Narendra Bandiwadekar & Gauri Kalelkar Choudhari  Directed by: Navjyot Narendra Bandiwadekar  Written by: Navjyot Narendra Bandiwadekar,  Alok Sutar, Vaibhav Chinchalkar & Chaitanya Saindane  Music: Sanket Sane  Starring: Nikita Dutta, Bhushan Pradhan, Ajinkya Deo, Ashwini Bhave, Sanjay Mone, Shubhangi Latkar, Shubhangi Gokhale, Sushma Deshpande, Dr. Sharad Bhutadia, Sameer Khandekar, Ashish Pathode, Pari Telang, Rupesh Bane, Rajasi Bhave, Rupesh Bane, Divyalaxmi Maisanam & Voice-Over: Atul Parachure