Ole Aale is Marathi remake of engaging Gujarati father-son saga

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The first Marathi release of the New Year, Ole Aale is, at face level, a humorous entertainer about a father and his son. The father, Omkar Lele (Nana Patekar)’s medical reports show a malignant tumor of the brain and so he may live for anything from two days to 10 years! But the mischievous, ever-garrulous and dominating old man wants to now go on a pilgrimage as there is a month to go before he gets an appointment with the world’s best brain surgeon in New York.

The son, Aditya Lele (Siddharth Chandekar), a classically busy man who is a workaholic extraordinaire, is told by their family doctor-cum-close relative, Dr. Pallavi (Tanvi Azmi), that his father must be indulged and though it is against his grain because of his father’s condition, the son leaves his work aside and takes his dad along to Rishikesh and from there to other destinations higher up in the hills.

During the course of this journey, the two accidentally encounter a young Maharashtrian trekker, Kyra (Sayali Sanjeev), who has been separated from her young group, and also two crooks (one of them is an African Black who understands Marathi!) and several other assorted characters. A series of adventures and misadventures follow.

Soon, Aditya realizes that there is more to life than money and success and regrets wasting time and not paying attention to his father’s yearning for his company, when he does not even know how much time his father has now left to live. But then there is a twist in the tale.

And this twist, ironically, is what undid a good part of the film for me. Had it been of the predictable kind (like Ole not being ill at all, or a mistake in the medical reports), the film would have worked better as a pure entertainer with a message. Most of the situations are well juiced for the fun element and some are even hilarious. But after the twist, sense goes out of the window as the movie goes into the realm of the absurd and illogical. To detail why would be a spoiler though!

However, I must commend the writers (this is a remake of the 2019 Gujarati film Chaal Jeevi Laiye!) for the roles and great lines they have given to all the characters and the director for extracting performances that go beyond even the seasoned expertise of the three main actors. Yes, Nana Patekar, yet again after the brilliant performance he gave last year’s The Vaccine War, is stupendous.

Incidentally, Omkar Lele is shortened to the phonetic Marathi O. Le and his son Aditya Lele’s to the phonetic Aa Le, explaining the film’s title. Literally, as words, ‘Ole’ means ‘wet’ and ‘Aale’ means ‘have arrived’: and well, there is a rafting sequence in the movie that can fit the film’s title. Actually, though, the movie title simply stands for the father-son duo!

Siddharth Chandekar as the concerned, sober yet irascible son is superb, and together with Nana, the moments of tenderness mixed with intentional mischief on Ole’s part and concerned irritability from the son contribute to the high level of emotional quotient the film has without becoming maudlin or over-melodramatic.

Sayali Sanjeev makes a mark yet again after Jhimma 2 (which also featured Siddharth). Makrand Anaspure as the family domestic and Tanvi Azmi as Dr. Pradhan are effective in their limited roles. And I liked the two crooks, especially the African artiste.

Sachin-Jigar’s music—this is probably their Marathi debut—is excellent and Rajiv Bhatt’s background score well-done. The cinematography by Gulam Nabi is outstanding and captures scenic locales with passion.

If you are looking out for a film with great Entertainment and Emotional Quotients, Ole Aale is just your cup of tea. The Intelligence Quotient is where it falls short, but I guess in Indian cinema, where movie watching is a family enterprise, that does not matter much.

And yes, if you are a father, take your son or daughter along. And vice-versa. Because in India, cinema itself is an emotion, and logic can go take a walk with the reviewer!

Coconut Motion Pictures’ Ole Aale  Produced by: Rashmin Majithia  Directed by: Vipul Mehta  Written by: Vipul Mehta & Jainesh Ejardar  Music: Sachin-Jigar  Starring: Nana Patekar, Siddharth Chandekar, Sayali Sanjeev, Makrand Anaspure, Tanvi Azmi, Badrish Chhabra, Deepankaj Poonia & others