Vanvaas hits out at social evil in lengthy but effective way

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Vanvaas punches you where it matters: in the emotional solar plexus. Parents, who  give children all the care and love and even worldly things, need their progeny’s support and affection as they grow old(er). And if a son or daughter does not do that out of purely selfish reasons, including monetary, nothing can be more inhuman.

Deepak Tyagi (Nana Patekar), resident of Shimla, has built his own house that he has named after his wife, Vimla (Khushboo Sunder)—the couple has had a truly romantic life since they first met as teenagers. They have three married sons who in turn have children of their own. When the story begins, Vimla is no more and Deepak, now fairly old, is in the throes of dementia and the medical treatment he needs for it is a must. In his bouts of normalcy, he decides that the house will be converted into a trust so that it is not sold off to prospective buyers for profit as it is placed in a prime location but is suffused with his wife’s memories.

His family seems to support this move, but actually decide to ‘dump’ him in an old-age home in Benares, but none of those sanctuaries will accept him unless the family’s details are provided. As this does not fit into their heinous scheme, they go to a crowded aarti happening in the pilgrimage city, and after slyly taking away his Aadhaar (official Indian identification) Card and memory medicines, they abandon Deepak. After the medicine’s effects are over, Deepak is convinced that he has lost his three sons, aged 11, 9 and 5 (or thereabouts) and helplessly looks for them! This had been a passing incident in the past when his wife was alive.

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The first person he seeks help from to locate his sons happens to be the local con-man and petty thief, Veeru (Utkarsh Sharma), an orphan who had been abandoned by his parents, with his two close friends and cohorts (Rajpal Yadav and another actor) having a similar back-story. Veeru manages to rob the wad of notes in Deepak’s possession and decamps.

By a chain of incidents, Veeru has to forcibly meet Deepak again and this time, his girl (Simratt Kaur)’s aunt, Rampatiya Mausi (Ashwini Kalsekar), who disapproves of the youngster, tells him that she will give her hand in marriage to him only if he manages to relocate the old man suitably. Veeru decides to help out of purely selfish interests and hands Deepak (who does not even remember his name) over to an ‘agent’ who assures him that he will take him far away to an old-age home in Kerala. By chance, they then come to know that he works for an organ trafficker and Veeru rescues Deepak in the nick of time. Getting closer to the old man, he decides that he must now actually search for his family. His friends and the girl and mausi rally round, but it’s a challenging task ahead.

Meanwhile, rid of the old man, whom the family has claimed drowned in the waters of the river Ganga, the sons and their spouses are planning their own futures. They have taken the trouble of even investing in a fake death certificate so that certain legal hassles are overcome.

Anil Sharma (Shraddhanjali, Apne) returns to his family drama space and continues to exhibit his strong grip on the emotional current that was also evident in his Gadar franchise. His other likings—for lengthy narrations and Hindi cinema elements like action, comedy and songs—are also clear. At 2.40, the film could have been trimmed to a neat 2.15 or so by eschewing some needless sequences including fights, a superfluous sequence of a threatening don from Benares and finally, a token appearance of Deepak’s past devoted student (Manish Wadhwa).

However, for all that, the film manages to hold attention from frame one to the last, though I did not relish the post-climax that deprives the viewer of expected cinematic gratification. But the sequences where Deepak meets his family again are marked by solid drama, realistic lines and steers clear of melodrama, which would have looked hopelessly dated in today’s times.

Needless to say, the spot-on Nana Patekar is the life, soul and spirit of this film, and shines even more in the emotionally fragile and susceptible sequences. He is in normal fettle as the angry man and his wry humor is also well in form. Utkarsh Sharma as Veeru shines all through in the various shades of his character. He has grown tremendously since Genius and Gadar 2 to become a package that, with the right moves and opportunities, will make for a complete star. Simratt Kaur delivers what is expected from her.

Rajpal Yadav, in a very different role and Ashwini Kalsekar are fantastic in their supporting roles, and the sons and daughters-in-law are adequately cast. So are the others, with Rajesh Sharma and Rajiv Gupta making a mark in their brief roles.

The technical side is serviceable, though I wonder why Kabir Lal’s camerawork looks oddly 1980s instead of ‘today’. Monty Sharma’s background score aids the film, but the songs are very average.

But overall, the film carries a solid message. I would say that it is a must-watch for every generation.

Rating: ****

Zee Studios’ & Anil Sharma Productions’ Vanvaas  Produced by: Suman Sharma & Anil Sharma Directed by: Anil Sharma Written by: Anil Sharma, Sunil Sirvaiya & Amjad Ali  Music: Mithoon  Starring: Nana Patekar, Utkarsh Sharma, Simratt Kaur, Rajpal Yadav, Paritosh Tripathi, Ashwini Kalsekar, Rajesh Sharma, Virendra Saxena, Hemant Kher, Shruti Marathe, Snehil Dixit Mehra, Prashant Bajaj, Ketan Singh, Harish Lamba, Bhakti Rathore, Mushtaq Khan, Rajiv Gupta Sp. App.: Manish Sharma & others

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