This is a love story with a spiritual background. Definitely not a typical masala Hindi film, but nonetheless an attempt that tries to bridge the gap between commercial and artistic. The film highlights the point of how spiritualism can uplift a person and make them rise from despair and the failures that one encounters in this materialistic world.
Banaras - A Mystic Love story is based in Banaras, a place that is still rich in culture and tradition. The film has been directed by Pankaj Parashar and stars the talented Urmila Matondkar (Shwetambiri), Ashmit Patel (Sohan), Naseeruddin Shah (Babaji), Raj Babbar, Dimple Kapadia, Akash Khurana, Arif Zakaria and Javed Khan.
Shwetambiri (Urmila) is the young, beautiful and vivacious daughter of Brahmin parents, Dimple and Raj Babbar. She studies science at the Banaras University, where Sohan, a low caste mystic teaches music at the same University. Shweta and Sohan fall in love with each other. Sohan is an orphan who is brought up by Babaji (Naseruddin) a spiritual preacher from the low caste. At first Shweta’s parents disapprove of their daughter’s choice of a life partner. The young couple’s relationship affects the entire town, where there is a strong predominance of the caste system, a voice of dissent rises from the high castes. In spite of this Shweta’s parents ultimately relent in the face of their daughter’s happiness.
However, fate has something else in store for Shweta and on the day of the wedding, Sohan is murdered. Shweta is inconsolable and completely grief stricken. The killer who murdered Sohan is never found. Finally, in her quest for answers, Shweta decides to go away from Banaras and vows never to return to this land, which has stolen her lover from her. Shweta embarks on a spiritual journey to find many answers and to deal with all her grief. After seventeen years, Shweta becomes a world teacher in philosophy and religion. Now her father is ill and on his deathbed, Shweta is faced with the dilemma of going back to Banaras, the city that robbed her of everything. Will Shweta be able to confront her demons, will she be able to deal with the truth that she unearths?
Pankaj’s direction and screenplay is very good. The sensitivity with which he has carried forth the film is clearly visible. Even the flash back mode used by him makes for an interesting start. The execution of the various sequences happens with a smooth transition and the story slowly unfolds. This is definitely more than a love story; it is the transition of a girl from innocent and naïve to spiritual and mature. It’s how spiritualism changes her life. The director has managed to capture the relationships very well like father-daughter, teacher-pupil and lover’s relations. Emotional content of the film is high and the climax of the film is especially done very sensitively. It seems to be worth the wait.
Even though the film has good content and has been directed aptly, one of the most important factors is the mass appeal for this film. This kind of film caters only to particular niche audiences. It will perhaps not be able to reach out to lay common people, to whom the concept and content may lack hype and masala of typical Hindi films. This will definitely affect the saleability of the movie. Also, the pace of the movie, especially towards the end seems slow and drags a bit.
Nirav Shah’s cinematography is completely riveting; he has managed to capture the scenic beauty of Banaras and its beautiful locations. Himesh Reshammiya’s music is average and dialogues by Javed Siddiqui are of pure Hindi dialect, which may at times seem to baffle viewers. As for performances, Urmila Matondkar delivers a sensitive and mature performance. Ashmit Patel finally comes on his own in this film and will definitely be noticed this time round. Naseruddin Shah is very good as always in his character of Babaji. Dimple Kapadia too delivers an apt performance, especially in the climax shot. Raj Babbar is more than competent.
The cast is good, the story is different and meaningful, but unfortunately, the film will appeal to only a segment of society, preferably the thinking audience who want something different. The movie will definitely get critical appreciation. But in spite of this, the film may not able to notch it at the box-office.
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| Reviewed By: Rachel Fernandes |
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