2019, Marathi, 5.1/10 IMDB, Netflix, Directed by Aruna Raje
A beautifully choregraphed film, that claims love and sex are two different things by adorning feminism and redefining chauvinism while at it.
A seemingly simple story of a feminist lawyer, Sunandha played by Usha Jadhav, has many layers to it. She is a dalit rape victim in her school days and her parents had disowned her. She apparently had handled the trauma by herself.
Her dear friend Madhav played by the fantastic Girish Kulkarni, during her NGO days, weds her. The couple are in abundant love but experience sexual problems as Sunandha’s rape incident haunts her.
The director reveals later that Madhav had ignored the fact that she may not be ready for marriage. She even warns him that he will regret it. He never regrets it though and is the epitome of a caring husband who understands her completely.
The couple’s visit to the psychiatrist helps them to an extent. The exercise of writing about the incident and narrating it in front of the mirror, at some point tires them as a couple.
Madhav infers that the clients Sunandha handles in the family court, might have some impact, in her not ‘letting go’ of her past. Sunandha, pities Madhav thinking her past disturbs their marriage. Sunandha, insists they get a divorce. They mutually decide to separate for a while.
The story takes an unanticipated turn out of no where. One has to totally give it to the feminism quotient of the Director Aruna Raje’s perception. The intention of the maker, poetically transcends the visuals on screen. The film ends with a feeling of content, as the director’s mature treatment leaves you in an awe.
Sachin Khedekar plays the husband of a client of Sunandha’s. The client accuses her husband of being a womanizer. This aspect, kind of greys his acquaintance with Sunandha. But when the director decodes the implication it has in Sunandha’s relationship with Madhav, those moments are a total revelation of the character’s strengths.
The list of Sunandha’s clients, such as a beauty pageant mom disowning her autistic child blaming her husband for the bad gene, a grieving family of a girl whose husband is gay, shadows the societal issues.
The court scenes give an occasional detached staged feel, but the character’s intentions compensate for the lack of personal connect to them.
A worthy watch.