'Pangira's' message gets lost in the conveying

Film: Pangira (Marathi) (U)

Cast: Meeta Sawarkar, Pramod Pawar, Kishor Kadam, Santosh Juwekar, Shashank Shende, Chinmay Mandlekar & others

Director: Rajeev Patil

Rating: **1/2

Yet another Marathi film aspiring to connect urban audiences with their roots is being released this week. Based on eminent writer Vishwas Patil’s popular novel of the same name, Pangira is the tale of a titular village in Maharashtra plagued by acute water shortage, rapidly declining rural ethos, and degrading human values.

The study of water conservation and new farming techniques brings PhD student Sumitra (Sawarkar) to Pangira. Here she finds herself being sucked into the day-to-day quarrels of the villagers. Brother killing brother over land, the notoriously influential and corrupt gram panchayat sarpanch, inter-village disputes — Pangira has it all.

Script writers Sanjay K Patil and Rajeev Patil (also the director) know their subject well, so well that they present it as a litany of never-ending woes. Credit cannot be taken away for highlighting the issues plaguing our many villages.

So serious is the treatment, however, that monotony seems inescapable. But during a chat, the director mentioned that the serious tone of the film won approval at the Pune, Nashik, Jaipur and four other film festivals.

The main purpose of Pangira seems to be to attract attention and inform the audience. A purpose well served as the information drones on. But forget sensitising the viewer, the happenings become repulsive after a while.

The lack of subtlety (required to pack a punch with a heavy subject like this) and the need to connect with urban India seem contradictory. Those who would relate to what unfolds on screen probably won’t have the resources to buy a ticket to a theatre. They live in Pangira every day. This is not to undermine the effort of the Patils in bringing to the fore issues threatening to soil the integrity of our villages. Their idealism is too good to be believed.

Sanjay dons many hats for Pangira and the credit for dialogue and lyrics need special mention. The few lines highlighting the deteriorating state of affairs of the rural canvas move you. Each actor represents the varied hues that come together to form the agricultural canvas of Pangira. Each of them brings his or her best to the table. Amlendu Chaudhary’s cinematography captures the essence of rural Maharashtra in its finest form.

Watch this one only if you feel the need to connect to your roots.

Disclaimer: Don’t be surprised if you are disappointed.