A trip to Sajjanpur is a must

Welcome to Sajjanpur
Director: Shyam Benegal
Cast: Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Rao, Ravi Kishan
Rating: *** and a half

'Welcome to Sajjanpur', or 'Mahadev ka Sajjanpur', the earlier title of the film (the censor certificate has retained the original too). Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade) is a wannabe novelist and is among the more literate, educated folks in Sajjanpur, a village in North India.

Not inclined towards menial jobs like running his family vegetable shop, Mahadev opts for a more interesting career choice: Writing letters for the village-folk, most of who are illiterate, and others who are unable to express their feelings in writing as well as Mahadev can.

So, a village goon (Yashpal Sharma), who is supporting his under-trial wife to win the panchayat elections, strong-arms Mahadev into writing to the village collector and falsely implicating the opposition candidate to have a link with Pakistan's ISI. A village majnu (Ravi Kishan) is in love with a widow, and coaxes Mahadev to write a love letter in which majnu can express his feelings to her.

A eunuch, who eventually fights the elections against the goon, forces Mahadev to write a song that the eunuch can use as a slogan to win the elections. Among other such village bumpkins is Kamala (Amrita Rao), whose husband Banshi has left to earn a buck in Mumbai four years ago, soon after the wedding, and hasn't returned since then. Mahadev falls in love with Kamala and starts manipulating the letters to ensure that Kamala and Banshi never meet again.

Too many plots, you would think. At the interval point, I thought so too. Till then, the journey has been breezy. As each plot unfolds, you are left amused at the antics of Mahadev and other villagers, the fresh, witty dialogues and double entrendes that are presented in a sophisticated manner that's hard to find when the 'S' word pops up.

So far so good. But how will it go from here? Will all opened knots be closed once again? Will each story reach a fulfilling end? I wasn't disappointed. In the second half, the film goes about closing each chapter intertwined with the main story, in a beautifully thought-provoking manner, the humour undercurrent present throughout.

The seamless script (Screenplay, Dialogue: Ashok Mishra) keeps the pace intact, and the songs (Music: Shantanu Moitra) actually further the story. In the end, the film achieves much more than it sets out to. It amalgamates hard realities (honour killings, political manipulations, superstition etc) with a feel-good setup, leaves you entertained and somewhere a little touched too.

The performances needn't be classified. They are all exemplary. Shreyas Talpade, of course, needs to be mentioned. To carry the film on his shoulders, like only an actor of high caliber would, is indeed praiseworthy. And Talpade achieves that effortlessly. It would also be nice to see some more of Ravi Kishan in Hindi films.

Shyam Benegal, who promised Welcome to Sajjanpur to be a political satire and a romantic comedy at the same time, manages to do justice to both aspects of the film. The veteran shows deftness in both the emotional scenes, which is his forte, and the comic scenes, extracting great performances from the entire cast.

Pay a visit to Sajjanpur at the nearest multiplex this weekend. You won't regret it.

g_aniruddha@dnaindia.net