Movie Review

Na Ghar Ka Na Ghaat Ka:

If you get this movie on video, don't panic. Even with the volume at 'Full', you'll have to strain your ears in order to hear the dialogues. And, that's how it's meant to be, and that's what makes the movie unique.

It's a simple story- the Varanasi lad(the guy hanging from the photo frame in the pic) tops his exams and travels to Mumbai where he's got a job at a telecom company. The hero's dad is Om Puri, whose most 'usual' habit is to raise his kurta and untie his pyjamas/lungi, to get at his 'money belt' that he keeps in front only. The whole family comes to drop him off at the railway station, Om Puri opens his 'strings' and gives him some money to take with him. Plus the hero has to carry about 15 items of luggage, since there're different bags for achaar, lunch, et al.(Reminded me of the days of yore, when even a bedroll used to be a standard accessories when travelling by train in IInd class).

 Ravi Kissan plays some kind of kind-hearted goonda, who has enmity with only one policeman, Paresh Rawal. Our village lad gets to put up with Ravi in his one room, where Ravi has to hide the bulb when he goes out, to avoid people stealing it.

The hero goes back to his village for 10 days, since there're holidays in his office, courtesy Ganesh Chaturthi. And, his Dad marries him off- but, wait- his wife wears her ghoonghat throughout the wedding, and even after....So, he never sees her face, even when he leaves back for Mumbai.

The rest of the movie is as funny as ever- Om Puri and Co bring the hero's wife to Mumbai to leave her there. She's never seen a bar, so, while she's downstairs waiting for the hero, she goes near it and gets arrested during a police raid. And, Paresh Rawal wants 'proof' that she's not a bar girl. So, the whole village lands up at the police station, but, none of them have proof of the paper kind, so he doesn't believe that her parents are her own, her Mama-Chacha,etc are her own. They show the wedding album, but she's always in a ghoonghat, so that also gets rejected.

Finally, a brainwave from Ravi Kissen gets her released, after a bit of action. And, they all live happily ever after.

It was quite a telling comment, in a way, on the ways of the village and the cities - the stark difference between them, that is. In the village, people trust each other, don't look for documents as proof of everything. While, in cities, documents are everything, as we all know.

See the movie if you'd like off the beaten track movies, with a nice humorour vein running throughout. In fact, if the dialogues had been full blast, I doubt that I'd have enjoyed it to the extent I did. Well, it's not superlative to the extent of a Awara Paagal Deewana or a Hungama(more Paresh Rawal's movies) but still, enjoyable fare.

Till next time, keep smiling.