Kaksparsh Movie Review
Known for their ‘out of the box’ subjects, Marathi films have already established their identity as story-based films, all over the world. Kaksparsh is one of them. This movie is based on short story by Usha Datar by the same name and I must say this movie really needs a lot patience. Kaksparsh movie narrates the story of Hari Damle aka Hari dada and his family around the British era between 1930-1950’s from a small village in Konkan, Maharashtra.
Kaksparsh Movie Storyline
Hari’s family consists of his wife Tara and 3 children and younger kid brother, Mahadev. The story begins with Hari dada looking for a bride for Mahadev with the help of his best friend Balwant, who also is a freedom fighter. Those were the days, when girls used to get married even before reaching their puberty. Hari dada gets Mahadev married to one such girl, Durga (whose name is changed to Uma after marriage by Mahadev). But tragedy strikes and within a few months Mahadev dies on the day of their consummation of the marriage. Hari being head of the family performs the death rituals for Mahadev by offering rice and sesame seeds to crow. As per Hindu religion, it is believed that the soul becomes free from the deceased body when a crow touches (Kaksparsh) the offered food. After waiting for long time seeing that no crow is touching the offered food, Hari dada murmurs something which we come to know at the end of the movie and immediately we see crow eating the food and this is when the actual movie begins.
The story is very strong and intense; it appeals to your senses. Hari dada has soft corner for Uma and stands behind her in all her difficulties and fights with society for not following the protocol like shaving head of widow etc. He then keeps making decisions with respect to widowed Uma who keeps struggling between his family also misleading audiences that he has feelings for Uma. There are a few scenes like celebrating a girl’s puberty with a beautiful song explaining everything about hardships that women faced. Then once Uma sitting outside room of a married couple listening to their playful talk where Uma tries to find what exactly happens on the day of wedding night are simply presented in a well crafted sans vulgar manner. And then complicated love story between the two Hari and Uma, who are burdened by the responsibilities, everything has been put together very nicely. You gotta to see then end.
A 2012 released movie and very powerful story on human relationships, its complexities and the social values in India. You definitely stick to see the end. Performances are amazing. Sachin Khedekar aka Hari dada gives us an outstanding performance. I didn’t like the young Uma’s role played by Ketaki Mategaonkar, but Priya Bapat as grown up Uma has done a fantastic job.
Medha Manjrekar as Tara, Sanjay as Balwant. Abhijeet Kelkar as Mahadev and Vaibhav Mangle as the Brahmin Pandit too are outstanding. Dialogues are strong and music goes hand in hand with the story line. This movie makes us change the definition of Love. There is no fooling around or romantic scenes just eye contact and willingness to claim a person you love is just overwhelming. The movie sticks to its subject from the beginning till the end. The locations ,costumes, and language are just worthy enough and takes us back to that era. Though I felt that it was rushed on the first part and later part was dragged till the end.
Overall, Kaksparsh is a must watch movie. It gets an 8 out of 10 rating.
Title: Kaksparsh
Year of Release: 2012
Country of Origin: India (Marathi Cinema)
Language: Marathi
Genre: Drama, Family, History
Directed by: Mahesh Manjrekar
Written by: Girish Joshi
Running Time: 147 minutes
Distributed by: ZEE Talkies
The World of Movies Rating: 8/10