Phule is authentic biopic of social reformer couple

- ADVERTISEMENT -

For starters, director and co-writer Ananth Narayan Mahadevan tries to accumulate and present a whole gamut of incidents that took place in the life of Jyotirao Phule (Pratik Gandhi) and his no-nonsense wife Savitri (Patralekhaa) in 2 hours and 15 minutes. He is bogged down by the material as he also wants to showcase the social reformer couple’s consistent efforts and persistence at social reform (including gender equality and education for women besides fighting for the lower castes, the Shudras) but also highlight their progressive mindsets. Incidentally, Phule means flowers, and Jyotirao hailed from a family of gardeners who cultivated flowers. And Savitri was the first to coin the word ‘Dalit’ for the Shudra community.

In a milieu where the British are frequently shown as oppressors, we get to see them supporting Phule in educational equality, though with an asterisked footnote that “Conditions Apply.” It thus subtly points to the expectations of the British to get the discriminated lower castes converted to Christianity, which they claim has no bigotry as a religion.

The film also subtly looks on Muslim puritanism vis-à-vis women as much as at Hindu orthodoxy and focuses also on how Brahmins took a perverted view of feminine progress as they felt that education for girls and learning English was tantamount to being slaves of the ruling Britishers.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Structured finally as a film that begins with the Plague Epidemic that hit India in 1897, where a widowed Savitri relentlessly helps the victims, the film goes into a flashback, noting that all his social spirit, Jyotirao was nevertheless conscious of his own rights too, including the share in the ancestral property. And that was because Jyotirao put all his acquired wealth into doing social reform, starting schools for girls and moving on to create 20 such institutions.

Under threat from the Brahmins in his neighborhood, the husband and wife have moved out of their home and begun to stay with Jyotirao’s Muslim schoolfriend, Usman (Jayesh Gore) and his wife Fatima (Akshaya Gurav), and their true progress begins from there. Savitri is often taunted for not being able to conceive and in the course of events, the couple adopts the son of a hapless widow, who grows up to be a doctor, which was Jyotira’s unfulfilled desire.

With one resolute triumph after another in the social field, the royal ruler of Baroda (as Vadodara was then called) bestows on Jyotirao the title of ‘Mahatma’.

The film manages to cumulate the many major events in the Phules’ life with compassion and showcases their audacious resolve to go about their mission sans compromise despite often vehement opposition and even turning down the conditional help from the British. It is almost a complete biopic, though Jyotiba’s childhood is seen only with a glimpse or two. His death sequence is romanticized for dramatic purposes and the great changes he pioneered or ushered into society and the entire nation are collectively shown in a series of slides.

Encumbered with so much to show, the director decides to keep things authentic and yet not plodding, except for some editing needed in the last 15 minutes or so. Thankfully, while being episodic, unlike the recent movies on Atal Behari Vajpayee, Sam Manekshaw and Veer Savarkar, this film does not have their disjointed feel. The director keeps everything under strict control, and we do not get excessive cliches or drama.

Three scenes stand out in the second, more crucial half: the scene wherein Savitri tackles a coterie of male oppressors, Jyotirao’s funeral sequence, where Savitri sees through the cunning motivations of her husband’s brother (Sushil Pandey) and, last but not the least, where the husband and wife tackle and reform their would-be killers. The character of Jyotirao’s father, Govindrao (Vinay Pathak) also makes a mark when he finally bows to his reformist son’s determination and hands him the property papers.

Brahmin hypocrisy at that time is spotlighted in the way they do not even want their shadows to be “touched” by the Shudras on ground, but in their using flowers cultivated by them and the auspicious gomutra (cow’s urine) for religious purposes.

Technically upscale, the film is also marked by the haunting song, Saathi, written by Kausar Munir, which is the thematic riff of the film, and the rhythmic Dhun lagi azaadi ki composed by Rohan-Rohan, who also have done the well-thought-of background score.

A great asset are the two principal artistes. Pratik Gandhi, after three home runs last year, scores a sixer here with his immersive performance. If he can be faulted at all, it is only for his hugely-Gujarati accented Marathi lines on occasion. His aged persona is also effortless.

Patralekhaa again shows the stuff she is made of: after Citylights, she yet again scores a whammy (bigger than that film) as the tough-as-nails Savitri who is clear about what she wants and does not. Vinay Pathak makes for an adorable father caught between reluctant admiration for his son and the upper-caste Brahmins. The Muslim couple also scores. Joy Sengupta makes for a correctly pestilential trouble-maker and the supporting cast, whether on Phules’ side or against, are all good or better.

Do not miss this one for its intentions as well as for understanding how society was regressive two centuries ago and the role of a really dedicated reformist couple in ushering in welcome changes.

Rating: ***1/2

Dancing Shiva Films’, Kingsmen Productions Films’ and Zee Studios’ Phule Produced by: Dr Raj Khaware, Shivraj Khaware, Utpal Acharya, Anuya Chauhan Kudecha & Ritesh Kudecha Directed by: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan Written by: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan & Muazzam Beg Music: Rohan-Rohan Starring: Pratik Gandhi, Patralekhaa, Govindrao Phule, Vinay Pathak, Suresh Vishwkarma, Joy Sengupta, Amit Behl, Akshaya Gurav, Jayesh More, Sushil Pandey, Dhanjay Madrekar, Darsheel Safary, Vishal Tiwari, Asit Redij, Abhinav Patekar, Akanksha Gade, Akshara Padwal, Vishal Avhad, Gauri Dharane, Matin Khan, Laxman Davbhat, Vikrant Singh, Alexx O’Nell, Ellie & others

Related posts:

Director denies that Phule is delayed due to censorship issues Chatting up Yami Gautam Dhar and Pratik Gandhi for Dhoom Dhaam Mahatma Gandhi Museum in Rajkot inaugurated by PM Modi Amid Delhi’s blood-letting, a Hindu bride weds in a Muslim neighborhood