In the opening credits of his film, Vihir, director Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni dedicates his film to popular Marathi writers GA Kulkarni and CT Khanolkar (aka Aarti Prabhu) and sets the tone for what is in store ahead. Like these writers' works Kulkarni's Vihir too is a film whose characters are in a pursuit of the unknowable destiny and a dark mood reflects the inscrutable ways in which destiny shadows these characters.
Cousins Sameer (Madan Deodhar) and Nachiket (Alok Rajwade) stay in Pune and Pandharpur respectively. While Sameer's family is still a bit better off, Nachiket has to contend with an alcoholic father who vanishes for weeks and his mother having a tough time managing the house.
Through the hand written letters that they regularly write to each other, both, on the verge of adulthood exchange their anxieties about their future. Fourteen years old Sameer is a year younger than Nachiket and his joy knows no bounds when he learns that they all shall be getting together for their aunt's wedding.
After arriving at their ancestral home in their village for the wedding, both are inseparable. Free spirited and much maturer than his age, Nachiket's talks while roaming around the hill side and swimming in the family-owned well leave Sameer in more awe of him.
However Nachiket's rebuff to the idea of shifting to Pune to stay with their family to pursue further studies leaves Sameer annoyed. Sameer doesn't approve of Nachiket's plans to run away from his family and explore the world on his own.
An upset Sameer then leaves for a short visit back to Pune for his swimming championship selections. On his return he is shocked to learn about Nachiket’s death in the same well they both very fond of. What annoys Sameer is the nonchalance he senses creeping up in few of his relatives regarding Nachiket's death.
But then was it a suicide or an accidental death? Finding it unbearable to live with thousand questions cropping up his head, Sameer sets off in a search. This search leads him towards the experience of oneness where he can unite with Nachiket again.
FTII graduate Kulkarni's debut feature Valu (2008), a black comedy, was both a critical and box office success. In Vihir he has yet again set his film majorly in the interior of Maharashtra. Kulkarni has effectively used symbolism, metaphor and sarcasm providing his film a unique texture and ethos. The allegorical manner in which Umesh has used the simple childhood game of hide and seek deserves a huge bow. A loss of a person you are very close to is always not very easy to overcome.
Writers Girish Kulkarni and Sati Bhave have amazingly explored how Sameer tries to deal with the tragedy, rummaging through memory in an attempt to reconcile what he knew, and what he didn't know, about his late cousin. The film is deliberately slow paced and silences are effectively used. Sudheer Palsane's cinematography is nothing short of brilliant as it captures the vast expanse of the countryside splendidly.
There are many characters in the film and the actors playing them are all so absolutely natural that you actually feel like they are one close knit family in real. The film however works largely because of the outstanding performances by both the boys - Alok and Madan. Veterans Mohan Agashe and Jyoti Subhash playing their grandparents are terrific as usual. Writer, producer of the film Girish Kulkarni as their uncle is very impressive. Sulbha Deshpande playing their cranky grand aunt brings in a few laughs.
Subtitled in English, Vihir marks the foray of Amitabh Bachchan's production house AB Corp into Marathi film production and what a quality product they have come out with! Instead of opting for making an A-list Marathi film star cast money spinner their choice of subject deserves a huge applause. Vihir received great acclaim at the recently concluded Berlin Film Festival and Rotterdam Film Festival.
It is definitely going to make you nostalgic about the good times you had together with your cousins during your vacation visits but at the same time make you introspect a lot of things around you. It also makes you feel proud that Marathi cinema is taking the right step towards World Cinema.
Rating: A must watch.
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