Rajshri Entertainment, Purple Pebble Pictures and Kothare Vision Pvt. Ltd.’s Paani (Marathi) is the story of a young man’s quest to solve the water crisis in his village because of which he can’t marry the girl whom he wants to marry.
Babu (Adinath M. Kothare) lives in a drought-prone village. A marriage proposal of Suvarna (Rucha Vaidya), that comes for Babu from the neighbouring village, does not fructify although Babu likes Suvarna. The reason: Suvarna’s family will not marry her in a village which has a shortage of water. To circumvent the problem, Babu decides to settle in Latur with Suvarna after marriage. Since he is educated, getting a job in Latur would not be difficult. However, before the marriage can take place, Babu’s brother, Balaji (Subodh Bhave), solicits Babu’s participation in a project to solve the water crisis in their village. Babu confides in Suvarna and promises to marry her after easing the water crisis in his village. On her part, Suvarna agrees to wait for him to accomplish the mission. How Babu motivates the villagers to join the project and make his village self-sufficient in water forms the crux of the drama.
Nitin Dixit and Adinath M. Kothare have adapted a real-life story which, to an extent, reminds the viewers of the story of Toilet Ek Prem Katha. Nitin Dixit’s screenplay is fairly interesting but there ought to have been more light moments and far more emotions. Since the drama lacks in both, comedy and sentiments, the entertainment value is not as much as it should’ve been. Even the climax does not have the exhilarating effect one expects in a drama like this. Nitin Dixit’s dialogues are alright.
Adinath M. Kothare does a truly fine job as Babu/Hanumant Kendre. Rucha Vaidya is alright in the role of Suvarna. Subodh Bhave is okay as Babu’s brother, Balaji. Nitin Dixit performs fairly well as Sada. Asawari Tare is adequate as Parvati. Kishore Kadam leaves a mark as Tatya. Dinesh Koyande and Beena Siddharth lend routine support as Suvarna’s parents. Rajit Kapoor makes his presence felt in a brief role as Tagat. Girish Joshi is average in a brief role as Deshmukh. Ramakant Bhalerao provides routine support as Popat. Jagdish Jadhav (as Suvarna’s brother-in-law), Sachin Goswami (as the MLA), Manjusha Rathod (as Sarojbai), Shamim Pathan (as Akka), Aishwarya Shinde (as Kamali), Madhuri Lokare (as Shobha), Sunita Dixit (as Pushpa), Shraddha Kothari (as Mangal), Vikas Patil (as Vadapwala) and the others are passable.
Adinath M. Kothare’s direction is good. He has handled the subject with the sensitivity required for such a drama. Gulraj Singh’s music is quite nice but none of the songs is a hit. The title track and ‘Naachnara’ are well-tuned numbers. Manoj Yadav and Adinath M. Kothare’s lyrics are fair. Gulraj Singh’s background music is appealing. Arjun Sorte’s cinematography is of standard. Prashant Bidkar’s art direction is proper. Mayur Hardas and Adinath M. Kothare’s editing is reasonably sharp.
On the whole, Paani is a well-intentioned film but it has average chances at the ticket windows because it has limited entertainment value.
Released on 18-10-’24 at Plaza (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: quite nice. Opening: so-so.