Oddball Motion Pictures’ Sur Lagu De (Marathi; UA) is the story of an old man who wants money for the bone marrow transplant of his grandson who is diagnosed with cancer. It talks about the hypocrisy of rich and influential people and the golden-heartedness of those with limited means.
Ashish Deo has written a story which lacks novelty. Of course, it is an emotional story but Deo’s screenplay moves on the predictable path. In his enthusiasm to condemn the rich, Ashish Deo sometimes overlooks the fact that the rich may also have limitations and that there is something known as practicality. While some emotional scenes do touch the heart, the overall drama doesn’t have the desired impact. That’s probably because the emotional scenes, too, become predictable after a point of time. Ashish Deo’s dialogues are touching.
Vikram Gokhale is excellent as Mohan Damle whose grandson has been detected with cancer. Suhasini Mulay is very good as Mohan Damle’s wife, Radha. Reena Madhukar is okay as TV journalist Sonia. Ashish Newalkar is alright as Bandya. Meghna Naidu is fair as TV channel head Megha. Master Arnav Kolekar is okay as cancer patient Manu. Hitendra Upasani makes his presence felt in the role of Dr. Deodhar. Siddheshwar Zadbukke lends decent support as Dr. Deodhar’s wardboy, Bheema. Nitin Jadhav (as Sandeep) is alright in light scenes. Sunil Godbole provides fair support as Anna. Jairaj Nair (as Patel), Asha Dnyate (as Jagtap Kaku), Meroo Vernekar (as Jagtap Kaka), Shekhar Shukla (as Mehta), Honey (as baby Meera), Pradeep Patwardhan (as the TV news channel boss) and Aslam Wadkar (as Dr. Kulkarni) lend reasonable support.
Pravin Vijaya Eknath Birje’s direction is sensitive but, like the script, his narration is also quite predictable. Pankaj Padghan’s music is so-so while Baba Chavan’s lyrics are meaningful. Pradeep Kotnala’s background music is alright. Camerawork (by Lawrence Alex D’cunha and Ravi Parcha) is alright. Subodh Narkar’s editing is fairly sharp.
On the whole, Sur Lagu De will go largely unnoticed at the box-office.
Released on 2-2-’24 at Citylight (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Pickle Entertainment. Publicity & opening: poor.
