Imagine Entertainment & Media Pvt. Ltd. and Ananth Mahadevan Films’ Aata Vel Zaali (Marathi; UA) is the story of an aged couple who want to end their lives.
Shashidhar Lele (Dilip Prabhavalkar) and his wife, Ranjana Lele (Rohini Hattangady), are 70 and 65 years of age respectively. They live in Bombay. It is year 2018. They have no children and having lived their lives, they are desirous of dying as they have nobody to look after them. They write letters to the chief minister of Maharashtra and to the Prime Minister, asking for permission to die. They have rejected the idea of committing suicide for fear that if one of them survives the attempt, it would be problematic without the other for company. Of course, the permission is granted neither by the CM nor by the PM. They even apply to court for permission to die but their plea is turned down because this is not allowed in India. Finally, they reconcile themselves to the fact that they would die when God ordains so. Then, COVID-19 breaks out in 2020. The couple decides to help the needy.
Ananth Narayan Mahadevan has written a story which, at the core, is depressing. It has sectional appeal only. His screenplay is average. The couple decide not to commit suicide because they fear that one of them may survive, but they don’t think about this same point when they set out to help people during COVID-19. Even otherwise, the drama moves on one single track only, making it monotonous. Besides, since the entire drama revolves around two persons only, it gets boring after a point. Mahendra Patil’s dialogues are good.
Dilip Prabhavalkar does well as Shashidhar Lele. Rohini Hattangady performs ably as Ranjana Lele. Jaywant Wadkar (as the neighbour), Bhagyashree Limaye (as the professor), Suresh Vishwakarma (as Rane), Bharat Dabholkar (as the newspaper editor), Guru Thakur (as the advocate), Shivraj Waichal and Abhinav Patekar lend the desired support.
Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s direction is alright and suitably sensitive but it caters more to the class audience. Sanjoy Chowdhury’s music and background score are okay. Lyrics are fair. Pradip Khanvilkar’s camerawork is nice. Manoj Mishra’s sets are alright. Editing (by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan and Kush Tripathi) is quite sharp.
On the whole, Aata Vel Zaali will find the going at the box-office very tough.
Released on 23-2-’24 at Jai Hind Mukta A2 (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by Imagine Entertainment & Media Pvt. Ltd. Publicity & opening: weak.