Rare Films and Tea & Poetry Films’ Gauraiya Live (UA) is the story of a 10-year-old girl who falls inside a hole which is 60 feet deep.
Gauraiya (Ada Singh) is a 10-year-old girl who lives with her parents, Ramlal (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Phulwati (Seema Saini), and her siblings, elder sister, Sapna (Riddhi Gupta), and younger brother, Chhotu (Aarav Rangare). When her father leaves the house after beating her mother, Gauraiya goes in search of him but falls down in a borewell that’s 60 feet deep. Hours after her fall, her family realises that she is missing. They then realise that she has fallen into the hole. Her rescue operation, which becomes headline news, forms the crux of the story.
The film’s story is inspired by a true story. Seema Saini and Gabriel Vats have written a story which is too well-known but that’s not the only reason why it may not appeal much to the audience. Even otherwise, the story is uni-dimensional and hence has limited appeal. The duo’s screenplay is ordinary and lacks emotions. It also gets boring at times. Seema Saini and Gabriel Vats’ dialogues are alright.
Omkar Das Manikpuri is okay as Ramlal. Seema Saini does a fair job as Phulwati. Ada Singh is so-so in the role of Gauraiya. Riddhi Gupta is average as Sapna. Aarav Rangare doesn’t quite impress as Chhotu. Narendra Khatri lends routine support as Ramlal’s friend, Devnarayan. Vinay Jha is ordinary as Devnarayan’s son, Amit. Shagufta Ali is average as Devnarayan’s wife, Dulari. Pankaj Jha is adequate as the army officer. Aalok Chatterji (as the builder), Rakesh Singh Parihar (as the MLA) and Noori Saini (as Dadi pass muster)
Gabriel Vats’ direction is alright. Sunjoy Bose and Seema Saini’s music is fair while the latter’s lyrics are nothing to shout about. Background music (by Sunjoy Bose, Shashi Mekal and Sekhar Bagchi) hardly deserves special mention. Mahesh Rajan’s camerawork is barely average. Prakash Singh Badal’s art direction is okay. Anoop Singh’s editing is fair.
On the whole, Gauraiya Live is too ordinary to make a mark at the box-office because of almost nil face value. The only silver lining is that it has been made on a shoestring budget (Rs. 55 lakh only). The film was completed in just eight days.
Released on 12-4-’24 at PVR Icon Andheri (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru 1st Film Studios. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.