Sai Cinema’s Laal Batti (Marathi; UA) is the story of a commando who had run away from home when he was a four-year-old kid.
Ganesh (Tejas) is a commando who had left his mother, Manda (Chhaya Kadam), when he was just four years old. His boss, commando Pawar (Mangesh Desai), is suspicious about him because he doesn’t mix up with anybody.
On probing, Pawar is informed by Ganesh that he remembers running away at the age of four from his mother whose name was Manda. Ganesh also says that he remembers living in Laal Batti basti and also has some memory of his school.
Since nobody knows in which city, town or village Laal Batti was situated, Pawar is unable to check Ganesh’s antecedents. One day, per chance, Pawar, Ganesh and other commandos go on a mission to flush out terrorists holed in a house in a village. Even while they are busy killing the terrorists, Ganesh sees a school and recalls that it was his school. Since he is in a pensive mood, Ganesh is unable to defend himself from a bullet of the terrorists, which injures him greviously. While he is rushed to hospital by Pawar and his team members, Pawar realises that Ganesh did not act in self-defence because he may have gone in flashback mode. Sure enough, Pawar learns that the place where the terrorists were hiding was in a Laal Batti basti. He tracks down Manda but by then, Ganesh breathes his last. What happens thereafter?
Abhay Dakhane’s story is dull and his screenplay is no better. As the drama unfolds, the audience keeps thinking why the script was written in the first place. The question assumes even more significance when the film gets over without answering the question. In other words, the story and screenplay mean nothing, in a way. Arvind Jagtap’s dialogues are commonplace.
Mangesh Desai does a good job as commando Pawar. Tejas is alright as Ganesh. Vijay Nikam lends decent support in the role of Usman Chacha who had been Ganesh’s guardian after he had run away from his home and come to the city. Manoj Joshi makes his presence felt as DSP Anurag. Chhaya Kadam (as Ganesh’s mother, Manda), Bhargavi Chirmule (as Pawar’s wife), Ramesh Wani (as police inspector Chavan), Meera Joshi (as journalist Geeta), Abhay Dakhane and the others lend fair support.
Girish Mohite’s direction, limited as it is by the story and screenplay, is very ordinary. Avinash-Vishwajit’s music is functional. Krishna Soren’s camerawork is okay. Digambar Talekar’s art direction is average. Nilesh Navnath Gavand’s editing ought to have been sharper.
On the whole, Laal Batti will find itself in the red because it completely lacks entertainment.
Released on 23-8-’19 at Bharatmata (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Rajat Enterprises. Publicity: so-so. Opening: poor.