Just finished Hellaro (Gujarati) which left me teary eyed. I'll start with the liberty taken in script by presuming that almost men on earth are bad human beings with only few good ones and that's the reason that this world hasn't collapsed yet. You'll end up liking it more if you're Garba lover (like me) and loves Gujarati folk songs.
Film is set in 1975 during emergency era showing the lives of women in a remote village of Kutch (desert of Gujarat) where they are treated like objects not even permitted to do Garba. That's a different thing altogether that in today's Gujarat even if you think about stopping any girl from doing Garba there are high chances that you'll be found murdered 😃😃. How a drummer meets them once while in their daily routine job of fetching water from far away pond and how their dull and torturous life takes a twisting turn is depicted so wonderfully giving you several lump in the throat moments.
Shraddha Dangar as Manjhri and Jayesh More as Mulji (drummer) are standout performer. But all credit goes to Abhishek Shah who has written Story, Screenplay and also is producer and director. It's simple and brilliant story of heart wrenching plight of rural women. No wonder it received National Award for Best Feature Film and have deservedly IMDB rating of 8.8 (though votes are less). I also believe Hellaro should've been chosen India's Oscar entry over Gully Boy. Any movie which brings tears down to your cheeks and genuine smile on your face shouldn't be missed.
Don't miss it !!
My Rating: 4.5/5P.S.: If anyone can't relate about what's the big deal about Garba, just visit Gujarat once during Navratri and you'll see how crazy are Gujaratis especially girls for Garba.
