Kaksparsh

Set in 1930s, this Marathi movie revolves around a strong relationship of a widow and her brother in law. Beautiful cinematography, strong lines and great acting has held the movie for its 2 hrs 15 min.

The movie starts with a Hari completing the last rites of his brother and then gradually moves to set the scene. Uma, his brother's widow, is forced to live a strangled life and faces many hardships. The only support she gets is from Hari, who for some reasons is willing to fight against the society. The movie shows their relation over the next 10 years. What makes it so special is the constant question that it makes the audience bother. The end is very thoughtfully written and sticks with you for days after the movie is over.

This movie has taken Marathi film industry to new heights. Recommended watch with sub titles for all audiences!

Though a Maharashtrian, I don't usually watch Marathi films. I heard this is a really good one, so took my parents (who are averse to watching film in a theatre for so many reasons) to the theatre. It turned out to be a fantastic movie with an engrossing plot.

The story moves fast without lingering on at any scene (except a couple of songs which were a little annoying because of the exceptionally loud sound in the hall), and deals with all the aspects of the story grippingly. Sachin Khedekar & Priya Bapat are awesome, and so is all the supporting cast.

As I read in a review before going for this movie, among love stories that stand out, there is Casablanca, there is DDLJ, and then there is Kaksparsh. Though targeted to a limited audience being in a regional language, this film still leaves a mark no smaller than any of the Hollywood or Bollywood counterparts.

Shot on the backdrop of Konkan with typical Brahmin attitude, director Mahesh Manjrekar has perfectly selected the locations, including the traditional ancestral house, to create the atmosphere of the pre- independence era.

From beginning till the end, the film sticks to its subject, without any diversions and that makes the presentation more realistic. 'Kakasparsha' is the film for sensible film viewers. Fine performances from Sachin Khedekar, Sanjay Khapre, Ketaki Mategaonkar, Vaibhav Mangle, Priya Bapat, Abhijit Kelkar, Saksham Kulkarni and others, makes it more impressive. Music and background music have been handled well and so is the wonderful cinematography capturing all those natural moments.

Actor Sachin Khedkar deserves all the praise for his memorable performance through that lifetime role of Haridada. He gets a good support from all other artistes. Prominent among them are Sanjay Khapre and Vaibhav Mangle who have invited special attention.

A must watch movie!

I saw this film on Channel four. I found the narratives and story telling of this film very holding and engaging. It moved from scene to scene without dragging. As a non- maharastrian I fonud easy to follow the dialogues and subtitles. Cinematography filming has been sharp and clear. quality was excellent, adding to value of films. As a main protagonist Sachin Khedekar is simply brilliant. On IMDb there is only one critic review, who seems to be disappointed with the film. He claims to be missed opportunity. He seems to have read Usha Datar's book with the same name, and is implying that book has material, if filmed well, would have been mind blowing. I am not likely to read that book and will not be able to support or deny the claim that this film is a misopportunity. I personally found it to be a good film, worth seeing it.

This is a very tough love story, where there is no conventional explicit exhibition of love and romance, but a feeling of love which is excessively controlled, endured and sacrificed for a vital promise. It portrays a woman who lives most portion of her life, facing the typical difficulties which a widow has to face in orthodoxies and on the other hand, to aggravate her life, is perplexed at the mysterious and taciturn behaviour of a man whom she loves. What a wrath of feelings she would have undergone to control her emotions, and to be restless towards the never-to-end silence and towards the absence of justification of various actions which her brother-in-law carries out. The brother-in-law, the other central character takes an oath for a split second, but endures the ramifications of it for several years, with a conscious guilt of not expressing his feelings towards a woman, and also exhibiting sheer toughness and protection, which is difficult to be perceived and interpreted by the community. Sheer genius of how Sachin Khedekar's character Hari perceives the death of the woman Uma in those final delicate moments, only so that the oath is not broken. The supposed modernist who turns out to be deceptively orthodox and superstitious and selfless at the more larger and better causes of virtues and rituals. A movie, which keeps one disturbed after its ending.