Movie Review: Bhai-Vyakti Ki Valli

Producer- Viacom

Director- Mahesh Manjrekar

Star Cast- Sagar Deshmukh, Saksham Kulkarni, Sachin Khedekar, Mrinmayee Deshpande, Hrishikesh Joshi, Irawati Harshe

Genre- Biopic

Rating- **1/2

A Classy Movie which may not be lapped by Masses!

Jyothi Venkatesh

The movie is based on the book, Vyakti Ani Valli, written by P.L Deshpande, which chronicles the multifaceted life of the writer and ability to connect with the people through his humoristic narrative. Mahesh Manjrekar attempts to depict a man who is still fresh in the collective consciousness of Maharashtra in his latest offering Bhaai – Vyakti Ki Valli. He makes an attempt to take an insider’s look, almost like a home video, capturing him as a vyakti (person) and valli (character) in his personal life, leaving it to the audience to decide what they identify with and like more.

The first part of the two-part film begins with Pu La fighting for his life in a Pune hospital and his loved ones (including Dr Jabbar Patel and Balasaheb Thackeray in the form of a phone call) and the public gathering around him in his last moments. The story moves forward with the use of intermittent flashbacks — capturing the crucial moments from his childhood in the early 1920s to 1940s.

Sagar Deshmukh steals the scene by fitting into his role of P.L like a glove while Iravati Harshe as his wife Sunita Thakur looks a bit older to play his young wife. In a marked departure from his usual style and fast tempo, as the director, Mahesh Manjrekar keeps the proceedings light-hearted for the most part in the spirit of Pu La’s jovial demeanor. Sachin Khedekar and Mrinmayee Deshpande are good though they are seen in tiny parts as P.L’s father and wife respectively.

I feel that I should make a special mention of Sameer Mhatre and his background score which recreates the beautiful rendition of the 1900s. There is a scene, in which G. D. Madgulkar’s Kanada Raja Pandharicha is recreated beautifully.Though the dialogues are brilliantly written by Ratnakar Matkari, which goes well with the theme of the movie; the screenplay by Ganesh Matkari has limited itself to his personal life and not professional life. Though biopics have become the season’s flavor, I am not too sure that this attempt will be liked by the audiences as the producers have not made it into a compact movie but are leaving the film halfway through to ask us to see the second part which will be released on February 8.

To sum up, though I’d give the film 2 1/2 stars, the musical film may be only liked by the classes and the masses may not like it unlike Ani Dr Kashinath Ghanelkar which was lapped up by classes as well as masses.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Bhai-Vyakti Ki Valli, Movie Review, Sagar Deshmukh, Saksham Kulkarni, Sachin Khedekar, Mrinmayee Deshpande, Hrishikesh Joshi, Irawati Harshe