REVIEW: MATTO KI SAIKIL

Producer- Prakash Jha

Director- M. Gani

Star Cast- Praksh Jha, Aarohi Sharma, Anita Choudhary, Idika Roy and Dimpy Mishra

Gene- Social

Platform of Release- Theatrical

Rating- 3 star

Endearing & Heartrending Tale

The gem of a small film is about a cycle which is the most prized possession for the daily wage laborer Matti Pal from a village near Mathura who has been riding it to the city to reach work for almost 20 years. Matto’s beloved ‘saikil’ is as much a member of his family, as his wife and two daughters. With his meager earnings, it’s very challenging for Matto to keep the bicycle in working condition. One day, an accident damages the cycle beyond repair, forcing him to lose out on work. He manages to buy a new one with great effort, but destiny wills otherwise as he finds himself back to square One again and has to continue to compromise on necessities and life’s simple pleasures.

The film is just like village life — slow-paced, simple and uneventful and at times even slumber inducing, though it holds multiple layers of harsh realities that the poor rural population must face — shoddy school system, lack of clean drinking water, electricity and medical facilities, and how the crooked politicians with their double standards take advantage of villagers’ naiveté. The biggest drawback of this film is that it also becomes tough to follow the dialogue and the dialect as the film loses its charm with no subtitle in English.

Like in the earlier films of his in which he has acted before, like his own Pareeksha, Ganga Jal  as well as outside film Saand Ki Aankh, Prakash Jha endears himself to the viewers with his raw, honest and outstanding performance as the down to earth Matto, while Aarohi Sharma as Matto’s elder daughter, Neeraj, Dimpy Mishra as his friend and a cycle repair shop-owner, also  lend able support in their respective parts and what’s more, also are able to convince you in their parts.

Background music by Prakash’s trusted Lieutenant Mark Wayne is exemplary while Gani’s treatment is brilliant making us wonder whether Prakash Jha himself has directed the film under the name of Gani. The story of a poor man’s fate being attached to his modest means of transportation is as relevant now as it was seven decades ago when Vittorio De Sica made Bicycle Thieves, a haunting tale about a man trying to track down his stolen bicycle, which is his only hope to secure his livelihood. Yes. Matto Ki Sakil takes us back to the Italian classic, making it clear how things haven’t really changed for the less-privileged over the years.

In short, to sum it up, Matto Ki Saikil is a heart-rending and endearing tale which defies ages.