ashdoc
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Review has spoilers
The film was set in my favourite setting---the mofussil towns in UP , a ripe place for breeding caste conflict that makes for watchable movies if you have my taste....and this time it is Mathura , the birthplace of Hindu God Krishna whose ancient romance with eternal devotee Radha is stuff of legends....so much so that I saw that people greet each other with the words 'Radhe Radhe' when they meet each other in the movie .
But the modern world is a different place , and Kumud Mishra plays regional upper caste strongman Omveer Singh whose main task is to kill any couple in which the girl is Hindu and boy muslim ; he is an an intrepid warrior against love jihad to the point where even the hindu girl is not spared but is butchered by himself . But what to do when his own daughter Jhanvi falls in love and elopes with a lower caste boy right under his very nose ? Erupt in violence what else....
Omveer's brother is the calm minded Rajveer ( Jimmy Shergill ) , who tries to bring some sanity to the situation . He chases Jhanvi and her lover Sooraj Mali ( Bhavesh Kumar ) up and down across the region and upto Delhi , only to stumble upon the obstacle presented by Sooraj's relative Rajesh ( Girish Kulkarni ) who outwits him and helps the couple escape . And it is the older actors who provide the acting performances really rather than the juvenile couple in love .
The caste conflict is well shown in the movie in it's ideal setting of north India . The rivalries of upper with lower castes and the selfishness of politicians of both castes is well brought out . The movie does not fail to pay tribute in a scene to the Marathi movie that is it's inspiration and that seems to be inspiring an entire genre of movies like 'Dhadak'---the now iconic 'Sairat' what else . But the tribute to 'Sairat' also means the movie is headed only one way---to a tragic end .
And the tragic end is a result of Omveer keeping an army of vigilantes who kill anyone who crosses the line of caste or religion for love ; they are hardly going to keep quiet if their leader's daughter is going to elope with a boy outside caste . As the vigilantes plan to make an example of Jhanvi by gang raping her before killing her , it is her own uncle Rajveer who has to kill her and her lover to save them from a fate worse than death....
The romance of Jhanvi with her boyfriend is well developed and so is their elopement , and the whole movie is interspersed with some melodious songs that enhance the viewing experience . Photography and colours are most decent and so is the background music . But the tragic climax put me in pathos even as it elevated the movie .
Verdict---Good .
Three and a half stars out of five .
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