Movie: Ghaat Rating: ★★★ Genres: Drama Censor: UA Duration: 90 min. Studio / Presenter: Jare Entertainment Producer: Sachin Jare DOP: Amol Gole Writer, Director: Raj Gorde Editor: Sagar Vanjari Cast:  Yash Kulkarni, Dattatray Dharme, Umesh Jagtap, Mitali Jagtap, Riya Gavli Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

Alandi is a popular town in Maharashtra , known as  a place of pilgrimage for being the resting place of the 13th century Saint, Sant Dnyaneshwar.  With its population around 30,000 the town has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. But, still some people in this town are homeless and live on the banks of river Indrayani, which passes through this holy town. Latest released Marathi film ‘Ghat’ is set on the backdrop of this town and shows the plight of a mother and son, living on the banks of the river and dependent on the pilgrims, who come here to perform some rituals, as per their religion.

The story of this film revolves around the character of a little boy Manya(Yash Kulkarni), who with the help of his friend Papya( Dattatray Dharma) take a dip into the river to search for the coins thrown by pilgrims as an offering. He tries to help his mother Vimal ( Mitali Jagtap) with some earnings, as she is sick with liver disorder. Manya also has a little sister, whom he has to support, as his  father Jaggu( Umesh jagtap)  is an alcoholic and is in relationship with another woman. Whatever little the mother and son earn during the day, the father takes away the money forcibly, by beating them up.

Manya does find some well wishers around, who help him in the time of need. But, that’s not enough to meet the medical expenses of his ailing mother. So, he works harder to find his way out. But, every time, his selfish father comes in his way. Director Raj Gorde, who also plays one important character of a tea stall owner in this film, has tried to present the reality in the lives of such poor people. He has cleverly shown how Manya is forced to leave his school, to establish his own identity and also highlights the plight of a poor woman, who is exploited by her husband, who has no self respect and doesn’t want to earn for his family.

The entire film focuses on Manya and his efforts to earn money using his skills genuinely, instead of begging. He is also shown kind hearted, when he shares his food with his friend Pappya, who is an orphan. Besides Manya’s family members, there are few other characters in this film, but they don’t find much scope in the screenplay. The first half of the film, goes to show the real face of this place of pilgrimage. But, in the second half the director takes a firm grip on the main characters of Mother , father and their hard working son. It is a depressing story of a family, which has been presented realistically at the banks of river. So, there is no scope for entertainment in this film. The director, who is also a writer of this film could have created some humour to make this film more interesting, kike the way another film ‘Elizabeth Ekadashi’ had done in the past.  Incidentally, ‘Elizabeth Ekadashi’ was also set on the backdrop of  one such pilgrimage centre Pandharpur. However, ‘Ghat’  has been presented well .

In the lead role of Manya, Yash Kulkarni is highly impressive through his expressions and body language. Mitali Jagtap plays the role of his ailing mother very well. She doesn’t find too many scenes to her share, but in all those scenes, she has proved that she is an actress to be reckoned  for awards. After all she is a national award winner actress. In the role of Manya’s father Umesh Jagtap has played an impressive negative character. Good support comes from few others around them in the film. Amol Gole’s cinematography is good and so is sound designing of Mahavir Sabbanwar. Perfect costumes have been designed to suit every character. All in all, ‘Ghaat’ presents a real picture of poverty, which still exists at such places of pilgrimage in Maharashtra.