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Genres: Drama Censor: U Duration: 130 min. Studio / Presenter: Iconic Chandrakant Production Pvt Ltd Producers: Meena Chandrakant Desai, Nayana Desai DOP: Rajiv Jain Director: Pramod Pawar Cast:  Makarand Deshpande, Kranti Redkar, Sahil Gilbile, Aditi Pohankar, Smita Tambe, Mukesh Rishi,Vijay Kadam Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke.

We are all aware that as there is growth of high rise buildings in the city of Mumbai, there is also rise in unauthorised extensions in slum colonies. Every day thousands of people come in search of jobs and later settle down in slums, whether they are authorised or not.

Latest released Marathi film ‘Truckbhar Swapna’ revolves around one such family of comprising of Raja  (Makarand Deshpande), his wife Rani (Kranti Redkar) teenage daughter Kajol (Aditi Pohankar) and son Sunny(Sahil Gilbile), migrating from Konkan to Mumbai. Raja wants to offer best education to his little son to make him Barrister. Raja himself works hard driving Taxi for 18 hours a day and his wife works as a domestic help in the house of rich couple Makhijas. They happily live in their small house and have limited dreams.

Trouble begins when Raja visits his house in village during Holi festival, at the invitation from his old father (Vijay Kadam). During family get together over lunch his brother and sister in law taunts him over the living conditions in slums of Mumbai. Taking as insult, Raja leaves for Mumbai with a dream to extend his house with mezzanine floor and falls into the trap of corrupt BMC officials and a local goon turned builder RK (Mukesh Rishi). How he and his family have to face the situation after arrival of his parents is what the director Pramod Pawar has tried to show through this film. He has also tried to show the contrast in living conditions of people from diverse sections of society.

There is nothing new in the story of this film, as such type of stories were very common in Hindi films during 70s and 80s. Through this film the director has highlighted the exploitation of these hard working people living in slums of Mumbai. And therefore, he has tried to show how the corrupt BMC officials on duty in demolition squad work hand and glove with the local developer of that particular slum colony. But, what if the corrupt higher BMC official is transferred? The new officer if he is strict, all the illegal structures get demolished and no one comes to their rescue. This is what the director has tried to show through this film. However, in the process of cash transactions between Raja and the so called builder R.K. the director seems to have forgotten how much money was promised and how much Raja and his family finally pay to him. The mathematics part is all confusion created by him.

The plot of the film is good but the treatment given to it should have been better. Anyway, the film presents the real atmosphere of Mumbai slums and the different characters played by the respective artistes are really good. But, among them Kranti Redkar who plays the role of Mother going through all the sufferings, has performed superbly. She finds very good support from her neighbourhood friend played by Smita Tambe. In the role of Raja , Makarand Deshpande does well and so is the performance of Aditi Pohankar who has found good scope after her debut film ‘Lai Bhari’. Bollywood actor Mukesh Rishi who makes his debut in Marathi, has played a typical villain, while Manoj Joshi has found a limited role of a rich businessman married to a Model . It was nice to see Suresh Bhagwat in the role of a lonely feeling businessman. Asha Shelar has been wasted in this film with a very small role of Raja’s mother.

Music of the film by Shreyashh is just fine. Cinematographer Rajiv Jain has captured the life of Mumbai very well through his lenses. All in all, ‘Truckbhar Swapna’ highlights the problems faced by people living in slums and cautions them not to fall into the trap of builders suggesting illegal constructions and extensions. This film is a must watch for all those living in the slum colonies scattered all over Maharashtra.