Rating: na Presenter: Saraswati Creations, AB Corp Limited Producers: Ramesh Pulapka, AB Corp Limited Director: Umesh Kulkarni Camera: Sudheer Palsane Story & Screenplay: Girish Kulkarni, Sati Bhave Music: Mangesh Dhakade Cast: Girish Kulkarni, Amruta Subhash, Mandar Deodhar, Renuka Daftardar, Dr. Mohan Agashe, Ashwini Giri, Jyoti Subhash, Sulbha Deshpande Movie Review by: Sandeep Hattangadi

The much appreciated film which won laurels at many international film festivals like Berlin, Pusan, and MAMI, ‘Vihir’ is indeed a good film to watch for discerning audience.

Sameer (Mandar Deodhar) a city boy comes to meet his country folks and is delighted to meet his cousin Nachiket (Alok Rajwade) who is elder to him and they share a unique bond between them. They share their happiness and sorrows besides dreams , ambitions and family problems like their elder’s behavior, while swimming at a nearby well.

This well (Vihir), is a silent spectator to this unique growing up angst and takes an ugly turn when Nachiket drowns in it. This loss of his cousin and an early experience with death makes Sameer distraught and confused about life in general.
He can’t adjust to his new city life without his much loved brother and turns a wanderer, who goes from place to place without any real reason. Ultimately, he comes to terms with his personal tragedy.

This bitter-sweet tale is something very different from the regular fare dished out. The direction by ‘Valu’ fame Umesh Kulkarni is very sensitive and gives an autobiographical touch. His symbolic representation of the ‘well’ is very impressive. The performances by the two boys(Mandar and Alok) especially Mandar, is exemplary. His adolescent search for meaning of ‘life portrayal’ is superb.
Girish Kulkarni (who has written the story of this film) is impressive as their jolly uncle. Veteran artistes like Dr.Mohan Agashe, Jyoti Subhash, Sulbha Deshpande, lend good support. Amruta Subhash, Veena Jamkar and Renuka Daptardar are effective.

Music by Mangesh Dhakade is tuneful. The cinematography by Sudhir Palsane has already won awards for his excellent visuals of the countryside and the illuminated city.

The editor Niraj Voralia could have cut particular sequences like the boy traveling in the train and few other which are time consuming. This AB Corporation venture, certainly succeeds in keeping their banner’s reputation intact. Let’s hope they continue to support Marathi films in the future too.

Go watch it and enjoy a ‘different’ film!