Magnificent acting coupled with realistic story of rural backdrop

Prasad Namjoshi’s film has the rare quality of being not only as smart as its excellent actors like Makarand and Sandeep, but also it manages to succeed in handling one of the social issues in an admirable manner.   It is a combination of the superior screenplay, impatient emotions, cold responses by Govt officials in the beginning, humorous approaches of searching Bullock by Sandeep and Makarand. To sum it all, it is instinctively told the story of poor villagers who lost his two bullocks.  

If you grew up, as I did, watching old black-and-white movies on a local television channel and in the areas close to villages then you can relate more to the Movie Named “Ranga Patanga” and it will touch your heart further.

The protagonist is Jumman (Anaspure), a farmer who has lost his bullocks, Ranga-Patanga.  Jumman’s friend Popat plays a central role which is as important as Jumman and carries the half weight of the script with his magnificent acting. Jumman and his wife (Dhuri) loved them ( Bullocks)  like the kids they never had and suffered a horrendous loss. The film is an existing sarcasm against the environment of rural Maharashtra. Media and Government and entire electronic media politicize this situation and story of Ranga-Patanga become a much more realistic experience to your eyes.

I think, these days, a generation of innovative young Marathi directors have found the freedom to make movies about, and against, fundamental aspects of their society and make it humors. I am impressed by Prasad Namjoshi’s direction and his screenplay. His selection of actors, the way he managed to the pace of the story, even though first half and second half, both connects to the audience very well and you forget how two hours have passed. This is where Prasad and his two main leads ( Makarand and Sandeep) have managed to find a place in your eyes and heart.

Most of the films based on social message sometimes become ineffective as in any event there was nothing an individual could do. However, in Ranga-Patanga, the writer manages to avoid somehow this trap by focusing more Sandeep and Makarand in the first half and creating humor out of it. The entire society comes into the picture in second half. This brilliant division of the story by writer has helped actors and director enormously as the audience enjoys the humor and director remain the grip on the movie. This trick has keeping film individual focused till first half has supported a story that contains great emotional charge.

The art director, has done equally well where sets of the movie seem to have done quite well. His sets and backdrops reflect the changing seasons and draft and poor villages quite well. Two songs of the film are emotional and bind well with the movie. Selecting a Hindi lyrics is a good choice.

On the acting front, I am more impressed with Sandeep Pathak. I saw him around 94-95 as an actor and today when I look at him, it seems this boy has gone multiple levels high on acting front and will create a great place in Hindi film industry very soon. His dialogues, his uncanny knack to crack jokes and his ability to switch gears from humor scene to emotional scene has been magnificent. Also, the way he plays support to Makarand has been an excellent part of the movie. This has been one of the best that Sandeep has delivered in recent past. Makarand is known as great actor and nothing much to say about him as he presented another superb / bankable performance. Makarand reminds you he is a hero who carries various shades and not just humor.

Only one part of the story which I thought could have been different is a quick solution in the end. Also, when Jumman and Popat are not on screen and story slips into a prognostic zone where audience knows more before you tell them anything..! This could have been bit different I think.

It is a great film not because of its stunning elegance or visual cleverness, but because it is splendidly well-made. Here, we do not have to remember the story but we get dragged along behind it as we get to laugh at frequent intervals. I saw it with an audience that seemed to be involved in the movie and they looked very, very interested. It was well made and brilliantly acted by Sandeep Pathak and Makarand Anaspure. This is something which we call a” pure cinema”.

Name of the Film: Ranga Patanga

Director: Prasad Namjoshi

Music & background Music: Kaushal Inamdar

Artistes : Makarand Anaspure, Sandeep Pathak,