Monday 15 December 2014

Embark on a wonderful 'Happy Journey'

'Happy Journey' is such a well made film! It has almost all the elements of a good cinema- wonderful cinematography (& beautiful locations of Goa), crisp dialogues, humour bordering at times to being dead pan, brilliant performances & a director who seems to be firmly in the driver's seat! He has made a visually pleasing film. Gone are the days of Marathi films made on a shoestring budget. The director seems to have left no stone unturned to make this journey for the audience a visually satisfying experience. Kudos to Sachin Kundalkar for this pleasant fantasy film. It is certainly not easy to pull off such a genre so convincingly! 
This film belongs to Priya Bapat ! Agreed she has bagged the author backed role. But she has done wonders with it! Not just with her gorgeous looks & charm, but also with her live-wire performance, she is simply spellbinding!You cannot imagine any other actress in Marathi cinema who could have done justice to the role other than Priya Bapat. Missed out the title credits- but who is her dress designer? He/she also deserves a special mention! Atul Kulkarni slips in to the character to 'Niranjan' so very well ! He has a range of emotions to portray & he essays them wonderfully. This film is another feather in his cap. Also need to mention that I liked the way Pallavi Subhash speaks with a different accent for her role Alice. If only that accent had a tinge of Konkani! Other actors have also done well- Siddharth Menon, Suhita Thatte & Madhav Abhyankar. Chitra Palekar is another surprise package. Simply brilliant!
I am no film critic. But still there are a few points which I think need a mention-
1) According to me, perhaps apart from the song- ' Fresh' that jells well, they could have done away with the songs.
2) They could have ended the movie a little bit earlier. They had this wonderful visual- light at the end of the tunnel through which Niranjan & Alice go with a resolve to return home & they take a right turn.(pun intended for the word right!) It would have been such a wonderful sign-off note. That would have left something for the audience to imagine & still would have completed the story without leaving any hanging thread. I don't know if that would have also elevated the film a little bit more- the enjoyment is in the journey as well & not just in reaching the destination.. This might have come out of a compulsion to reach out to all types of viewers of the movie. For them things need to be simplified & served on a platter.
But that apart, do go & watch the film... An enjoyable experience!

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