Beauty in simplicity. Review on Piya Ka Ghar - Bollywood

Of all the cities Mumbai is my favorite. I find it fascinating despite never having visited it. But have heard so much about it and have assumed that it is no less than a fantasy land. A place where dreams come true and anyone with a strong will can make it happen. Can set the ball rolling in his/her favor. Thats for theory. Probably bits of it is true. Yet Mumbai is a place full of inequalities. The rich live here and so do the poor. The worst however is to find a suitable place to live in. Even then I do have a strange kind of fascination for this city. Don't know why?

In fact when I was looking for a peg to write this review I kept humming this song from Taxi no 9211.

Lakh lakh log aake bas jaate hai

Is Shahar se dil laga ke Phans jaate hai

This in a way works as a mashaal for my review. The lines throw light on what this movie (Piya Ka Ghar) is all about. Though it may not be entirely true but then here the significance does match with what I wish to write.

Piya Ka Ghar is a typical Basu Chatterjee kind of film. Chatterjee has to his credit some outstanding movies like Chameli ki Shaadi, Baton Baton Mein, Chhoti Si Baat, Rajnigandha and many others. His plots are simple but directed with an unmatched skill. Viewers instantly relate with the simple plot and like whatever the directors and the actors offer. As a result the effect is powerful.

In most of his movies and other television works (Rajni) Chatterjee has shown temperament of telling stories related to the common man. Like RK Laxman's cartoons his ideas germinate from the grassroot level.

Piya Ka Ghar falls in the same line. The entire movie is loaded with scenes that tell a story. The director makes no judgment. Only tells a story. At the end Chatterjee spells out a moral. Overall a very enjoyable movie.

What happens? What did I like?

The entire list of the cast have done a fabulous acting. The characters of Ram and Malti played by Anil Dhawan and Jaya Bahduri are the ones that I like the most. In Fact Dhawan's portrayal was much more powerful and one of the best amongst all of these actors. Bahduri too was good in many of the songs but Dhawan surpasses all of them.

Yeh jeevan hai,

Yehi hai rung roop!

Too many times. Thats the number of times I have heard this song. Not once did I realize that there is a beautiful story behind it. This is more or less like a theme song of the movie. It played repeatedly (at appropriate places portraying conveying significant messages) in the background . At one point the entire song is filmed on Jaya and Anil.

The feelings of Jaya and Anil are brought out well. What are these feelings? Anil lives in Mumbai and shares a small (read very small) place with his mum and dad, elder brother and his wife, younger brother, and to add to this crowd are the ever intruding neighbors and friends.

Anil gets married to Jaya (Malti). Jaya comes from a small village and is not used to living in places so crammed that they are dying for spaces. Though the place looks suffocating at no point does any of the resident exhibit such a trait. They are happy in their own way.

In fact an extremely saral jeevan has been portrayed. Simply outstanding is a lesser praise for such a work. Chatterjee has not gone too much in detail. Just made a subtle yet powerful attempt to show what is evident. And to achieve that needs an effort. The effort here is certainly much more than just praise.

Back to the movie. Anil and Jaya do want to come together. However, they are unable to near their emotional and physical proximities because of the crowd that they live with. Both of them get desperate and thus starts their predicament. All this happens despite everyone trying to help them. Anil's brother and bhabhi makes arrangements for the newly married couple but the couple's luck runs out. Finally Anil takes Jaya out and goes to a hotel. Unfortunately even there they are not left alone. Luck runs out and police intervenes suspecting to be a couple who has recently eloped. Jaya feels embarrassed and breaks down into tears. She requests Anil to let her go back to her village. Whatever happens next is even more touching.

This is a beautiful movie. People simplicity speaks. In Piya ka ghar simplicity sings. And does it magnificently! Do watch this movie.