By K N Gupta
Eye TV India Bureau
Cast: Deepak Dobriyal, Pratyush, Bharti Bhatt
Director: Bela Negi
Ramesh Majila played by Deepak Dobriyal of the Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Omkara' fame had left his home in the remote Himalayas to become a film writer in Mumbai. But unable to make his dreams come true in the harsh metropolis, he returns to his little hamlet. He wishes to do something in his village of the newly bifurcated state of Uttarakhand out of the largest populous state of Uttar Pradesh. In these villages, the womenfolk plough fields and the men folk eat drink and sleep.
Eye TV India Bureau
Cast: Deepak Dobriyal, Pratyush, Bharti Bhatt
Director: Bela Negi
Ramesh Majila played by Deepak Dobriyal of the Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Omkara' fame had left his home in the remote Himalayas to become a film writer in Mumbai. But unable to make his dreams come true in the harsh metropolis, he returns to his little hamlet. He wishes to do something in his village of the newly bifurcated state of Uttarakhand out of the largest populous state of Uttar Pradesh. In these villages, the womenfolk plough fields and the men folk eat drink and sleep.
Deepak's wife played by Bharti Bhatt and son played by Pratush, however, don't like the idea of staying in the village, far away from worldly facilities of urban life. In spite of all this, Ramesh begins teaching English in the village school. Even villagers wonder why Ramesh has preferred to stay in the village, where there is hardly any facility available except for electricity. Though computers have reached the village, there is none to work on them. Meanwhile Ramesh wins a big red car in a TV competition! Needless to say, he becomes an instant hero in the close-knit village community although the car is a kind of white elephant in the undeveloped backwaters of India, where there are no roads and not enough money to buy petrol. When Ramesh along with his friend Sunder decides to go out to meet the state's chief minister the entire village gathers to bid him farewell. However, he meets with a car accident.
Critically analyzing the movie, we find that 'Daayen ya Baayein' stands on the bold shoulders of Deepak Dobriyal; especially because of his true portrayal of the Uttarakhand's village life. After all, he hails from there and is one from amongst them. Besides, its director Bela Negi too is personally involved in the movie. She has not only written the script, but has also seen that she does full justice to her script. So, she stayed for full two months in a village where there is only one bus trip a day. Bela couldn't afford a known star in the cast as itsthe movie's budget was very limited. In any case, Deepak and Bela leave no stone unturned to truly depict each and every, ranging from the protagonist Deepak's relationship with his grumbling wife, his lively mother, his bright son and his cynical sister-in-law. The usual love and quarrel relationship among the middle class family members of a village is the USP of the movie.
Overall, the movie is a success for the lead actor and the writer-cum-director inasmuch as does convey the deterioration on the Himalayan range following the depletion of jungles in the name of urban development.