One Line Review: “Naal is the definition of BEAUTIFUL in the form of a movie!”
Release Date: 16 November, 2018
YouTube Trailer Naal
Starring: Shreenivas Pokale as Chaitanya Bhosale, Devika Daftardar as Chaitya’s Mother, Nagraj Manjule as Chaitya’s Father, Deepti Devi as Parvati, Om Bhutkar as Chaitya’s Mama
Directed By: Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti
What’s it About?
Naal is a 2018 Marathi movie directed by a renowned name in Bollywood, Tollywood, and even in the Marathi film industry.
The movie showcases a beautiful relationship between a non-biological mother and her child. The story takes a slightly different turn when the child finds out about his real mother.
“Child artiste Shrinivas Pokale deserves applause for pulling off such a difficult role with relative ease in his very first film.”
~ Cinestaan
My very own ratings for this piece by Reddy will be a definitely 10/10!
Plot/Story Line
Chaitanya is an 8 year old child living in a rural village of Maharashtra with his Mother, Father, and his Grandmother. He is called “Chaitya” by everybody around him. He is a happy go lucky, cheerful, and mischievous child.
Chaitya’s father (played by Manjule) is a sahukaar (money lender) of the village and his mother (played by Devika) is a homemaker. In addition to that Chaitya’s grandmother is a not so friendly and whiny person whose relationship with Chaitya’s mother is not so great.
Everything in the lives of all of them is hunky-dory until Chaitya’s uncle (played by Om Bhutkar) visits his house and tells him about his real mother.
Chaitya starts distancing himself from his mother and is intrigued by his real mother. Chaitya’s mother starts noticing his bizarre behavior towards her. Reddy shows these little things brilliantly through his visionary direction. Whether it’s not calling “Aai” to his mother; or not letting his mother hug him while he’s asleep.
The movie focuses on the protagonist and his ups and downs in the camaraderie with his Mother.
What’s to Like?
The movie keeps you held right from the first scene. The cinematography by Reddy is stunning, intriguing, and smooth. Chaitya’s innocence and absolutely adorable character stand out in the whole movie. His effortless dialogue delivery in the regional Vidharbha language of Maharashtra like “Jau de na va” will only make us adore him.
Reddy beautifully captures the glint in his eyes. The background score of the movie is simply beautiful.
The movie takes us to our childhood memory lane. The games Chaitya plays with his friends, the way Chaitya convinces his Mother when he has to go out and play, the way he runs away when he doesn’t want to eat; everything in this movie is super relatable.
Performances
The 8 year old Chaitu delivers a phenomenal performance. How he laughs, cries, walks, talks is like any other child but there is some kind of magic that keeps us held.
Devika portrays a village homemaker who’s always shown working. Whether it is grinding the flour, milking the cow, or taking care of her mother-in-law. We smile when she smiles, and smile even more when she scolds Chaitya! She gets under the skin of the character and stuns us.
Nagraj as a reserved and a bit strict Father also does a great job in his role.
Om Bhutkar and Deepti Devi’s cameos are as impactful and strong as the other characters in the movie.
Bachchan who’s the neighbor of Chaitya and his partner in crime is an interesting character.
Aaji played by Seva Chavan also delivers an amazing performance of a cranky aged and old woman.
All the performances are unique and realistic and natural.
Couldn’t think of a better cast than this!
The sad part is we don’t get enough of Chaitya in the movie!
Personal Favourites
I loved every scene in the movie which had Chaitya.
Do we only get love from the biologically related people? Well, the 2 hour piece will speak volumes and answer this question!
I fell love in with the scene where Chaitya’s mother wipes Chaitya’s mouth with her saree when he finishes a glass of milk. How simple but impactful the scene is! Isn’t the mother’s love the purest? Love without any terms and conditions!
Another aspect of the movie which brought nothing but only smile to my face is the song “He Darvayata”!
Final Words
Naal is one of the most beautiful movies of all time in the Marathi Film Industry. It is simple, beautiful touching, emotional and unfiltered.
Naal is smooth and magical and soothing to the core.
The authenticity and the essence of a mother-son relationship couldn’t have executed better than this! There will be times when you won’t stop smiling and times when your eyes will be teary. It has got a lot more than just Chaitya’s innocence.
Like the movie name “Naal” you will connect to this movie with or even without any strings!
