‘Mukkam Post Bombilwaadi’ Movie Review: Paresh Mokashi Brings Hitler To Small-Town India In Middling Marathi Comedy
Paresh Mokashi's quirky cinematic adaptation of his famous Marathi play is entertaining and well-acted, but lacks rhythm and cinematic vision.
Director: Paresh Mokashi
Writer: Paresh Mokashi
Cast: Prashant Damle, Anand Ingle, Vaibhav Mangle, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Sunil Abhyankar, Pranav Raorane, Adwait Dadarkar, Ganesh Mayekar, Manmeet Pem, Ritika Shrotri
Language: Marathi
In spirit, Paresh Mokashi’s latest film Mukkam Post Bombilwaadi bears a strong resemblance to Ernst Lubitsch’s comedy classic To Be Or Not To Be (1942), which also featured a theatre troupe full of eccentric characters, Hitler, and a series of mistaken identities. Though the two films bear no direct similarity in their narrative structures, the former seems to be a point of inspiration for Mokashi’s hit play, released in 2001, which serves as the basis for the new film.
I was a bit surprised when the screen adaptation of Mukkam Post Bombilwaadi was announced, as the fundamental premise of the play—Hitler being stuck with an amateur theatre troupe in a small town in Konkan in the midst of the Second World War—was quite outlandish. The willing suspension of disbelief always works better with stage audiences, but on camera, everything needs to be more realistic; this is what seemed to be the challenge here.
Would the audience have no issue with Hitler and Churchill interacting with the locals in pure Marathi? Would the verbal comedy work as well as it did in the original play? Would they accept Prashant Damle, a star from Marathi stage who looks nothing like Hitler, in that role?
They did.
The trick was to take the audience in confidence. And once the narrator quickly explained what was what, they were in on the joke.
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The film opens well, introducing Hitler, Churchill and the war situation as well as the texture and type of humour in the film. But as soon as it leaves the international intrigue and lands in Bombilwaadi — with Mrs and Mr Varavante (Geetanjali Kulkarni and Vaibhav Mangle) and their ragtag team of thespians, Shakespeare-loving Inspector Cook (Adwait Dadarkar) and his unwilling constable Bhairav (Ganesh Mayekar) — it loses steam.
Much of the pre-intermission portions are spent on character introductions. Though they have some funny lines, it doesn’t suffice. Hardly anything takes place till the mid-way point, when Hitler finally reappears in the story; from that point on, the film more or less settles down at an even pace.
The part post-intermission is more entertaining. The twists and turns keep the audience more involved and invested in the characters, and the verbal humour is supported by the situational, which works to the benefit of the film.
But overall, the film doesn’t seem to be reimagined for screen—just re-organised from the original play, and that’s part of the problem. Akin to the scenes in a play, the film has a few major situations, and the entire drama revolves around those.
For example, the scene where the troupe tries to rescue Hitler from the police station is the most striking, and takes up most of the time. Although repetitive, it is nonetheless funny and takes the story forward, without making us feel the length. However, a few other scenes drag out.
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It also seems strange that for the peculiar situation the film describes, there are so few characters involved. We rarely see anyone other than Hitler, the police, and the troupe. The characters of Eva Braun and Joseph Goebbels appear fleetingly, and even Churchill (Anand Ingle) only makes a very brief appearance.
It was one thing to explore these themes in a play with a limited cast and restrictive structure, but retaining the same scope for the cinematic medium seems like a short-cut. Even the climax seems rushed, and if it wasn’t for the mid-credit scenes, it would have felt incomplete.
In spite of these problems with the pacing, the film is still recommendable purely for the performances. Prashant Damle, Geetanjali Kulkarni and Vaibhav Mangle are very good, and carry much of the film on their shoulders. Damle’s role is more challenging than the other two—he plays a well-known historical figure, without looking like him in the slightest, or even speaking the same language. Yet, he manages to essay Hitler with ease and conviction, making it easier to accept him in the role. Paresh Mokashi has a great sense of the absurd which powers his humour. With the entire ensemble cast giving a good performance, the audience is never bored—even when nothing much is taking place in the story.
Mukkam Post Bombilwaadi is ultimately watchable, but underwhelming. Considering the great premise and the freedom offered by the camera, something more was expected from the creative team of Paresh Mokashi and Madhugandha Kulkarni.