Aatmapamphlet (2023)

 

Imagesource: Wikimedia Commons

Aatmapamphlet (2023)

Director: Aashish Avinash Bende

Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Aanand N. Rai, Kanupriya A. Iyer, Madhugandha Kulkarni, Shariq Patel

Cast: Om Bendkhale/Manas Tondwalkar (Ashish), Pranjalii Shrikant/Khushi Hajare (Srishti), Chetan Wagh (Borya), Bhimrao Mude (Baba), Ketaki Saraf (Aai)

Holy crap, this is one wild ride of a movie. Aatmapamphlet (2023) is a blast!

Aashish Bende is a boy born in 1979, named so as he apparently had the blessing of God, as there was a mark on his forehead (it really was from the tools used for surgery). But wait, how did we get here?
Flashback to the 1930s. Aashish’s pregnant great-grandma gets kicked out of the house by her alcoholic husband. Great-grandma goes to her relatives’, where she gives birth to Aashish’s grandpa.  Later, she gets educated, and becomes a schoolteacher, later principal of a school, after which, Grandpa gets married, has a son (dad), and later, in 1979, Aashish is born, and here we are. Inexplicably, as he makes important steps in life, some important event occurs for India. Get this, when Aashish takes his first steps, Indira Gandhi begins her second non-consecutive tenure as Prime Minister, and as he gets potty trained, India wins the World Cup final against the West Indies in 1983 (see ’83’ for more info).

Later, as Aashish goes to school, he takes part in a school play. While his performance being severely mediocre, he gets the part. At the show, right when things are going good, things don’t, and the cardboard props collapse, and through some noodle events, Aashish develops a crush on his co-performer, Srishti. After school every day, he sticks around for a bit, just to look at her. Cue montage of One-Sided Crush. Aashish’s waiting continues for years, till the 5^th grade. At the start of the 6^th, he finds out that the girls come to school in the morning now, and the boys in the afternoon. Want to know more? Watch the movie, as of typing, it’s in theatres.

NO movie does satire better than this one. Political satire is easy in concept, but extremely hard to master. This movie hits all the right spots, without offending anyone. I believe that if you get offended by this, how? BHAVANO! We are all the same! That’s the message! I don’t know how, but political satire with middle school boys is somehow good, and a bit reflective as well, as kids learn by looking at their parents. The way the kids innocently raise deep political questions interspersed with silly ones feels a bit- no, VERY funny. I can’t spill the jokes, spoilers and all, but what I can tell you is that when this film comes out on OTT, DO NOT, by all means DO NOT, turn off the movie before the end because you got bored. The flaws are:

·         The shift in tone towards the end. It’s good, and I appreciate it, but it’s too dramatic. Could there be more indication?

·         That’s it.

BHAVANO, I wholeheartedly recommend this movie because:

1.      The screenplay by Paresh Mokashi is AWESOME. Maybe I should start crediting the screenplay writers.

2.      The satire, oh my god.

3.      The lines, which rely heavily on Bait and Switch, are great.

4.      How political commentary is kept without outright offending anyone.

5.      Overall, this movie is FUNTASTIC, BHAVANO!a