Panhala

Balkrishna, a tour guide, has an acute sense of observing people and he uses this to help two couples that are on a visit to Panhala.

Review: The idea of the film is to connect the historical significance of Panhala to the daily lives of married couples today. In doing so, director Nagesh Bhosle implements a storytelling technique that keeps you puzzled for much of the film’s running time. Dealing with a place of historical significance itself is a big task and when you add something like ‘problems of daily lives’ into it, the result is bound to be a confusing one.

The film unfolds through the experiences of Ajay (Deshpande), a photographer, his dominating wife Sneha (Guru), a pregnant Madhavi (Sant) and her insecure husband Swastik (Salvi) who meet by chance at the picturesque Panhala. While Swastik suspects Madhavi of being unfaithful, he also doesn’t like the company of Ajay and Sneha. But fate has plans for them to be in company of each other as they hire a tour guide Balkrishna who takes them on a historical trip. The thing is, Balkrishna is an intuitive person and senses the problems going on between the couples. So he starts telling them about a historical figure named Zhunjarrao. But did Zhunjarrao even exist or is the guide fooling the couples?

In the director’s words, he ‘wanted to make a film related to today’s married couples’ but when he visited Panhala, he ‘was completely mesmerized by the weather, the aura and the stories’ about the place. That is when he decided to fuse the relationships with the history of Panhala. And that is where he committed a mistake. Perhaps if the story would’ve revolved around either of these topics, it could’ve elicited a much better response but the fusion makes it fall flat on the face.

The actors, though established ones, fail to capture attention. Nagesh is the better among them and barring the drunken scene, even Makrand fails to deliver. Both Sangram and Samidha’s acting looks forced and the latter’s blabbering gets irritating very soon. Amruta doesn’t have much to do but does well in her role.

The landscapes of Panhala have been captured well but that apart, the film disappoints.