| Vastupurush | |
|---|---|
 Vastupurush poster | |
| Directed by | Sumitra Bhave, Sunil Sukthankar |
| Written by | Sumitra Bhave (also dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | Sumitra Bhave |
| Story by | Sumitra Bhave |
| Produced by | NFDC |
| Starring | Uttara Baokar, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Ravindra Mankani, Atul Kulkarni Mahesh Elkunchwar |
| Cinematography | Sanjay Memane |
| Edited by | Sunil Sukthankar, Neeraj Voralia |
| Music by | Shrirang Umarani, Sunil Sukthankar (lyrics) |
Running time | 154 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Marathi |
Vastupurush: The Guardian Spirit of the House (or simplyVastupurush) is a 2002 IndianMarathi film directed by filmmaker duoSumitra Bhave–Sunil Sukthankar and produced byNational Film Development Corporation of India. It is about Bhaskar, who rises above his poor financial conditions and devotes himself to the poor people for his mother believes that their generations have been cursed by theVastupurush for doing wrong to people of lower castes. The film won several awards on release including theBest Feature Film in Marathi at the50th National Film Awards and eight awards at the 40thMaharashtra State Film Awards in 2003.[1]
Bhaskar Deshpande (played byMahesh Elkunchwar) has been awarded with the covetedRamon Magsaysay Award for his dedicated works inpreventive medicine in the slums of Mumbai. Bhaskar decides to visit his hometown village after forty years and as he walks through the ruins of his old ancestral house, the events unfold in his memory.
Bhaskar belongs to aBrahmin family settled in a rural village inMaharashtra. His father, Narayan Deshpande (played bySadashiv Amrapurkar), was a freedom activist duringIndian independence movement and is now struggling to accept the corrupt systems present in the post-independent India. Bhaskar's uncle, Madhav, (played byRavindra Mankani), a widower, hopes to find the hidden treasure he thinks his ancestors must have left behind inside their old house. Bhaskar's elder brother Nishikant (played byAtul Kulkarni) is an amateur poet and was in love with Krishna (played byRenuka Daftardar), a nurse. But his father opposed their marriage since the girl is fromMaratha community, different from their own caste.
Saraswati, Bhaskar's mother (played byUttara Baokar) is a wise woman who has changed herself with the times and accepted the loss of status and riches that entailed theland reform in India, unlike her other family members. She believes that their ancestors had wronged many lower castes and thus the Vastupurush, the guardian spirit of the house, had cursed their generations. She encourages Bhaskar to be a doctor and serve the poor to appease the Vastupurush. Bhaskar, though academically brilliant, struggles to get admission in the medical college due to their poor financial conditions. His mother requests his father to use his influence to the then minister but he refuses to do so as it is against his ethics.
Krishna and Sopana, Bhaskar's friend from lower caste, help Bhaskar's mother fulfill her dream and send Bhaskar to Mumbai for further education. When Bhaskar returns to his village after forty years and decides to build a hospital, he is supported by Sopana who has now become the Chairman of a sugar factory and by Krishna's granddaughter, Kalyani (played byDevika Daftardar), who is also a doctor now.
The story ofVastupurush is inspired by Sumitra Bhave's personal experiences. Bhave belongs to aBrahmin family from a village nearKolhapur in Maharashtra.[2] Her mother suggested Bhave to plot the story of her next cinema based on two of her uncles. Bhave wrote three of the characters played byUttara Baokar as Bhaskar's mother,Sadashiv Amrapurkar as Bhaskar's father, andRavindra Mankani as Bhaskar's uncle based on her mother and two uncles respectively.[3] Marathi playwrightMahesh Elkunchwar, who played the lead role of Bhaskar, returned to the screen after twenty-two years with this film. Elkunchwar had earlier played a minor role inGovind Nihalani's Hindi filmAakrosh in 1980.[4]
Upon release, the film received wide critical acclaim and won several awards. The film is considered to be structured like a novel.[5] Gowri Ramnarayan ofThe Hindu criticised the films for being too long, "overloaded with messages, unevenly structured, stagily concluded" but also appreciated it for "its sincerity, teamwork in the cast", and "vivid evocation of the past with smells intact".[6] The filmmaker duo Bhave–Sukthankar considerVastupurush as their "important and favourite film".[5]
The film was awarded theBest Feature Film in Marathi at the50th National Film Awards "for its competent handling of a feudal family caught in the vortex of social change in post-independence India".[1] The film won eight awards at the 40thMaharashtra State Film Awards in 2003. It was presented the award for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Story, Best Screenplay, Best Dialogue, and Best Lyrics.[7]