The Marathi movie Paani is a fictionalised account of activist Hanumant Kendre’s effort to improve the water supply in his village in the drought-prone Marathwada district. Addinath Kothare directs and stars in a film that overcomes its simple premise with an infectious can-do spirit, rich character detailing and plentiful sincerity.
Completed in 2019, Paani has been released in cinemas only now. Nitin Dixit’s story itself is set in 1999, a time when the water table has drastically gone down, migration has increased and at least one man’s prospects of finding a bride have dried up.
An arranged match between Hanumant (Kothare) and Suvarna (Rucha Vaidya) comes undone when Suvarna’s family finds out that Hanumant’s village has a severe water problem. Women trudge several kilometres over rocky terrain to fill their pots. Families are at the mercy of tankers.
Encouraged by his brother Balaji (Subodh Bhave), Hanumant sets out to perform the equivalent of turning wine into water. The obstacles include Tatya (Kishor Kadam), a local leader who resents Hanumant’s popularity, and doubts about whether Hanumant can actually succeed.
Despite being far too long and repetitive for its own good, the 148-minute Paani achieves what it sets out to do: it shows how a village joins forces to defeat a long-standing problem. Nitin Dixit’s screenplay laces a predictable plot with rich local flavour, which is enhanced by the Marathi dialect spoken in Marathwada.
Paani has the feel of a Lagaan-like adventure in which a charismatic leader rallies his village for a just cause. There are traces of Manthan too in the challenges faced by Hanumant, although there is no serious complexity to Hanumant’s mission.
The movie barely dwells on Balaji’s warning to Hanumant that his water table regeneration scheme is doomed to failure because of disunity within the villagers. Rather, the primary driver of events is the coy coupling between the earnest Hanumant and the feisty Suvarna.
While the romance has its cute moments – and Vaidya is a solid presence – the strongest relationships in Paani are the ones that Hanumant forges with the other villagers. The most engaging moments flow from the scenes of shared labour between people who are determined to succeed.
A bunch of finely cast supporting actors enact with gusto the villagers who work shoulder to shoulder with Hanumant in coaxing precious liquid out of the stubborn earth. Addinath Kothare is competent too as the home-grown hero who rouses the masses into performing a rare Marathwada miracle.
