A bull in a village is behaving like its counterpart in a china shop, running around wild, rampaging through crops and killing people? Hyperbolic comedy is the chief mode of expression in Valu, Umesh Kulkarni’s acclaimed Marathi-language movie.
Valu, which is available on Sony LIV, has a crackling script and a to-die-for cast. Kulkarni co-wrote his feature debut from 2008 along with Girish Kulkarni – the latter also plays one of many over-enthusiastic characters on a bull-taming mission.
Leading the list of caricatured villagers is Atul Kulkarni as Gaddamwar, a pompous forest department officer who likes to swear in English. Annoyed at being ordered to capture the bull – he would rather chase wild animals – Gaddamwar develops a superiority complex over the villagers, which they promptly destroy by nicknaming him “Foresht”.
The attempts to ensnare the bull, which always seems out of reach, ratchets up the rivalry between village elders, exposes the problems faced by the village, and fuels a romance. Gaddamwar’s task unfolds alongside a documentary being filmed on the capture – a clever way to introduce the ensemble cast.
Some of the best ever actors available in Marathi cinema line up to play the motley bunch who help as well as hinder Gaddamwar’s mission. Nobody overshadows anybody else, and everybody gets a scene or two to boast of – Dilip Prabhavalkar, Mohan Agashe, Amruta Subhash, Jyoti Subhash, Nandu Madhav, Nirmiti Sawant, Renuka Daftardar, Shrikant Yadav. The cast includes veteran Marathi actor Chandrakant Gokhale, in one of his final roles.
Beautifully shot by Sudheer Palsane, the village comes alive as both a den of madcaps as well as a metaphor for a zone of misplaced priorities. What’s more important, trapping the wayward bovine or building toilets?
Umesh Kulkarni keeps the political messaging to a minimum, instead revelling in the mayhem created by yet another bull sighting, the crackpot reactions of the villagers, and Gaddamwar’s Shikari Shambhu-level earnestness. At every step of the way, Kulkarni is aided by razor-sharp dialogue and the comic timing of an excellent cast that knows just when to ham and when to tone it down.
