If we hadn’t been told that Ata Thambaycha Naay! was based on a true story that took place in Mumbai, we wouldn’t have believed it.
A conscientious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officer? Who is concerned about the workers sweeping Mumbai’s roads, mending leaking pipes and cleaning drains? Who not only encourages his barely educated employees to enrol in a night school but also provides financial and moral support?
But it did happen. In 2017, Assistant Municipal Commissioner Udaykumar Shirurkar spurred on 23 workers to complete their basic school education. The Marathi movie inspired by this miracle is hugely uplifting but sensibly grounded too.
Shivraj Waichal’s Ata Thambaycha Naay! (Don’t Give Up) follows working-class members of a vital and yet invisible social category. The screenplay by Waichal, Omkar Gokhale and Arvind Jagtap bristles with controlled anger at the treatment of conservancy workers, their living conditions and their daily humiliations.
The plot is bookended by scenes of Maruti (Siddharth Jadhav) attending a function at his daughter Sweety’s school. Sweety is a topper but Maruti is an eight-standard failure. When he isn’t fixing water pipes, he’s moonlighting as a taxi driver.
Maruti’s colleagues perform the jobs everybody wants done but won’t do themselves. Apsara (Kiran Khoje) and Jayshree (Prajakta Hanamghar) sweep the streets and empty out garbage bins. Sakharam (Bharat Jadhav) lowers himself into fetid drains at considerable risk to his health and life.
Shirurkar (Ashutosh Gowariker) wants these underpaid dropouts to go back to school. They are tempted by a monthly honorarium, and are initially enthused by the dedicated teacher Nilesh (Om Bhutkar).
But the curriculum is difficult, especially after a hard day’s work. Besides, what use is a pass certificate today if a clogged drain awaits tomorrow?
The movie has been shot in actual chawls and slums in Mumbai, with no attempt made to dress up the locations or hide the city’s garbage problem. Mumbai, through whose veins cement and trash flow as surely as a can-do spirit, has rarely looked sadder or uglier.
Yet, hope stubbornly finds toeholds in this concrete sprawl, the movie reveals. With pep talks from Shirurkar, Nilesh encourages his grown-up pupils to strive for a future that, if not materially richer, is at least intellectually better.
Ata Thambaycha Naay! elides the caste system that governs the employment of municipal workers. First-time director Waichal finds other ways to emphasise the importance for education and dignity of labour.
While Shirurkar kicks off the project, the film identifies Nilesh as the architect of the miracle. The students are properly fleshed out, rather than being archetypes, and approach their problems with clarity and humour.
Waichal directs his actors beautifully, casting comic talents Bharat Jadhav and Siddharth Jadhav against type and paying attention to even minor characters. Both Jadhavs are wonderful, with Bharat Jadhav especially nailing Sakharam’s health problems and bouts of despair.
As the feisty Apsara, Kiran Khoje is a delight. Gowariker is precise and efficient as the rare government official who uses his power for the greater common good.
The 144-minute film isn’t preachy, but it does get a little carried away with its progressive messaging. Some judicious snipping could have created a punchier, more effective result.
Nilesh’s romantic sub-plot bloats the runtime, but it does include a lovely cameo by Rohini Hattangadi.
