Bhavai movie review: Pratik Gandhi occasionally breaks free in this loud, dated film

What is the point of re-creating Ramlila on screen unless there’s going to be something in it that we haven’t seen before? At the heart of Bhavai is a great idea, which has been explored by versions of the Ramayan. What if Sita develops a soft spot for Raavan? Would it change everything? Would one of the greatest epics ever written have been read differently? What if Purushottam is not automatically affixed ahead of Ram? It’s a smart idea to cast Pratik Gandhi as Raavan in a small-town Ramlila, set in a tiny village in Gujarat. The traveling troupe is in search of a Raavan, and a young man who has his heart set on becoming a performer gets his big chance. The irony of him being named Raja Ram Joshi is not lost on anyone, least of all the young woman who plays Sita (Aindrita Ray).

An interesting bunch of actors – Abhimanyu Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Rajesh Sharma- are part of the cast. By rights, this should have been an entertaining, thought-provoking watch, especially because it is done in the colourful folksy Bhavai style. But the whole thing is so dated, with everyone being made to declaim loudly, that the tone the film wishes to achieve gets lost.

Gandhi, who grabbed our eyeballs in Scam 1992, manages to break free occasionally. Some of his lines are powerfully rendered. But Ray doesn’t make a worthy Sita, and the other performers get stuck too.
Certain dialogues have been muted: you can see the lips move but no sounds emerging. The film’s original name was ‘Raavan Leela’: how delicious would it have been if the filmmakers had stuck to it, and given us the right dollop of subversion while at it?

Bhavai movie cast: Pratik Gandhi, Aindrita Ray, Rajesh Sharma, Rajendra Gupta, Abhimanyu Singh
Bhavai movie director: Hardik Gajjar
Bhavai movie rating: 1.5 stars