Adagula Madgula (Marathi)

Screen Rating: ***

Shaunak and Anuja are a young married couple in love. Anuja is friendly,full of love and an outgoing girl while Shaunak is an introvert. Though they are broad-minded,they belong to conservative families. When Anuja becomes pregnant,both the families rejoice. They look forward to the new arrival. The problem starts when Anuja delivers a dark-complexioned child. Though nobody confronts her openly,she becomes the target for suspicion as both the families are fair-skinned. While her mother-in-law Gayatri does not spare any harsh words (behind her back) to show her displeasure,father-in-law Pendse is understanding and tries to take control of the matter. The grandfather tries to pacify Gayatri but to no avail. Even Anuja’s parents do not accept the newborn. Shaunak,however,tries to hide his discomfort but he is hurt from inside. Soon he starts making his own investigations. His first target is Sambhaji,Anuja’s college-mate and now a union leader who has dusky skin. When Sambhaji is arrested during a rally,Shaunak even goes to jail with him in order to find out his relationship with Anuja and learns that he is her rakhi brother. The next target is Lalit,Anuja’s boss,also dark-skinned,who is very close to her. So strong is his suspicion that Shaunak decides to divorce his wife but is asked by an advocate friend to first get a DNA test done. However,it is Lalit who,at Anuja’s behest,gets the report that confirms Shaunak as the father and the skin colour is diagnosed as a genetic issue. The grandfather then reveals that his grandfather was dark-skinned. But Anuja decides to walk away for the sake of her child who has become a target of discrimination everywhere.

It is a touching story that has been well-handled by writer-director Nagesh Bhosle who plays the role of Lalit. Subodh Bhave as Shaunak,Smita Talwalkar as the frustrated mother-in-law Gayatri and Uday Tikekar as father-in-law Pendse are good in their respective roles. But it is Girija Oak as Anuja who steals the show as the young mother who loves her husband so much that she cannot take his denial towards her newborn and yet for the sake of her child,she does not hesitate to leave his family and him to make a life of her own. The reference to the killings of Indians in Australia where Anuja’s brother is working is apt. Pendse mentions this to her father,asking him how is their discrimination against the dark-complexioned Indians different from what we are doing to our own flesh and blood.

On the technical front,Bhosle needs to be applauded for his fine story that is message-oriented. The music and technical aspects are average but the camerawork by Suresh Suvarna is worth a mention. He has captured some of the exotic locales of Goa very beautifully.

Ratings: One star each for Girija Oak’s performance,Nagesh Bhosle’s touching story and fine direction.