Welcome Home – Marathi Movie Review
Welcome Home – A movie that handles complex issues and emotions skillfully.
Story-Line :
Story has multiple complex issues showcased . It shows how even for well- educated women it is difficult to leave an unhappy marriage due to social pressures and how separation is viewed by community at large.
But the central theme is that for a woman, no matter which strata of society she comes from or at what age she is, which house should she call her home?
Details :
The movie starts with a scene depicting a nasty fight between a couple and the protagonist (Saudamini) finally taking the decision of moving out of her marriage and hence her home. She packs her and her daughter’s luggage and just then the bell rings. The maid’s daughter has come to inform that her mother will be absent from work for next two days since their home is being demolished by the anti-encroachment squad.
Saudamini decides to take her ailing mother-in-law (Maai) along with her since leaving her alone would be inhuman and irresponsible. During the ride to her parent’s home the below song plays in background of the illegal home demolition scenes. The lyrics are hard hitting and you start realizing the gravity of the situation faced by Saudamini, Maai and Saudamini’s daughter (Cookie). All of them have just lost what they considered their home.
चार भिंती एकच दार
खिडक्या दोनच आरपार
पोकळ वासे छपराखाली
चूल उखडली राख पसरली
आक्रसलेल्या अंगातील
ठाई ठाई भुई उसवली
गुंतून पडले पाउल त्याचा
उंबरठ्यावर पाय
उडले छपर पडल्या भिंती
धुरळा सगळा आवती भवती
ऊन पेटले लाही लाही
दिशा दिशांना त्राही त्राही
मनात पडल्या किंडारावर
शेवटचा इक वार
Saudamini returns to her parent’s home. The moment she steps out of the rickshaw, looking at the excessive luggage her mother asks her “प्रवासाहून येतेस का निघालीस?” (Are you coming from a trip or going to one?). Her room has been given to the younger sister and everything she probably called her own has now changed to some extent. The younger sister has some issues adjusting to this sudden change of events and so do her parents. Saudamini’s father too chides her that she should have put her name too along with her husband on the house and taken care of finance on her own.
Eventually with the love and support of her parents and sister she starts to get settled in her maternal home. But still Saudamini has a feeling that inspite of being a highly educated, working, financially independent woman, she doesn’t have a home of her own.
In flashback we see both her grandmother (father’s mother) and her own mother facing difficult situations during their youth due to issues related to home. In the present, we see her mother’s sister faced with the problem of adjusting with her son’s family in his home.
Her grandmother has lost her husband and when she requests for her share of property, she is denied it by her brother-in-law. She is a strong lady who moves to city and starts working, still when it comes to signing a rent agreement, her employer suggests she should put her son’s name on the agreement. Similarly, Soudamini’s mother faces conflicts with her mother-in-law due to their differences of opinions on small things related to certain activities done at home. She is forced to go back and adjust with her in-laws.
The rest of the movie is about Soudamini gracefully moving out of her marriage, finding her home and the answer to the question she puts to her father, ““अप्पा, मला , माझं स्वतःच असं घरच नाही का? ” (Father, don’t I have a home of my own?)
In India, pre-dominantly a patriarchal society, since childhood a girl is told that one day, she will be leaving her parent’s home. Therein lies the first realization that for a girl, her parent’s home isn’t her home. The husband’s home or in-laws’ home is a place where she compromises many things as mundane as her daily habits as an adult. Though, now-a-days things are seen changing positively, still somewhere this feeling is deeply rooted in the mind no matter how educated, financially independent and intelligent the girl is. Even though now-a-days co-ownership is done between the husband and wife, am sure this question arises at some point of time in each girl’s life.
If Saudamini moving out of her home is compared to a stone thrown into still water, the sharing of personal experiences related to home by her family and friends are the ripples, where one leads to other till Saudamini discovers herself again and her home becomes clear (the water again calms)
Overall Review:
Casting is perfect and each actor is outstanding in the role given . Seva Chauhan who plays Maai reminded me of my grandmother-in-law who suffered from memory loss due to old age.
Mrinal Kulkarni with the minimal makeup stressed out look throughout the movie is at her best. The best part is portrays a whole of of emotions through her eyes and body language.
Icing on the cake is Sumeet Raghavan with his role as a supportive, non-judgmental childhood friend Suresh. The parents played by Dr. Mohan Agashe and Uttara Baokar are apt. Wish I could hug them 😊 .
The other supporting characters have a short part but play it perfectly.
The music is good, especially the song “Radhe Radhe”.
I am too inexperienced to comment on the direction by the maestros Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhtankar. Loved the scene where Saudamini cleans her marital home, waters the plants and looks for the last time at the home before leaving it for good. Only someone who has left behind a part of their life will empathize the pain she is going through. I don’t have any words to describe that look.
But for me the hero of the movie is the screenplay and the dialogues. Enlisting a few wise words in form of dialogues I recall. I might not have written them exactly so do pardon the miss.
” आपण जेंव्हा जिथे आहोत, ते आपलं घर ” (“Home is where we are”)
” तडजोड तपशीलात करावी मूल्यात नाही ” (Minor things can be compromised but not principles)
” स्वातंत्र्य आणि स्वैराचार ह्यातला फरकच विसरले आहेत ” (We have forgotten the difference between freedom and self-will conduct)
” जवाबदारीचं काय रे , ज्याला ती आपली वाटते त्याची ती असते ” (Only those who feel responsible, act responsible)
“ प्रत्येकाची सुखं-दुःख वेगळी असतात पण सारखीही असतात , हे जो जाणेल ना तो आपला” (A person who empathizes your happiness and sorrows , is your well-wisher)
My Takeaway:
My personal take after watching this movie is, there is no point in staying in a unhappy relationship which drains you of your own existence and happiness. Moving on and ensuring a good support system is the best way to deal with the moving on stage.
When it comes to home it isn’t just about ownership, décor, size or architecture. It is about the small significant moments spent in a place which are accumulated over years and become memories for life. It is where we feel safe, content and can be ourselves. It isn’t just about the freedom of owning a home but also the responsibility to maintain the harmony at home.
Above all, it is about the love, care and empathy shown by the family members who stay in it. If this part is missing, then everything else is useless. At the end of the day it is about we feeling “Welcome Home”.