Ventilator is a beautiful Marathi film directed by Rajesh Mapuskar (Ferrari ki Sawaari fame) and produced by Priyanka Chopra under the banner of her company Purple Pebble Pictures. It is a multistarrer film with Ashutosh Gowariker and Jitendra Joshi in pivotal roles. It is a family drama which talks about the values of human relationships, emotions. Indian family is defined in this film through a dialogue: 'They might fight, but stick together, that is the beauty of Indian Family'. The very name of the film ventilator rings an alarm in the mind that it might be about somebody's death or somebody's suffering or about some mourning. Although the film revolves around the patriarch falling critically ill, the tone of the film is realistic and with quirky situational humour. The first half of the film indeed seemed pretty long with the introduction of family members and relatives (almost everyone belonging to the family tree) and their responses towards a critical situation, the film picks up pretty well in the second half. It does make you laugh and also makes you feel the lump in your throat. A must-watch beautiful film.
The film begins with the news of Gajanan Karmekar (Patriarch of Karmekar family) falling critically ill and being on ventilator, getting flashed to the family members and relatives. It happens just 7 days prior to Ganapati Festival. It is interesting to watch how different family members and relatives respond to this crisis in the family. The Karmekar family is supposed to have a get together in their ancestral home in Konkan region in lieu of Ganapati Festival. But now with Gajanan being critically ill, relatives are less worried about him being on ventilator but more worried about the fact that if something happens to him, their celebration plans for Ganapati Festival would be ruined. Afraid of his demise during an auspicious festival, which would also mean a period of mourning, the entire Karmekar clan gathers at the hospital praying for his speedy recovery. Every individual from the Karmekar family, who have gathered in the hospital, have their own reasons to be there.
Raja (Ashutosh Gowariker), a filmmaker in the film, catches the attention of all the relatives. It is interesting to see, how people get drawn towards successful people, get mesmerized by their sheer presence and make themselves associate with the person in some way or the other. Prasanna (Jitendra Joshi), son of Gajanan aspires to be a politician and he is worried for Ganapati festival arrangements getting affected. The first half unfolds the nature of various characters. One gets to see different shades of people. It is intriguing to see the inner conflicts and complexities of relationships. Various aspects of relationships are shown: the conflict between father-son, people unable to understand others' perceptions, unable to grow beyond one's own self-interest, even the dear and near ones playing dirty politics etc.
One can relate with the various characters shown: a son at loggerheads with his father, the wife of ailing person continually wailing, people just showing sympathy, IIM-pass out who finds himself a misfit and so staying aloof, a family matchmaker looking for the matchmaking processes even amidst crisis, another old person in the relatives' gang curious to know the use of ventilator and wanting to use the same etc.
Ashutosh and Jitendra stand apart as Raja and Prasanna respectively. Rather all the characters have given very much credible performances. A special mention to Satish Aalekar, who steals the show with his performance as Raja's father. Sulbah Arya as Manda – Prasanna's mother and Sukanya Kulkarni as Sarika – Prasanna's sister are also good. Guest appearances by Priyanka Chopra and Boman Irani also are very good. Actors Achyut Potdar, Sanjeev Shah, Abhijeet Chavan, Manmeet Pem, Swati Chintnis, Nana Joshi, Usha Nadarni, Nilesh Divekar, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi and rest of the cast have also give good performances.
In spite of some drag in the first half, overall, this film is certainly going to win your hearts. No melodrama is there in the film. Every character is integral part of the story. The film presents various characters as they are without judging them, so as a viewer, you also would accept the characters as they are, without disliking them. Certainly, the emphasis is given to father-son relationship, but in its pretext, the film also talks about various human relationships and emotions in a beautiful manner without any over-the-top drama.
Ventilator, a Marathi film produced by Priyanka Chopra and directed by Rajesh Mapuskar, turns out to be a must-watch film, which projects the values of family, human relationships, behaviour and emotional bonds. The film is bound to touch you, connect you with its very much relatable characters. Watch the film to see, how an ailing patriarch becomes a reason for the family union and how the hospital indoors witness conflicts, arguments, reconciliations, religious endeavours, comical situations etc. A beautiful film indeed !
The film begins with the news of Gajanan Karmekar (Patriarch of Karmekar family) falling critically ill and being on ventilator, getting flashed to the family members and relatives. It happens just 7 days prior to Ganapati Festival. It is interesting to watch how different family members and relatives respond to this crisis in the family. The Karmekar family is supposed to have a get together in their ancestral home in Konkan region in lieu of Ganapati Festival. But now with Gajanan being critically ill, relatives are less worried about him being on ventilator but more worried about the fact that if something happens to him, their celebration plans for Ganapati Festival would be ruined. Afraid of his demise during an auspicious festival, which would also mean a period of mourning, the entire Karmekar clan gathers at the hospital praying for his speedy recovery. Every individual from the Karmekar family, who have gathered in the hospital, have their own reasons to be there.
Raja (Ashutosh Gowariker), a filmmaker in the film, catches the attention of all the relatives. It is interesting to see, how people get drawn towards successful people, get mesmerized by their sheer presence and make themselves associate with the person in some way or the other. Prasanna (Jitendra Joshi), son of Gajanan aspires to be a politician and he is worried for Ganapati festival arrangements getting affected. The first half unfolds the nature of various characters. One gets to see different shades of people. It is intriguing to see the inner conflicts and complexities of relationships. Various aspects of relationships are shown: the conflict between father-son, people unable to understand others' perceptions, unable to grow beyond one's own self-interest, even the dear and near ones playing dirty politics etc.
One can relate with the various characters shown: a son at loggerheads with his father, the wife of ailing person continually wailing, people just showing sympathy, IIM-pass out who finds himself a misfit and so staying aloof, a family matchmaker looking for the matchmaking processes even amidst crisis, another old person in the relatives' gang curious to know the use of ventilator and wanting to use the same etc.
Ashutosh and Jitendra stand apart as Raja and Prasanna respectively. Rather all the characters have given very much credible performances. A special mention to Satish Aalekar, who steals the show with his performance as Raja's father. Sulbah Arya as Manda – Prasanna's mother and Sukanya Kulkarni as Sarika – Prasanna's sister are also good. Guest appearances by Priyanka Chopra and Boman Irani also are very good. Actors Achyut Potdar, Sanjeev Shah, Abhijeet Chavan, Manmeet Pem, Swati Chintnis, Nana Joshi, Usha Nadarni, Nilesh Divekar, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi and rest of the cast have also give good performances.
In spite of some drag in the first half, overall, this film is certainly going to win your hearts. No melodrama is there in the film. Every character is integral part of the story. The film presents various characters as they are without judging them, so as a viewer, you also would accept the characters as they are, without disliking them. Certainly, the emphasis is given to father-son relationship, but in its pretext, the film also talks about various human relationships and emotions in a beautiful manner without any over-the-top drama.
Ventilator, a Marathi film produced by Priyanka Chopra and directed by Rajesh Mapuskar, turns out to be a must-watch film, which projects the values of family, human relationships, behaviour and emotional bonds. The film is bound to touch you, connect you with its very much relatable characters. Watch the film to see, how an ailing patriarch becomes a reason for the family union and how the hospital indoors witness conflicts, arguments, reconciliations, religious endeavours, comical situations etc. A beautiful film indeed !