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The poster as we see it, and the film’s title (meaning “chaos” or “pandemonium”) may indicate a comedy, but Afratafri is actually not one at all. It is a serious, social drama (albeit laced with plenty of humor and even satire) about three brothers, each with their individual stories, and their relationships.
The story is about the aging and failed actor Dashrath Patil (Mohan Aagashe) and his three sons— Harishchandra (Sanjay Narvekar), Namdev (Shashank Shende) and Dnyaneshwar (Onkar Bhojane). They all live in their village, but are not financially well off. Harishchandra, true to his name, tries being as principled as possible, but his wife Rukmini lives away from him. Namdev’s wife, Lakshmi (Prajakta Hamamghar) is unhappy with their lot too. Dynaneshwar, who has no job but dreams aplenty, is in love with maternal cousin Anjali (Neha Khan) who loves him too. However, an old grudge makes her father, mama or maternal uncle (Kiran Mane) detest the Patil family.
Harishchandra owes a huge debt to the village sarpanch or chief (played by Sanjay Khapre), who does not stop tormenting and threatening him. The brothers had no compunction in blaming their father for their condition and threaten to go their separate ways. Accidentally, Dnyaneshwar discovers an insurance document where the heirs of his father will get a massive amount if he dies an accidental death. Over alcohol, the three brothers are tempted to stage something like that. Dashrath, already hurt by his family’s accusations, overhears this and plans to die under a speeding automobile the next morning. This is when the three brothers see reasons and start caring for their father.
But the story does not end there. As the three brothers are secretly drinking one night, thinking that their father is asleep, the now-happy old man joins them, but suddenly collapses. And at the funeral, there is a solid twist when he is shown to be not a failed actor but a revered espionage agent. His family suddenly becomes entitled to benefits in cash and kind, and the cynical attitude of everyone including mama and the sarpanch changes 180 degrees. But another twist follows, and then a third, and more come in.
Director and principal writer Milind Zumber Kavde spins out a thought-provoking drama on society’s double standards, ethics and family bonding and how phenomenal disruption and complete chaos can come both from the deficit or excess of money. The sequence between Harishchandra, Namdev and Dynaneshwar and the physically-challenged individuals (watch it—I will give out no spoilers!) is a highlight. I also loved the initial scene of the hapless Namdev in his shop (where no customer comes as it is close to the crematorium) and the calm (!) confrontation sequence between Anjali and her father over Dnyaneshwar and his family.
On the flipside, I do feel that the movie could have been stringently edited and paced out even if its runtime is 125 minutes. The first half should have been especially trimmed and reduced by at least 10 minutes. By interval point, I found a lot of acquaintances restive or bored. The second half began slow but picked up.
The performances are of uniformly high grade. Sanjay Narvekar is excellent, and well complemented by Shashank Shende and Omkar Bhojane. Veteran Mohan Aagashe is simply outstanding, and as the arrogantsarpanch, Sanjay Khapre makes you effortlessly detest him. Sushant Divekar as Zukya is superb. Hemant Patil as the main cop puts in an arresting cameo—sorry for the pun!
Among the women, the show is stolen in a cameo by Kishori Ambiye, part of one of the twists. Prajakta Hamamghar is impressive as Lakshmi, while Neha Khan and Asavari Joshi are also effective.
The film is an incisive reminder to humanity in general that money is not the be-all and end-all of life and that relationships and family bonding are supreme. The message is sent through a concoction of emotions, drama, humor and a series of twists. Recommended as a nice watch.
Rating: ***1/2
Skyline Cinematic & YEN Movie Studios in association with Out Of The Box Films present Afratafri Produced by: Skyline Cinematic, Yusuf Shaikh & Dev Gupta Directed by: Milind Zumber Kavde Written by: Milind Zumber Kavde & Sanjay Navgire Music: Varun Likhate Starring: Mohan Aagashe, Sanjay Narvekar, Shashank Shende, Asavari Joshi, Prajakta Hanamghar, Kiran Mane, Onkar Bhojane, Neha Khan, Hemant Patil, Sanjay Khapre, Kishori Ambiye, Sushant Divekar & others
