Ever since I watched the stunning Ata Thambaycha Naay! (and earlier this year, the film April May 1999), I have become an even greater fan of the cinema of my mother-tongue, a panorama where masterpieces are not confined to the Oscar-nominated Shwaas and Harishchandrachi Factory but also Bindhaast (the turnaround 1999 hit for Marathi cinema that was its first Cinemascope movie), and almost 50 masterpieces or quasi-milestones in the last 25 years.
This voluminous list includes Mee Shivajiraje Bhosle Boltoy, Kadaachit, National award winners Vaalvi and Mee Sindhutai Sakpal, the Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai franchise, Timepass, Aapla Manus, Natarang, Katyaar Kaaljaat Ghusli, Taranchye Bait, Gharat Ganpati, Kaksparsh, Elizabeth Ekadashi, Happy Journey, Ventilator, the Jhimma franchise, Baipan Bhaari Devaa, Mee Vasantrao, Malaa Aai Vhyaychaay, Naach Ga Ghuma—Phew! What a list, and I am missing out on some films I have not yet had a chance to watch!
Little wonder then that Hindi superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Priyanka Chopra Jonas as well as John Abraham have forayed into Marathi film production.
That Marathi films are now going glorious places is as obvious as the sun rising in the East. The Marathi filmmaker does not believe in remakes from other languages and is hugely original, and also, irrespective of genre, believes in entertaining amidst the variegated, often offbeat, bold and progressive genres he takes up. Obviously, exceptions prove this beautiful rule, but then, we are dealing with the latter here.
Asambhav (The Impossible) is the latest addition to this list, a thriller that deals with PLR or Past-Life Regression. This is a recognized therapeutic technique that uses hypnosis and guided meditation to access memories from previous lives. It is believed to help individuals understand and heal current life issues, traumas, or repetitive patterns by exploring their roots in a past incarnation. A psychologist or counsellor guides the subject into a relaxed, hypnotic state, and while in this phase, the person may be asked to recall details from past lives to understand the source of their current struggles. The process aims to bring subconscious patterns and emotions to the surface to be processed and healed.
When successful businessman Aditya (Sachit Patil) goes to Nainital from Pune on work, where he is building a stadium, he takes along his project manager, Manasi (Mukta Barve), with whom he has fallen in love. They have agreed to continue working professionally because Manasi has refused his marriage proposal and reprimanded him for springing this question suddenly to her parents.
She later admits that the problem lies in her life—she suffers from repetitious frightening dreams of her own murder in a mysterious mansion, which makes her scream and from which she has no escape until someone shakes her out of sleep. After this, she even suffers from abdominal pains for a few days!
When this happens in Nainital as well, Aditya summons his old psychologist friend, Satyajit (Sandeep Kulkarni) for help when Mukta discovers that mansion she sees in her dreams in Nainital itself. The owner, a Sikh, graciously permits them to examine the mansion, stating that he owns it only since the last 20-plus years. Satyajit then suggests PLR and they realize that Mukta was Urmila in her last birth and lived in the mansion as Madhav’s wife. But the owner of the mansion had been Sadhana (Priya Bapat), who had a little son from a husband who had died in an accident. And Madhav was working with and under her supervision. At interval point, she comes to know who had murdered her—Madhav, the earlier incarnation of Aditya! But it takes a suspenseful second half before the audience gets to know who is the true culprit!
Though ingeniously scripted, the film still has two basic flaws: one, how did Manasi agree to go to Nainital on work when she was troubled by nightmares that needed someone to wake her from her slumber. The second will be an out-and-out spoiler that I cannot reveal here about the persona of Urmila’s murderer! That apart, Asambhav is a tightly-woven, gripping thriller with superb technical values (Prasad Bhende’s cinematography makes Nainital look like a beautiful dream and Gayatri Shinde’s production design is just perfect) and nuanced performances.
Mukta Barve is the highlight of the saga as the protagonist Manasi as well as Urmila. Priya Bapat has a slightly shorter role but is her usual super-proficient self and comes into her own in the last part of the film, where she is superb. It is rare that this actress features in a mediocre or substandard Hindi and Marathi project.
Sachit Patil is sincere and does a commendable job considering that he is also the co-director, co-writer and co-producer. Sandeep Kulkarni is effective. Vineet Sharma as the jealous ex-associate of Sadhana, the child actor who plays Sadhana’s son and the Sikh owner are good, as is the actor who plays the family servant-cum-cook in a cameo.
But for those avoidable flaws, the film would have had a higher rating.
Rating: ***1/2 (Almost)
Mumbai Pune Films Entertainment’s, Ericon Telefilms’ and P & P Entertainment’s Asambhav Produced by: Sachit Patil, Sharmishtha Raut, Nitin Prakash Vaidya & Tejas Desai Directed by: Sachit Patil & Pushkar Shrotri Written by: Kapil Bhopatkar, Vishal Inamdar, Sachit Patil & Girish Joshi Music: Amitraj Starring: Mukta Barve, Priya Bapat, Sachit Patil, Sandeep Kulkarni, Vineet Sharma & others
