Kaivalya

--Mild Spoilers Ahead-- An Amazing Movie. Great subject. Especially in the age of westernization in the name of modernization. In the age of people accepting anything and everything that comes from the west. From the food to ideas and philosophical beliefs. A couple of obvious problems though. First of all, they broke the first rule of filmmaking. “Don’t tell. Show.” The Narrator tells lots of things throughout the movie. This could have done better I suppose. Also, NOT a believable and convincing McGuffin at all. A box opening the arsenal?? It feels futuristic and does not fit the tone of the film. Maybe a hidden key or something? There were a hundred different logical and believable ways it could have played out. A cliched villain. Typical British officer. But a cliche becomes a cliche for a reason. It is based on reality. One could argue that history is much more bloodied than a family-friendly movie can portrait. But the character depth is lacking when it comes to the villain. About the protagonist, one might wonder did the character is shown more dumb than necessary? Regardless, I guess it plays out well. Hats off for the performance of Sumeet Raghavan, of course. The Visuals are perfect, Drama is good. I skipped the Lavani and the romantic song between the protagonist and his spouse. I wonder if the end should have been, the Protagonist goes underground with Madhav-Rao and family has to say goodbye but in a proud way; Showing viewers sacrifice and proud of a spouse and kid of a freedom fighter. And the emotional turmoil that comes with it. Because, after Scott, some other officer would come, definitely.! Regardless, a fantastic, fantastic performance from Sumeet Raghavan, Sharad Ponkshe, Arun Nalavade, and all other casts. Movies truly tell the gist of the culture. The unfortunate reality is that today, Indian culture is westernized. Not modernized, westernized. If westerns lift the barriers of entry, these fools will swim across the ocean just to visit western countries and forget the bloodied past like always. While the western nations, villages sing songs about their history of 50 or 100 years of establishment, we forget the thousands of years of history and culture and the monuments in our backyard. That's a sad reality. With all the things mentioned above, the movie still becomes successful in painting the picture and reminding you of the struggle and endurance of the freedom fighters in the small villages at that time. Watch this movie with your family. It is available on YouTube and Netflix. It's worth the watch.