Elizabeth Ekadashi

‘Elizabeth Ekadashi’ directed by Paresh Mokashi is a hilarious roller coaster ride. It is about two young kids trying to raise money for their mother so that they can prevent her from selling their cycle ‘Elizabeth’ in their hour of need. With this modest storyline Paresh sets out to make a film whose entire structure is based on the performances of small kids.

This story takes place in Pandharpur. Maharastrian village where every year thousands of ‘Varkari’ (pilgrims) come together on the eve of ‘Ashadhi Ekadashi’.

Our protagonists is boy called Dnyanesh (Shrirang Mahajan). He goes everywhere with his cycle named Elizabeth. He can not sit on it and ride. He is too young for that but his dad made it and he loves it a lot. Probably that is the only thing that he has to cherish. He is a smart, honest and very genuine at heart. His sister Mukta (Sayali Bhandarkavathekar) is quite energetic. Their father has passed away. Mother (Nandita Dhuri) sews sweaters and carries out small works to fulfil their needs. She is hard-working lady who wants her kids to learn and complete their education. Their grandmother is kind and loving too. Conflict arises when there comes a need for lump sum amount to pay off the bank loan.

Paresh Mokashi hardly takes any time to establish his characters. These kids along with their friends have the most of the screen time. Practically they are the pillars of this movie. Converting a good solid script into a movie needs a lot of efforts. One important aspect is casting right people for roles and in this movie, casting is spot on. All performances look impeccable. Especially Shrirang Mahajan, Sayali Bhandarkavathekar and foul-mouthed Ganya played by Pushkar Lonarkar. They keep their energy level high. They are vibrant, bubbly, verbose and full of ideas. This could have made it noisy and loud but Paresh keeps it subtle.

Movie delivers some of the important messages. How behaviour of kids is dependent on parents. How cheating can put people in trouble or even on our belief on some of our rituals and our faith in God. At times this has been done by some smart one liners. I can make a long list of things that movie raises. Don’t get me wrong, it is not a preachy affair. It is satirical. There are plenty moments to tickle your funny bone.

Initially this story was written by Mrudugandha Kulkarni and Paresh Mokashi has been credited for writing a screenplay. They both did amazing job. Paresh Mokashi came in limelight with his first film ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’. This movie shows us his grip on the craft. Cinematography by Amol Gole on real locations look beautiful. He has handled camera even in those constraints if real locations.

Made on modest budget of 1.5 crores, this movie tells us some fundamentals of entertaining movie.

1) Many amazing stories are hidden in our roots or they are around us, we just need to look for them with open eyes.
2) We don’t need to have car explosions or gravity defying action sequences to tell a story.
3) Misogynist jokes is not the definition of comedy. Comedy can be without lowbrow jokes and still be enjoyable.

Finally all I can say is this, ‘Elizabeth Ekadashi’ is engaging and has innocence at its core. Take your family to watch this movie and I am sure you will come out with a grin on your face.

Boyhood

Richard Linklater directed ‘Boyhood’ is a new achievement in the cinematic history. In 2002, he started shooting movie and continued shooting it in intervals over the period of 11 years. This movie shows growing up of Mason junior (Ellar Coltrane) till he passes 12th grade. Richard could have shot it with different cast for different age groups but he chose the other way and this gives it altogether different meaning. First, to focus on an idea for 11 years is something big and then to capture essence of childhood is challenging. Linklater does both of these with some fines.

Boyhood starts with Mason Jr. six-year old curious kid lying on green ground. We learn, his mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette), is a single mother. Her daughter Samantha (Lorelei Linklater) is elder to Mason. She is smart and enthusiastic girl. Their father Mason Senior (Ethan Hawke) has left house and now he is living in Alaska. Raising two young kids as a single parent is difficult for mother. Olivia tries to give her children the best. She moves to her mother’s house so that she can complete college and get better job. After few months Mason Senior (Ethan Hawke) returns and starts seeing kids on weekends. He loves his kids. He wants to be with them.

On the surface Boyhood is a simple movie with boy literally growing up on-screen but when we delve into the layers of this, we find, it is not just a boyhood that Linklater is working on, it is also parenthood that he is focusing on. He does that by giving us perspective of mother and father. We have a family trying to find a way in different phases of life.

This is an American story yet very universal in its nature. It deals with separated parents and how kids grow up in this environment. Both the kids want their parents to stay together but egos and issues of parents keep mom and dad at distance. Parents are not running away from reality. Father spends time with kids on weekends, takes them out for camping and tries to have conversation to make them ready for future. Some of the wonderful moments of movie come when these kids interact with their father.

Primarily, Boyhood is about Mason Jr. and his world. We see him passing through different milestones. Probably one of the points of this movie is to tell us that life is full of milestones. One after the other you pass them. Each milestone brings some unique experience to you and you move forward with that.

Another notable thing about Boyhood is its dialogs. They are so real and beautiful that it is hard to believe that somebody (Linklater in this case) has written them. Acting of lead characters is natural. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette are excellent and so are Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater. Screen presence and skills of these kids develop over the years.

Initially Linklater did not know how this movie will shape up and that is valid. Every year he was shooting it, editing it and writing again. His idea was to make small films of 10-15 minutes and put them together. What we have now is seamless experience without any black boards showing ‘2 years later’ or ‘5 months later’. It moves in flow, very poetic.

Boyhood is an amazing experience for simple reasons. It is grandiose and evokes various feelings. Boyhood has released in India, it is a limited release. Don’t miss this ambitious spectacles, missing it would be like missing one life enriching experience.