JAI SANTOSHI MAA

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Posted: 19 years ago

JAI SANTOSHI MAA

By Satyajit - Eye TV India Bureau

Critic's I-view

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The sanctimonious chants of "Jai Santoshi Maa" bring out the memories of Bollywood's earlier timeless blockbuster 'Jai Santoshi Maa'. It's noble idea to revisit or rather resurrect devotional themes and subjects in the present context. The basic idea of creating a different genre may be a factor behind the making of films like 'Krishna' and 'Jai Santoshi Maa'. In the long queue of remakes, this devotional presentation is the first to make its dent in theatres. In Bollywood the common factor in all devotional films has been its script that shows devotee as a protagonist facing miseries and wretchedness by its near ones. It ends with the devotee's faith in God as the divine force helps him or her in overcoming them. 'Jai Santoshi Maa' unravels the same path with predicted plot, theme and characterizations.

It seems the producers were more interested in materializing the sentimental faith of the devout audiences than delivering the desired entertainment package to them. Like all films, this has its pros and cons, whims and fancies. But once again a noble concept has gone awry. The biggest drawback is in the writing department followed by below average acting skills of the actors. Satram Mohra's 'Jai Santoshi Maa' (1975) wrote history and run neck and neck to blockbuster 'Sholay' with actress, Anita Guha playing the role of her lifetime. This time the acting department is completely deserted and the average acting skills of Rakesh Bapat proves the saving grace. Ms Sulekha Bajpai who penned the screenplay for the animated film 'Hanuman' disappoints completely. The writer failed to churn out a relevant script where a devotee's faith in his/her deity wins him/her over rivals and obstacles. It's stereotyped scripting with cardboard characterization that speaks the sorry tale of this divine presentation. Ahmed Siddiqui, former subordinate to Yash Chopra, directs the tale of divine intervention of "Jai Santoshi Maa" into her devotee's life.

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The old style formula of good versus bad, white versus black and devout versus uncommitted holds the gist. The audience was expecting new style of treatment that could have been metaphoric with youth genre and evoke their faith and sanctity in Goddess Santoshi Maa. The successful films like 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' worked because they told the significance of great martyrs and resurrected the definition of patriotism. The film has its plus points, but they are just handful and insufficient to lift the spirits.

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'Jai Santoshi Maa' travels through the paths of divine intervention of "Jai Santoshi Maa" into the life of her ardent devotee -- Mahima (Nusrat Bharucha). The film opens with a TV reporter making documentary on "Jai Santoshi Maa". In hot pursuit to make her story exhaustive she visits a "Maa"s devoted disciple. The reporter is caught in a fix and decides to stay with the devotee for a night. During this night she experiences "adbhut chamatkar" (divine miracles) of "Jai Santoshi Maa" in the life of Mahima. The film rolls back into flashback and focuses on the innocent college days of Mahima (Nusrat Bharucha). Mahima, an innocent college girl and "Maa" devotee nurses love for Anurag (Rakesh Bapat). The girl's divine faith in "Maa" blesses her every time. Anurag has passionate love for music and seeks tutelage from Mahima's father. Pratap, Anurag's paternal uncle, is the guardian of Anurag but faces strong opposition from the rest of the family.

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Shripal (Sanjay Swaraj) and Sukhpal (Raj Khan) are Pratap's irresponsible sons with bad habits. Their wives - Shobha (Shameen Ali) and Suman (Anisha Hinduja) - are evil faced daughter-in-laws. Pratap is Anurag's only savior and helps him marrying with Mahima. The entire women clan opposes the marriage of Anurag with Mahima. Anurag faces the wrong accusation by Pratap's sons. Mahima faces the agony and atrocities of Pratap's daughter-in-laws and wife. Tired and disheartened by misfortune, Anurag steps out and reaches Mumbai for career and future in music world. Anurag confronts Neha (Parakh Madan) during a road accident and she leads her into the glossy world of music. Anurag makes a career in the music world. Mahima plans for "Solah-Shukravar" for betterment of her married life. She succeeds in her "Vrat" and "Maa Santoshi Maa" blesses her and entire family with happiness. The film ends on positive notes where the devotion of Mahima wins over her bitterest enemies.

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Newcomer Nusrat Bharucha plays the lead protagonist as zealous devotee and unfortunately forms the weakest link. The film prospects are completely on her shoulders but she lacks the desired face value and body language to be competent actress. It could have been her dream debut but with below average scripting and poor direction she proves to be a meek contender for the lead role. The actress delivers her performance with honesty but her work hardly makes audiences react. Rakesh Bapat, who started off as one of three newcomers in Anubhav Sinha's 'Tum Bin', is the only promising factor. The actor has matured into a reliable actor and holds the fort commendably. He has been competent in dramatic moments and shown great improvisation. The another big disappointment comes from the second lead female actresses (Shammem Ali, Anisha Hinduja, Parakh Madan) who prove as "left over" artistes of "saas-bahu" serials. It's ridiculous that the camera focuses on their evil acts throughout the film and they disappoint with their semiskilled acting. This shows naivety on the director's part who risked his project with a bunch of incompetent performers. Senior actors (Lalit Tiwari, Shashi Sharma) prove competent in their performances. The character artiste (Sanjay Swaraj, Raj Khan) works mechanically with the script. South Indian actress Vedhika Kumar makes promising appearance as "Jai Santoshi Maa".

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Anu Malik's music is one of film's strongest features with "Maa Santoshi Maa" being the best soundtrack. The old rehashed soundtracks "Yahaan Wahaan" and "Main to Aarti Utaroon" impress and work mechanically with the narration of the film. The rest of the numbers retards the flow of the film and should be edited to reduce film's duration. Ahmed Siddiqui's uninspiring directorial skills failed this devotional work. The director failed to march step-in-step with megalomaniac impact of 70's hit. The director has failed to pick up the appealing star cast and disappoints completely with sluggish treatment that make things worse. Besides poor scripting and casting, the basic flaws lie in the outdated execution that proved too stale to digest. The shrewd marketing and proposed screening in "Navratris" might prove beneficial for initial response. But thereafter the film has grim chances of survival with multiple releases every week.

It would be absurd to compare the astronomical success of 70's blockbuster with this film. Overall, 'Jai Santoshi Maa' holds relevance for "Maa Santoshi Maa" devotees. However, it would be a disappointing fare for average movie buffs.