MAINE GANDHI KO NAHIN MARA – Anupam Kher carries the film

Rating:- * * *

MAINE GANDHI KO NAHIN MARA doesn't deal with Mahatma Gandhi, but his ideologies, in fact fast disappearing ideologies. The film peeps into the mind of an aged man who believes he had mistakenly shot the Mahatma.

Perhaps it would have been better to make a play rather than a film which ,at the most, likely to appeal to a limited number of cinegoers.

Even the mature audiences who go to see the film may not agree with the story. The entire courtroom drama after the interval makes it too theatrical, too abstract.

At best, MAINE GANDHI KO NAHIN MARA will be remembered more for Anupam Kher's bravura performance.

Professor Uttam Chaudhary [Anupam Kher] is a retired Hindi teacher who lives with his daughter Trusha [Urmila Matondkar] and son Addy [Addy] in Mumbai. He is suffering from brief periods of forgetfulness, blanks in memory. Little does anyone realize that the problems are much deeper and that this is just the beginning of a journey that will end in a man becoming a prisoner of his mind.

As his memories start to fade, a childhood trauma surfaces -- a memory of being accused of murdering Mahatma Gandhi. The more his life is whitewashed, the stronger this one memory remains.

Amidst all this, Chaudhary's daughter is a positive force, the only lifeline that can save her father from drowning in the universe his mind is creating.

The film talks of Alzheimer's disease, but not in a very convincing manner. The film also delves into the parent-kid relationship and the feeling of being 'unwanted' that a senior citizen experiences at times.

Barua's screenplay is uneven, most absorbing and uninteresting at places, with the result that it is not cohesive. Lawyer [Boman Irani] screaming at the patient [Anupam Kher] appears very harsh and overtly dramatic.

Jahnu Barua's direction is competent albeit in fits and starts In fact, a psychiatrist hiring junior artistes or stage actors to cure a patient of Alzheimer's looks ridiculous and spoils the impact to a major extent.

Bappi Lahiri's background music is soothing, especially the usage of piano at various moments in the narrative. Raaj A. Chakravarti's camerawork is praiseworthy.

Although the film belongs to Anupam Kher completely. Urmila Matondkar is also superb as a caring daughter.

Prem Chopra. Pravin Dabas, Raju Kher, Divya Jagdale [the maid] and Vishwaas Pandya also do well. Addy is first-rate.

On the whole, the film may well be appreciated at festivals and may even be liked by some mature cinegoers and the critics.