An astute portrayal of political bigotry and its side effects
The political parties come to power with a lot of promises to extend various welfare measures and programmes for the people. Some of these programmes may be stalled or curtailed after some time due to siphoning off allotted budgetary amounts to some other purpose or due to funds getting diverted to other ambitious projects which serve no purpose but to give a fillip to the vote bank politics.
Johaar which is bankrolled by Bhanu Sandeep Marni under Dharma Surya Pictures and streaming on Aha Video is one such story where the Chief Minister of the State wants to install a mammoth statue in the memory of his late father who happens to be his predecessor. But this move by him which may look quite simple on paper, its actual motive and implementation are far-reaching and prove detrimental to the lives of many people.
Storyline
In Amalapadu in Srikakulam, which is reeling under the plight of waterborne diseases claims the life of the husband of Gangamma (Easwari Rao) Even her only daughter falls prey to this dreadful disease and she runs from pillar to post to get her daughter treated but things take a different turn due to change in policies of Government leaving her high and dry.
In Varanasi, Siddhu, (Ankith Koyya) falls in love with Jyothi (Esther Anil) who is the daughter of a sex worker. Jyothi who is interested to pursue her studies left with no other way except to escape from her mother as she wants her daughter to don her shoes after attaining puberty. Jyothi who is against this idea escapes with Siddhu to Rajahmundry to start a new life. But the sudden change in situation shatters their dreams throwing life of Jyothi into deep grief.
In Rayalaseema, Bose (Subhalekha Sudhakar) a follower of Subhas Chandra Bose runs a hostel for orphan children in a dilapidated building. He applies for a loan to construct a new hostel building that gets sanctioned after many ordeals but unfortunately the loan amount could not be released due to budgetary constraints. With no other option left, Bose decides to take the extreme step to fulfill his desire as people come first then the rest for him.
In Visakhapatnam, Bala (Naina Ganguly) a street gymnast aspires to become a champion sprinter. Opportunity knocks her door as her talent gets recognized opening a new chapter in her life. But sudden developments turn her physically unfit due to lack of proper diet, as a result, she fails in her efforts to win which leaves her dejected and disappointed.
All these four stories even though take place at different places and run through different contexts, they have a common link in the form of intention of Chief Minister Vijay Varma (Chaitanya Krishna) of constructing the tallest statue in the world by pooling up the funds from the budget allotted for implementation of various welfare measures which are meant to provide relief to the people. Due to this, the loans, scholarships or other monetary benefits to the needy got clipped abruptly resulting in disruption of many lives and these four are only a tip of the iceberg as rightly pointed by the journalist Rohini during her confrontation with Vijay Varma as there are many lives at stake due to his myopic policies.
Performances of Actors
It’s a plethora of remarkable performances from all the actors particularly Easwari Rao and Subhalekha Sudhakar are exponential as their characters are conceived to convey emotions in a heart touching way and they proved their mettle once again.
Esther Anil (Drushyam fame) who has grown up to be a good looking teenage girl has done well in a well-etched character along with Ankith Koyya who has shown great promise with a splendid performance.
Naina Ganguly is perfect and her performance in the role of a dreamer who wants to make it big with the help of her inherent talent is endearing and will be an inspiration to many younger people who desire to make it big in their careers.
Direction & Technical Aspects
Above all, it’s the debutant writer-director Teja Marni who needs the special appreciation for his story and the way he developed the anthology of four tales that meticulously present various spheres of life. A younger couple who want to stand on their own, A hapless mother who wants to save her daughter who was infected by a deadly disease, an aspiring athlete who is brimming with talent to make it big and a freedom fighter who wants to do service to the society and on top of all, an immature leader who gambles with the lives of the people. All these characters were presented with authenticity and perfection by Teja without any compromise.
The creativity of Teja was very well supported by Cinematographer Jagadeesh Cheekati with good aesthetically pleasing especially those shots picturized in circular motion are a treat to watch.
Equally noteworthy is the music by Priyadarshan which lingers for quite some time with good numbers like the rap song Idi Varanasi by rapper Asura and another soothing song Nee Roopam Eduruga make good impact while background score goes with flow of the film.
The editing is slick and there is no incidence of jarring while switching from one tale to another one which helped a lot in the continuity of the film. Only black spot is the lone crude scene in the first half which should have been chopped off to retain the clean image of the film and the run time of 122 minutes also seems to be very reasonable keeping in mind the magnitude involving four different stories.
Verdict
Johaar is a honest film that should not be missed for its pragmatic approach and contemporary outlook. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this film is going to inspire many young directors to come up with more socially relevant stories that are appealing and thought-provoking in future.
Rating:4/5
