Movie Review: Welcome to Sajjanpur – A Must Watch for Every Indian

Yesterday it was Saturday and as a faithful movie lover I searched “Movies in Pune” on Guruji.com. I was glad to find out that there was a 6:30 pm show of “Welcome to Sajjanpur” at Rahul Cinema. So I asked my friend Salil whether he would be interested in watching the movie. He said yes. So we went to watch the movie. If you don’t know Rahul Cinema has slashed the ticket rates for the movie, Silver class is Rs. 50 and Gold class in Rs. 100. But the food inside is damn costly - Pepsi for Rs. 30 and 2 Samosas for Rs. 25. (Need not to say that I incurred both the obligatory expenses. One doesn’t weight 82Kgs just as easy.)

Ok now about the movie, basically the movie starts with a brief introduction of Sajjanpur by the protagonist of the movie, Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade) who is a letter writer by profession and an aspiring novelist. The movie assumes hilarious tone from the first dialog and keeps it till the end. The short plot is Mahadev is in love with his childhood classmate (now married) Kamala (Amruta Rao). Kamala’s husband, Bansi (Kunal Kapoor in another husband cameo after “Bachna Ae Haseeno”) lives in Mumbai and hasn’t returned to Sajjanpur in last 4 years. So Mahadev tries to twist the letters which Kamala asks to write Mahadev to Bansi, so as to create a rift in their relation and to win Kamala from her Husband. All this is set on the background of election for the ‘Sarpanch’ of Sajjanpur.

It is nice commentary on rural life in north India and current Indian social and economic scenario. One particular dialog I liked was when Mahadev complains about rising petrol prices, other character replies, “Ab to nuclear power aa rahi hai, Sab uspe hi chalega.” (Not exact words but something to that effect.) But the director, (Shyam Benegal) takes a role of keen observer and commentator. Not once he has tried to preach anything and that’s what I think is the master stroke of the movie. It makes you contemplate but doesn’t try to influence your opinion. You are encouraged to think and draw your own conclusions.

In my opinion it is must watch for every Indian. And don’t worry it is a comedy so no fear of ruining your weekend with a serious movie. The songs could have been better though. But a minor flaw you can ignore since the filming of the songs is very creative.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Movie Info:
Official Website: welcometosajjanpur.com
Director: Shyam Benegal