Review: 'Matter' (Marathi)

Film: Matter

Director: Satish Motling

Cast: Jitendra Joshi, Rajesh Shringarpure, Santosh Juvekar, Sushant Shelar, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Usha Nadkarni, Minal Ghorpade, Surekha Kudachi, Megha Dhade, Yogini Chouk

Rating: *

Ram Gopal Verma made the underworld of the 80s and 90s pretty glamorous with his Company, Satya, D and Ab Tak Chappan. Mahesh Manjrekar made it fiery with his Vaastav, Hathyaar and very recently, his City of Gold which was showed the origins of the underworld from the Mill Workers’ struggle’s point of view. Every one of these films used a protagonist from the underworld, in contrast to the much loved Policewala hero from the 80s and they turned him into a hero, justifying his entry into the world of crime and trying to explain how crime follows a law of its own. And in today’s day of corruption, Anna Hazare and volatile financial markets, these themes seem less and less real.

Of course, people are frustrated and there is lawlessness today, but it is an organised lawlessness as opposed to the golden days of the Underworld in Mumbai. At such a point Satish Motling (you might remember him as a director of the bizarre film called Agadbam) offers an action thriller called Matter.

Why the title? Because what does it matter what this film be called, it has some well known stars like Joshi, Shringarpure, Juvekar and Dharmadhikari and the promo shows us some promising Maaramaari  why would the audience need a title to decide whether or not to watch this film!

Motling and screenplay writer Atmaram Dharne must have sat together with an aim to write an action thriller much like one sits down to make a cake.

Ingredients:

Childhood in a rustic neighbourhood

1-2 act of violence performed right in front of the protagonists as children

1 sister raped (preferably commits suicide in front of her young brother)

1 bar dancer

1 corrupt politician with clout

1 Muslim don

10-12 action sequences

2 unexpected pregnancies

1 clean police officer

Generous garnishing of action scenes

Method:

Fill up the gaps and create a story around each of the ingredients and bring them together in a relatable sequence.

So Motling sets out to make the cake called Matter. He gets all his ingredients together and thinks of a way to link stories. Of course, he skillfully draws from Hindi cinema of the 90s and from Manjrekar in putting together the ingredients.

Matter is the story of four friends. Three of whom are in a remand home for a murder – vengeance attack on a man who raped one of the boys’ sister. Out of jail, they become loafers who detest the term ‘Bhai’ and do nothing but drink beer on the terrace. Often picked up by the cops for questioning, one fine day, they have had enough and they decide to become ‘Bhais’. How can the film be complete without love? So Ronnie (Shringarpure) runs after Reshma (Dhade) nearly forcing her to admit to loving him. Babya (Joshi) broods and silently smiles at Maxi (Ghorpade) who returns his smiles. Pakya (Juvekar) goes ahead and pataoes a police officer’s sister who has been mistakenly abducted and she returns his affections.

Once the love stories are in place, the war of the foursome to survive and become the kings of Mumbai unfolds. And with much gusto our four men wield the gun, fire it around. Do they really rule over the city? Doesn’t matter!

The performances in the film are fairly stiff. Shringarpure and Juvekar don’t do anything out of their comfort zone as far as acting goes. Jitendra Joshi, one of my favourite actors is wasted in a brooding role that has a lot of screen time but hardly anything to do. Sameer Dharmadhikari as a police officer obsessed with cleaning out the city is convincing but some loose ends of his story remain untied. The female leads of the film have nothing to do except smile. In fact the film is so cluttered, everyone gets away with a little slacking.

Even as the end approaches, you feel unsure about the film. It’s okay to throw in some masala and action to make a film a fun ride, but when the masala becomes a main ingredient, with inspiration drawn in from all quarters, what you get is a bhel-puri of an action film.

There’s nothing new, nothing very entertaining about this film. And the fact that this bhel-puri is being sold as an action thriller is another Matter altogether. Give it a miss. Save your money and time.