Daayen Ya Baayen Review

What is it all about?

The Indianised version of Vittorio De Sica's Italian classic `Hello Elephant' works as a cinema because of its local flavor, realistic performance and authentic picturisation of the beautiful landscapes of Uttarakhand. It is a tale of an idealistic school teacher who stays in his village for the progress of the boys and girls of his school. He aspires to form a Kala Kendra in the school to nurture artistic capabilities of the students.

The story of course.

Deepak Dobriyal plays the role of the school teacher. Wife Aditi Bharti does not share the aspiration of her husband. She is angry about his wasting life in a village. Deepak sees a beautiful woman wearing a red sari at the window of a bus. He writes a line about the beauty of the red. A company advertising their red car model receives this writing through one of Deepak students. Deepak wins the car as the prize. Driving the car in the remote village on hilly roads creates lots of comic situations. The car emerges as his pride and the pride of the village. With a comic twist it helps him getting the grant from the chief minister to start his dream project of Kala Kendra.

What to look for?

The location filming in the hills of Uttarakhand. Cinematographer Amlan Dutta has captured very well the rugged beauty of the hills. Plain dwellers are marvelously transported to the land high in the hills. The characters are interesting. Deepak does well as the dreamer teacher. Aditi Bharti's change in behavior after her husband gets the car is amusing. Girish Tiwari as the school principal and Jeetendra Bisht as the scheming politician provide interesting cameos.

What not to look for?

There is lack of focus in the script. There is confusion about the intention of the director Bela Negi about what she is making, a slapstick comedy with the hilly village backdrop or a realistic film about uplifting a village. The pace is slow as the film drags most of the time.

Conclusion

This desi Indian dal is minus the popular tadka but has the bitter and sweet taste; come with an open mind you won't regret.

Rating: ***