PHULE rests on the towering performance of Pratik Gandhi

Phule Review {2.0/5} & Review Rating

Director: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan

Phule Movie Review Synopsis:
PHULE is the story of a legendary social revolutionary and his equally legendary wife. The year is 1848. Jyotiba Phule (Pratik Gandhi) is an English-educated scholar who lives in Poona with his wife Savitri Phule (Patralekhaa), father Govindrao Phule (Vinay Pathak) and brother Raja Ram Phule (Sushil Pandey). Jyotiba belongs to the lower caste and has been ill-treated by the members of the upper castes his whole life. But thanks to education and exposure to the happenings in the Western world, he realizes that this discrimination is unfair. He decides to work for the betterment of society and his first step is to educate girl child, an unheard-of concept in those days. The Brahmins are completely against this idea. Yet, a kind-hearted Brahmin, Vishnupant Thatte (Asit Redij) agrees with Jyotiba’s vision. Vishnupant allows his mansion to be utilized as a school for girls. They secretly even manage to enrol six girls. Soon, more and more girls secure admission. All is going well until one day, Vinayak Deshpande (Joy Sengupta) and other Brahmins of the area learn about the school. They vandalize the property and even bash Jyotiba. The Panchayat head (Amit Behal), also a Brahmin, orders Jyotiba to shut down the school or face the consequences. Jyotiba doesn’t want his family to feel the heat. Hence, he and Savitri leave the Phule residence and start living with Jyotiba’s childhood school friend Usman Sheikh (Jayesh More). Usman has educated his sister Fatima (Akshaya Gurav), just like how Jyotiba educated Savitri. Hence, Usman understands Jyotiba completely and supports him in his endaevour. Jyotiba once again decides to open a school and this time, he changes his strategy. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Phule Movie Story Review:
The story is incredible and inspiring. Ananth Narayan Mahadevan and Muazzam Beg’s screenplay is a mixed bag. A few scenes leave an impact but many scenes fail to give a sense of high. Muazzam Beg’s dialogues are hard-hitting, but only in some places.

Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s direction could have been better. To give credit where it’s due, he brings to celluloid the story of a man whose contribution to our country has been immense. Hence, it’s particularly heartening to see how Jyotiba Phule brought change in society despite numerous challenges. A few scenes stand out like Jyotiba being dragged to court, Jyotiba leaving his house but making sure that his property share remains intact, Jyotiba opening a school by the banks of a river with the help of Lahuji Raghoji Salve (Dhanjay Madrekar), etc. Two scenes that also deserve special mention are when Jyotiba keeps walking while Vinayak and his friends try to avoid his shadow and Savitri admonishing the same group for not stopping the discrimination.

On the flipside, the film suffers majorly due to its lacklustre treatment. Except for the aforementioned scenes, the rest of the film doesn’t pack a punch. One doesn’t get totally invested in their journey because of the execution. As it happens with many biopics, PHULE also has an episodic approach; so, the director moves from one episode to another without letting the viewers process it. A few instances are not properly presented. Jyotiba Phule is also a municipal contractor but this aspect is merely talked about. We never get to see how he managed that work while also fighting social evils. The sequence of barbers giving up tonsuring widows is too quick to make any impact.

Phule | Official Trailer | Pratik Gandhi & Patralekha

Phule Movie Review Performances:
Pratik Gandhi is excellent and constantly rises above the weak script and direction. It’s praiseworthy to see the subtle changes in his body language once he gets older. Patralekhaa gets a bit overshadowed by Pratik’s towering performance. But there are scenes where she manages to hold on to her own and deliver an effective performance. Jayesh More and Akshaya Gurav are too good and get to play extremely interesting and adorable characters. Darsheel Safary (Yashwant) is horribly wasted. A character like this should have had more to do than just be a bystander. Vinay Pathak leaves a mark. Joy Sengupta is decent but after a point, his act gets repetitive. He’s simply staring angrily and getting rebuked by Jyotiba for almost the whole film. Alexx O’Nell (Ribbs Jones), Ellie (Ribbs Jones’ wife) and Sara (Cynthia Farar) lend able support. Dhanjay Madrekar, Sushil Pandey, Amit Behal, Asit Redij, Vishal Tiwari (Tatyasaheb Bhide) and Akanksha Gade (Kashibai) are decent.

Phule movie music and other technical aspects:
Rohan-Rohan’s music doesn’t have a shelf life. Both versions of ‘Saathi’ are forgettable. ‘Dhun Lagi’ is catchy to some extent. Rohan-Rohan’s background score is well-woven into the narrative.

Sunita Radia’s cinematography is appropriate. Aparna Shah’s costumes and Santosh Phutane’s production design are reminiscent of the bygone era. Rounak Phadnis’ editing could have been slicker.

Phule Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, PHULE tells the story of a legendary social revolutionary and rests on the towering performance of Pratik Gandhi. But the film greatly suffers on account of a weak script and lacklustre direction. At the box office, it’ll largely go unnoticed.