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The Damned Rain is a 2009 Marathi-language
black comedy film about the prevalence of suicide among the drought-stricken farmers in the Vidarbha
region of Maharashtra
, India
. The film has been directed by Satish Manwar, and stars Girish Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni, Aman Attar and Jyoti Subhash. The film uses the Varadi dialect of Marathi, which is spoken in the Vidarbha region.
region, which has been notorious for farmer suicides. It also allegorically tells about how lack of information and education amongst the farmers, can ruin them, despite their indefatigable spirit.
After, the debt-ridden neighbour Bhaskar Deshmukh commits suicide, amongst many other farmers of the region, Kisna's wife Alka (Sonali Kulkarni) observes Kisna's aloofness and interprets that Kisna is contemplating suicide too. She asks their 6-year old son Dinu (Aman Attar) to keep a watch on Kisna, and report any irregular behavior. Kisna is however imbued by the thoughts of the arrival of the Monsoon
.
During these days, Alka tries her best by preparing Puran Poli
amongst other myriad efforts to keep Kisna in good spirit. However, Kisna being inherently stronger than his peer farmers, albeit aloof, is often annoyed by the overt and misplaced concern of his wife.
Pawning jewelry, Kisna purchases cotton seeds from Nagpur
City, intending to sow them when the rains arrive. The seeds fail to germinate, due to the late arrival of the monsoons and this is the only time in the entire movie Kisna contemplates suicide, by consuming pesticide. However, Alka sells other jewelry and purchases a fresh set of seeds, which are sowed. Due to the vagaries of the rain, Kisna is able to reap only two quintals of cotton, which is taken away by the money-lender/cotton trader, leaving Kisna's family with nothing.
Meanwhile, Kisna, with his indefatigable spirit, goes to a bank in the city, takes a loan and installs a bore-well in his farm, despite the perpetual pessimism of Patil. The bore-well itself doesn't work to its potential due to the erratic power supply, typical of the hinterlands of Vidarbha
. At this stage, Patil gives Kisna the idea of drawing electric power from the Electric power transmission
lines.
Kisna never gives up even till the end, where ill-advised, he naively tries to tap electric power from the high voltage Electric power transmission
lines to power his water pump of the recently installed bore-well and loses his life by electrocution.
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
black comedy film about the prevalence of suicide among the drought-stricken farmers in the Vidarbha
Vidarbha
Vidarbha is the eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur Division and Amravati Division. Its former name is Berar . It occupies 31.6% of total area and holds 21.3% of total population of Maharashtra...
region of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The film has been directed by Satish Manwar, and stars Girish Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni, Aman Attar and Jyoti Subhash. The film uses the Varadi dialect of Marathi, which is spoken in the Vidarbha region.
Plot
The Damned Rain is about the life of a farmer Kisna (Girish Kulkarni), who is trying to get a good crop in the drought-stricken VidarbhaVidarbha
Vidarbha is the eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur Division and Amravati Division. Its former name is Berar . It occupies 31.6% of total area and holds 21.3% of total population of Maharashtra...
region, which has been notorious for farmer suicides. It also allegorically tells about how lack of information and education amongst the farmers, can ruin them, despite their indefatigable spirit.
After, the debt-ridden neighbour Bhaskar Deshmukh commits suicide, amongst many other farmers of the region, Kisna's wife Alka (Sonali Kulkarni) observes Kisna's aloofness and interprets that Kisna is contemplating suicide too. She asks their 6-year old son Dinu (Aman Attar) to keep a watch on Kisna, and report any irregular behavior. Kisna is however imbued by the thoughts of the arrival of the Monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
.
During these days, Alka tries her best by preparing Puran Poli
Puran Poli
Puran Poli is a traditional type of sweet flatbread made in India in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa.-Ingredients:*300 gm - Channa dal or split yellow gram*300 gm - Jaggery...
amongst other myriad efforts to keep Kisna in good spirit. However, Kisna being inherently stronger than his peer farmers, albeit aloof, is often annoyed by the overt and misplaced concern of his wife.
Pawning jewelry, Kisna purchases cotton seeds from Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
City, intending to sow them when the rains arrive. The seeds fail to germinate, due to the late arrival of the monsoons and this is the only time in the entire movie Kisna contemplates suicide, by consuming pesticide. However, Alka sells other jewelry and purchases a fresh set of seeds, which are sowed. Due to the vagaries of the rain, Kisna is able to reap only two quintals of cotton, which is taken away by the money-lender/cotton trader, leaving Kisna's family with nothing.
Meanwhile, Kisna, with his indefatigable spirit, goes to a bank in the city, takes a loan and installs a bore-well in his farm, despite the perpetual pessimism of Patil. The bore-well itself doesn't work to its potential due to the erratic power supply, typical of the hinterlands of Vidarbha
Vidarbha
Vidarbha is the eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur Division and Amravati Division. Its former name is Berar . It occupies 31.6% of total area and holds 21.3% of total population of Maharashtra...
. At this stage, Patil gives Kisna the idea of drawing electric power from the Electric power transmission
Electric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
lines.
Kisna never gives up even till the end, where ill-advised, he naively tries to tap electric power from the high voltage Electric power transmission
Electric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
lines to power his water pump of the recently installed bore-well and loses his life by electrocution.
Cast
- Sonali KulkarniSonali KulkarniSonali Kulkarni is an Indian actress. She was born in Pune. She has majorly worked in Marathi and Hindi films. She is famous for her role in Dil Chahta Hai.-Career:...
as Alka - Girish Kulkarni as Kisna
- Jyoti Subash as Grandmother
- Veena Jamkar as Anjana
- Aman Attar as Dinu
- Mukund Vasule as Patil
- Madhukar Dhore as Anjana's Father-in-Law
- Rajesh More as Cotton trader
- Vinod Raut as Gajnya
- Amit Patil as Bhaskar
- Shekhar Barne as School Teacher
Reception
Prashant Pethe, the film's producer, who is also a merchant navy officer, had no money left for distributing the film after its completion. So,he started showcasing it at various film festivals in the hope of finding support. Subsequently, The Damned Rain was screened at many film festivals.- Best Marathi Film - Pune International Film Festival, India (2009)
- Special Jury Award - Maharashtra State Film Awards, India (2009)
- Best Editing Award - Ahmadabad International Film Festival, India (2009)
- Awarded - Hubert Bals Fund for Distribution
- Official Selection - Festival International du film de Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Official Selection - Transylvania International Film Festival, Romania
- Official Selection - Durban International Film festival, South Africa
- Official Selection - Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), LA
- Official Selection - Vancouver International film festival, Canada
- Official Selection - Warsaw International film festival, Poland
- Official Selection - Bollywood and Beyond, Stuttgart, Germany
- Official Selection - Habitat Film Festival, New Delhi, India
- Official Selection - Goa Marathi Film festival, India
- Official Selection - Kolhapur International Film Festival, India
- First Prize - BMM Convetion Film Festival, Philadelphia, USA
External links
- Gabhricha Paus at maanbindu.com