Dor and Manini.

I quite like watching movies, though in recent times haven't been able to catch up due work pressure. Sometime back I saw this marathi movie "Manini", not the old black and white one. This is a new movie, shot in Dubai (well thank God that wasn't the USP of the movie). It has a feminist content. Actually I shouldn't say feminist in so much as hard core feminism but more about bigotry. There's the man (the Hero) who's working in Dubai and is having an affair with his colleague who is a divorcee with a child. Due to parental pressure he marries a girl from Ratnagiri and takes her to Dubai where he mistreats her. She meets a man who helps her out when she's lost in Dubai and he goes on to become a friend. The hubby starts suspecting her friendship. Thats when she leaves him and returns home to Ratnagiri. When the hubby follows her there and apologises to her she doesn't go back with him. She tells him that she would prefer to lead a life on her own terms... not as a dependant on him or her friend. It was a nice film though unfortunately the director got caught in the item number rat-race. So we have an item number with lot of pelvic movements to the beats of "padala pikla amba" (remixed). Frankly this song doesn't gel with the goings on.
Then I saw Dor... I loved the film. A film about a girl from North India who suddenly finds that her husband is an accused in murder in Saudi Arabia and how unless she gets the signature of the widow of the deceased on the document pardoning the accused he would be hanged. So she sets out in search of this girl. She's alone and is helped along by a bahurupiya. She befriends the widow and understands her plight of losing her loved one.Here too bigotry is shown... where the widowed daughter-in-law is supposed to stay in the house at all times and should wear a drab garb.... and though being young should not enjoy life. When it comes to saving the ancestral house the father-in-law is not against prostituting his daughter-in-law. Finally Zeenat (Gul Panag) gives the young widow the strength to break free from the shackles and make a life of her own.Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia have given good performances. Shreyas Talpade is also a good actor who can do justice to any role given to him. Even though he's not the main protagonist in this film.... one leaves the theatre taking with them memories of this lovable "bahurupiya". The film could have done without any songs as frankly the storyline doesn't demand any. Kesaria balama being the only one I could remember for it's earthy charm. Rest are forgettable.
Both the films had a good story line. Unfortunately the Marathi film lags behind as it doesn't enjoy a vast audience as a Hindi movie.