Fandry

Before 'Sairat' there was 'Fandry'.

Nagraj Manjule is a Marathi film maker who has given a blackbuster film 'Sairat' which was later remade as 'Dhadak' by a big production house. Sairat was the film which made Nagraj a household name. However, he had made another masterpiece before 'Sairat' - It is called Fandry.

Fandry deals with 3 ideas woven together: Teenage boy from lower cast following in love with a girl from upper cast; superstition of ashes of a bird that makes your desired person fall in love with you; and the bad treatment of the people from lowercast. The one that binds all these concepts together is a pig 🐷.

Fandry is not a glamorous film. It is not glossy but gritty. It shows a remote poor village. It shows the stark contrast between various classes of people. Upper class stays in the village in sophisticated houses while lower class stay in the outskirts of the village. Whenever a pig enters the village, it is the task of lower class people to catch the pig. In fact, that is their official profession as pig catchers. Though the school allows students of all casts in an attempt to establish equality.

Fandry shows the behavior, treatment, and attitude of people of village. It shows that the concepts of inequality are normalised and ingrained in them. Nobody, neither upper class nor lower class people have a problem with inequality and mistreatment. While watching this portrayal, the viewer's blood boils.

The part of superstition too is portrayed beautifully. The boy who dreams about his crush and thinks that one day they will end up together. Though the girl shows no emotions towards him (it is unclear if she is not interested in him, she is unaware of him liking her, or she is one of those who believe inequality is right). The boy keeps attempting to hunt the bird, so that he can scatter the ashes upon the girl, so that she would fall in love with him.

The film's climax comes suddenly and unexpectedly. It does not provide any hints. It does not drag dramatically. The just comes suddenly leaving the viewers surprised. It does not state what the outcome is, but rather makes the viewers wonder. The film lets the viewer think and conclude the end. The film ends abruptly leaving the audience stay back and reflect. It allows the audience to interprete and justify. The film does not provide easy answers but asks difficult questions.

When I watched Fandry in the theatres, I understood why it was praised and why it won several awards. It is a thought provoking film. It trusts the audience to connect the dots and interpret the ideas. It believes that the viewer is a thinker and has potential to see through the complex ideas. Needless to say, I was blown away by this film and praised it.

My only problem was with the language. Though I am a native Marathi speaker, I was unable to understand the dialogues and dialects at several instances. Hence, I would suggest any film lover to watch this film with subtitles.

Overall, Fandry is a masterpiece that questions the norms and provokes thoughts. It is one of the movies I would recommend everyone to watch.