PAF reviews: 2. Panchi Re!!!

First of all thanks guys for all the feedback on the previous review, please continue with your comments coz they do help a lot.

So on 22nd evening we had the second PAF of the season “Panchi Re”. The immediate verdict is obviously that it was very very good. The humor, the execution, the energy (in choreo as well as VO and acting) was spectacular. Prod junta did a great job too. The thing that set this PAF apart in my opinion was how they started with an entertaining script and slowly brought in some relevant points without making it abrupt.

A few words on the elements. Voiceovers really surprised me. The voice traits given to every weird character was funny and enjoyable. Infact it was these well delivered traits that saved the regular fumbling and incorrect dialogues. Its upto judges what was more important to them. Acting was good but not consistent. A few scenes clearly looked less rehearsed than others specially the flashes when sajalpur starts facing problems. Those scenes also lacked BG music which could have pulled it through. But still despite this dip the overall energy of the paf remained very high all throughout. Music and Choreo …. “DOUBLE THUMBS UP”. They really performed very well. Great original scores, although there should have been more meeting between script junta and music junta coz I still believe they missed out on BG music in a few very imp scenes. Choreo junta rocked. There were no really never before things but THE ENERGY in itself was something I had never seen before, the Ghana Ghana choreo and the holi choreo really set the pace. I am not a very big fan of UV personally but still the execution of that was also good. Lights junta for a change managed to keep their nerve( :P) so kudos to them too. The center stage prod was awesome, and the village prod was also very neat. Although they could have come up with a few more things for the village in the quadrangle.

Now we come to the one debatable point of the PAF. Almost everybody I spoke with loved the PAF, the humor the elements, etc but there were definitely some debate as to what they were trying to show in the end. I assume that no one’s intention was to take sides in the Marathi vs. bihari issue. But the way the debate was portrayed and the story went on, it sort of crossed the line of being politically correct. One should realize and actually believe that there are always 2 sides of the story, and there is some weight to both sides that’s why the argument exists. Otherwise it would have been solved long back. Still in the debate it seemed that the scales were tilted in the favor of gopu bhaiyaa. And this was a fact felt by many people sitting around me and to some I spoke to afterwards. The argument where the question of violence was raised gopu’s character defended that they “gandhiji protested peacefully coz britishers listened to it… but biharis can only be taught the lesson through violence” was really something you can’t expect people to digest. Infact someone in the audience got so offended that he actually got up and start shouting “ Band karo salo….”. His friends had to pull him down to avoid a scene. One has to realize that if someone can get so offended in the middle of the performance there was a problem. It’s not about saying the bitter truth but the way it was being said slightly crossed the line. I guess a healthy debate while writing this part could have helped iron out this issue, especially it being so sensitive.

Despite all that the final extension towards solution was great. Though not a path breaking solution, it gave a positive end to the story which in such situations is very important. And the final lines of how a bird needs to have both its wings working together to fly along with the choreo and the original score did create that emotional impact they were looking for.

So concluding I would say, great work, superb execution. I don’t remember many pafs in which the energy in everything was so high throughout the PAF. Humor clicked and really got the audience involved. Could have used some more work in a few scenes which were too short and lacked the intensity compared to others, but one can easily overlook that in the overall picture. The only thing that could give a slight negative impression to the judges was like I said the handling of the issue, especially with people getting offended right near the judges table. Still it would take a hell lot of effort to beat his one

Overall rating: 8.5/10

P.S: keep those comments coming people

18 comments:

dabri said...

Dhanyawaad golani .... achcha review hai !

Nikhil Pande said...

Nice work golu :)...

tushar upadhyay said...

liked the review ...

Vikash said...

"bitter truth"...ehhh?

I have serious problem with the metaphor though even if I ignore the Bihari-Marathi issue.

It was said initially in the story that they was no rains in NirjalPur and at the end it was said that there were rains but not fully utilized in proper manner. So, the problem was portrayed as if the resources are not present and while presenting the solution it was said that resources are present but not utilized properly. So, the impact in my head was not as hard-hitting as it would have been. I felt like the writer tried to deceive me at the start. If instead of talking about scarcity of resource, the writer would have talked about misuse of it - it would have made more sense and a viewer must have agreed with the solution. But again, the audience would have guessed the solution and thus creating lesser impact. I think, thinking the same writer chose to present the mislead information at the start. But again, presenting half picture and presenting false picture are two very different things.

Overall, I liked the PAF. I praise the directors for choosing such a bold theme. (But at the same time I praise the person who stood up in between the performance, considering he was 'minority'). Being on a Marathi soil, brings a certain security to get biased towards "some" Marathi opinions. I am sure that the same performance could not have been performed by taking the other side. (or on Bihari soil). From an art perspective, it was an abuse.

Art may contain nudity but it does not mean that nudity is art.

As I said before, I liked it. But again, I like porn as well. So, if it suits the performer's conscience, I don't think anyone has any write to complain about it. (He will have right to leave the theater and show his protest).

Now on a personal note, it was a big leap for Tushar. Exceeded expectations by a huge margin. Even with occasional mistakes, Dabriwal was amazing. UV light execution was orgasmic. The flute player, synth player and singer were awesome.

Zishaan Hayath said...

I completely enjoyed the PAF. Dialogues, choreo, prod (center stage), voiceover and lighting (UV bit) take cake. Live music, acting could be better. Debate should have been more balanced.

Incidentally, I was sitting right next to the guy who shouted 'band karo saalo!'

Humor and timing in dialogues was amazing!

rakesh said...

Two words, Awesome execution!! Every thing else has already been put by Golu in the most beautiful way!!

Now,
When the said controversial statement (one that incited the "Band karo")was uttered, in my opinion it was not the PAF that was speaking it was Gopu, the character. And if a character, a scene or a dialogue initiates a physical response from the audience, its not a problem, its catharsis. Its where a movie/drama/PAF fulfilled its purpose; it connected with its audience in more ways that just entertaining or boring them. Moreover we have all always seen the one side of the coin (and have assumed that we have seen the other), its refreshing that someone actually tried to capture a facet of this conflict in a way never done before.

Rightly said 'The arguments exists on both sides, or this would have been solved long back'

Everybody is entitled to tell their own story from their own perspective, we as human audience do not have the powers of Ram, Gopal and Varma to manipulate the story to get an ending that we like most. People who want to find flaws with this one, will definitely take up this issue of deliberate bias, but back in the real world, although its fashionable to be unbiased in any issue, who is? And who really cares?
But, hey, what do I know, I belong to Bihar myself, and will probably stay in Mumbai for a large chunk of my life...:)

Vipul Mehta said...

I liked one thing which I don't know was either intentional or a coincidence, that the same person who said violence is the only solution came up with the idea that why not make bihar better. I think it was a refreshing change that people who raise fingers can also come out with a solution too rather than sticking too their own adamant way. I think this was their way of showing that they did not took any sides, (though the debate was one-sided)in an unconventional manner.

SaiK said...

Loved it Golu!

How I wish I was on a Mumbai study :(

Ravali said...

@golu: cudnt agree more with ur review...

@rakesh: connecting with the audience means tht u have to strike a cord with them on an emotional level... and starting a violent response is not wht i think u shud put as connecting with the audience.

and all i have to say to the performing hostels is :
dnt assume you have shown both sides of the coin....media (real life) has shown us one side so far.... and you only dared to show the other side.... so neither have you shown us both sides.... but i appreciate the attempt to show the other side of an opinion which ppl always take sides with.... but i do also believe tht u cud have shown it without having to potray the biharis in a bad way .... coz frankly... frm the start to the end i thought tht the nirjalpur ppl were mean and were disrupting the otherwise peaceful place... which was quite evident also frm teh scenes at the well and toilets

so... dnt go ahead and say u were neutral... but ofcourse u did make us see another side (maybe)

Aytidaa Madras said...

after reading the reviews and discussions, im cursing myself for being in the US and not in IITB as a DD. I cant wait for people to upload this onto rapidshare or youtube, and then I shall decide how much I agree with your post :) But you know, reading reviews and responses without seeing the PAF seems to be fun too :D

nitishj said...

Kya bhaiyya, ye bacche to sabke Baap ban gaye. :)

Sappi to ekdum iconic figure ho gaya hain..

Kritin said...

Guys, I don't know why a fictional story needs to be analyzed so much in terms of logical equality or consistency. If people see some woman being beaten for dowry in a movie, do they blame the director for showing things from 1 perspective? I seriously think that the marathi bihari issue should not be considered as this should be seen as a PAF and not a speech by the PM. We are IIT students and this sentiyaapa arising out of conformity should not affect us. Waise....kadak review...and yeah a 9/10 PAF.

Vipin Kumar said...

Loved your review,

Loved the paf 8/10.

Music: Flute and Dhol was freak-wesome !

With respect to hurting some "Non marathi " people getting hurt due to the dialogues, well, screw them. Its a piece of fiction for crying out loud, you dont like it? Just walk and get out. Or you can burn the posters with "kataria" written over them then you can say..."Now we are equal".

Ravali said...

@kritin: ofcourse it is a piece of friction... but at the same time.. u were the ppl who made us relate it to a real life situation by imposing on us (the audience) the marathi-bihari issue all of a sudden in between... and now u blame us for seeing it? how fair is tht?

SIDD said...

Ye review nahi ye K$#D hai..:D
Video upload karrrrooooo !

Vikrant said...

http://vikrantkasafar.blogspot.com/2010/03/paf-review.html

Ranjeet Kr. Vimal said...

naseer bhai kya jhakkas post likhela hai...

Pranav Jawale said...

balanced review ;) but seriously (as a 'marathi') i felt uncomfortable while watching the court scene.