Welcome to Sajjanpur – a small village in Northern India where letters are still the only mode of communication, power cuts are a part of daily life and riding a two-wheeler is like a distant dream.
An aspiring novelist Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade), earns his living by reading and writing letters for the illiterate villagers. Welcome To Sajjanpur takes you back to a hamlet that has its share of assorted characters: a letter writer, a power-hungry goon, a eunuch, a short tempered army man and his widowed daughter-in-law, a compounder, a house wife who’s husband, working in Mumbai, hasn’t showed up for four Diwalis… These are characters you’ve seen, witnessed, might even relate to.
Welcome To Sajjanpur works because of its simplicity. Expect no glitz-n-glam here. In fact, it doesn’t even have a strong plot since it’s a character-driven film. Yet, Welcome To Sajjanpur keeps your interest alive in most parts.
Director Shyam Benegal chooses to touch upon rural India’s topical issues such as widow remarriage, caste politics and superstition. But after a point he establishes just too many sub-plots in a case of biting off more than he can chew. So while you have the protagonist’s love story developing in one scene the next one shows him caught between two rival politicians. Shyam Benegal may be best known for intense films, but as you watch Welcome To Sajjanpur, it dawns upon you that he’s equally proficient when it comes to light entertainers. The character portrayed by Shreyas and his interaction with various people make the proceedings exciting.
What remains with you through and after this movie is its authentic rural setting. After a long time we have had a film set completely in the Hindi heartland (the only other recent examples being Maalamal Weekly and Omkara). In fact the dialogue is so deep rooted in the local dialect, it might require more than decent knowledge of Hindi to really enjoy the film’s humour.
Welcome to Sajjanpur totally rests upon Shreyas Talpade’s shoulders. The actor’s comic timing is getting better with each film and it’s his performance that makes up for the film’s many flaws. Seen in almost every frame of the film Shreyas is the hero of the enterprise in every sense of the word. The ‘stand out’ Shreyas moment would be his spoof on SRK’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ‘Maa’ speech. Talpade is here to stay and is far more watchable than many other overrated so called serious actors.
Amrita Rao doesn’t have much of a role but continues her coy Vivah act. And is actually very likeable. The rest of the supporting cast stay true to their characters with each actor delivering spirited performances. Kunal Kapoor seems to have become a guest appearance specialist in a cameo similar to his Bachna Ae Haseeno act as the good-natured husband.
Mahadev [Shreyas Talpade] is one of the few educated young men in Sajjanpur. His ambition is to be a novelist, but finds it easier to make a living by writing and reading letters sitting next to the post office. His ability to write persuasive letters makes him popular with the largely non-literate population of the town. Aware of this power, he soon uses his talent to manipulate people with amusing and sometimes not such amusing results.
On the flip side, the unwarranted songs in the narrative spoil the show. Ideally, the film could’ve done without any song. Besides, the length should’ve been controlled.
Authors bio is coming up shortly.
Nice movie and it’s the first sole hit movie of the actor Shreyas Talpade.
ya he is a good actor, with complete acting package… but commercially he is not much successful…