Vihir or The Well is a Marathi film directed by Umesh Kulkarni. It's the first Marathi film I have seen when ironically I should have seen many by now being a Marathi, thanks to living in a different state for years!
The movie tells the story of two brothers, Sameer or Samya and Nachiket or Nacha Dada the latter being the elder one. The brothers are deeply attached to each other emotionally. Sameer lives in Pune while Nachiket stays with his family in rural Maharashtra. Sameer however is least concerned with the spiritual aspects of life whereas Nachiket is a thinker and talks about the flow of energy through all living things and the possibility of becoming invisible. Sameer always laughs his brothers ideas off.
The film at many points centers on the game of Hide and Seek and I thought instead of Vihir being the title of the film, hide and seek should have got the attention. The trouble starts when Nachiket speaks of his plans to run away from home as he feels his freedom is restricted. Sameer gets anxious with his brother's plans and actually one day when Sameer is away Nachiket disappears. Their family attributes it to him drowning in the well and even Sameer starts accepting this fact.
However once he returns to the city, Nachiket's thoughts preoccupy him and he sets off on a journey of self illumination and realizes that reality is in front of us and it's only that we never realise it.
The movie sends forth an interesting message which the director has so simply put forth. The cinematography is excellent and it is heartening to see regional films at par with global cinema. The landscapes are beautiful and the performances decent. The only weakness is the somewhat slightly dragged second half of the film but it doesn't get on your nerves.
A nice film to watch especially if you are a Marathi as you will enjoy the humour much better! I will give it a 3.5 on 5!
Nice! I agree with the hide and seek point.
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