Film review: 'Mahajatra' trapped in politics and exaggeration

Between poverty, compulsion and desire, these three get caught in the clutches of illegal business, so that the door to get out is often closed . Director Pradeep Bhattarai repeated the struggle of these three to escape from this land of illegal trade, Nike, police administration and crime.

Coming to the third version, 'Mahajatra' also follows the same style . In that sense, the story of the film is not very new. Again black money enters the world of Fanindra, Joyce and Munna. These three are forced to hide the car full of money. Until then, Joyce (Ravindrasingh Baniyan) dreams of acting in films again.

Munna (Ravindra Jha), who got the job of loading goods, is also imagining the future of opening a salon and teaching children from a normal income. On the other hand, Phanindra (Vipin Karki), the driver of the vehicle transporting materials, is also satisfied with his job and salary. In the same way, again these three freight cars collide with money. And the big leader Punya Prasad (Harivansh Acharya), the black market gangster (Shishir Wangdel) and the viral inspector Khatri (Divya Dev) come to collide with them.

How are the poor and vulnerable people trapped in these kinds of criminal incidents? How do middlemen and those in power exploit the plight and poverty of people who have no access ? Jatra has already captured this meaning and 'Mahajatra' has also captured it . The strength of the film is to make the audience laugh and get into the depth of the subject with the satire of this kind of social issue. The film keeps the audience laughing from start to finish.

Through the world of these three characters, the film tries to satirize many issues. Crime under the guise of politics, its cover-up, and the conflict between poverty and ambition. When trying to tell many such points at once, the film loses momentum after the interval . Before the

interval, the film keeps the audience engrossed in the world of Phanindra, Joyce and Munna. However, when Punyaprasad and other characters are added to their lives, director Bhattarai misses the point of telling the story. The canvas of this year's film is big. The audience has been soaking in these three characters and their dreams since the first edition. However, by the third edition, many new characters have been added, from Punya to Police Khatri.

However, it seems that the director has not paid attention to the establishment of that character and the need of that character in the main story . For example, the sooner Police Inspector Khatri arrives, the sooner that character is landed . If you don't pay attention to the establishment of the character, the audience won't be able to experience the character and the feelings that come with that character. In the same way, Punya and his son's character and the relationship between them do not seem to be much effort.

That's why Punya's big decision for her son doesn't touch the viewer's heart that much. If this aspect had been worked on, the audience could have easily realized the relationship between these two fathers and sons and the changes brought about by that relationship. Films have the power to not only bring them into the world of the characters but also to make them feel their emotions.

In the first edition, Pradeep showed the story of the people, their pain and this Kathmandu in a realistic style. Coming to the third edition, his style seems to have a bit more of a commercial feel. Whether it is the song of ``Hamro Jodi'' that seems unnecessary in the main story or the exaggerated character Punya . By paying more attention to the commercial aspect, the old taste of 'Jatra' is lost when it reaches the third stage. These weaknesses could have been 'treated' in script writing.

This time in the film, the characters do not struggle to hide much money . Therefore, the film's conflict construction becomes superficial . In the first version, when the police came to set fire to Fanindra, looking for a bag of money, the audience felt the fear inside him, the pounding of the heart . However, in this version, the audience cannot sympathize with the characters and their feelings when the director fails to create that kind of conflict. If the "layers" of the writing had been worked on, these new characters and themes would not have been interesting.

With the entry of Punya, the story has lost its way . More than Phanindra, Joyce and Munna, the film becomes more politically oriented. The newly added characters are not established faithfully. Punya's son is forced into the film. The decision to suddenly remove Police Inspector Khatri, the wife's fight for justice is felt to be forcefully 'emotional'.

There is another scene in the film, the three main characters in the film come to the courtyard of Phanindra's house singing a song . Son Iman comes crying to meet Fanindra. In that scene, the audience is trying to cry through the forced father-son relationship.

This film has not made so many vulgar jokes on double meaning dialogues, gender and caste to make the audience laugh . Another strong point of the film is this . However, trying to make the audience laugh only through dialogue has become a weakness. In the film, there are hardly any scenes that make people laugh without dialogue. If the 'situational comedy' of the reunion of these three in the transport service had been continued in other scenes, there were many possibilities to increase the laughs.

In many scenes, it seems as if the characters are talking just to make the audience laugh. After the police interrogates Fanindra's father-in-law, he says, "Other sons-in-law take him to Australia, America, even if he is in the oil market, and his son-in-law always takes him to jail."

This film is dominated by dialogue, and the characters make the audience laugh by speaking forcefully. Until the intermission, the dialogue keeps the audience engaged . However, when the same style is repeated until the end, it also sounds strange in some places . On the acting side, Bipin Karki, who became Fanindra, has again lived the innocence, sincerity and perseverance of that character on the screen . It is sure that the audience will like his comic style of catching dialogues in this version as well . Similarly, the two Rabindras Joyce and Munna are also successful in repeating these qualities in 'Mahajatra'.