Karl Marx quoted "Religion is the opium of the people".He tried to say Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom.It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they undergo for being exploited.As a child I had grown seeing people trying to find solace in laps of some idol or subjected to some uncanny fear revolving around idols or god-men. I tried to understand difference between rituals & religion. This remained unanswered during my growing years.Omg addressed those tactfully without taking any diplomatic or biased stance on the subject. Adaptation of Gujrathi play "Kanji virudh Kanji" which is inspired from an Australian film "The man who sued the God",the story revolves around the life of a businessman Kanjilal Shah who is an atheist and ironically his business is that of selling idols of various gods.Being a person with strong self belief he is never naive to fall prey to the traps of rituals & superstitions.In one dreaded night Kanji's shop got demolished due to earthquake and since it is "act of God" as per the Insurance terms he is deprived of the claim amount.Shattered and angry he registers a case against God to get his money back.Since God's address is unknown he files case against the God-men, saints as they are supposedly agents of God- and thus begins a hilarious ride as one understands the true meaning of religion.
Umesh Shukla's film makes a strong case against blind faith.The film has message for both the ends of the spectrum – the atheists as well as the believers.The makers of the film has diluted on the complexities of the play to take it to the mass.Even the executions occasionally drift towards melodrama and become loud but then the end justifies the means.The film is meant to reach a larger audience and the often didactic mode of the film strikes a chord.Bhavna Mandalia's dialogs are spot on with ample support from Shukla's screenplay which leaves an impression in many scenes specially the court room sequences and Kanji's interactions with God.The film rightfully highlights on the fake god-men and how they manipulate the weakness and fear of ordinary men for their own benefits.Referring to holy Gita, Bible, Koran the film points out that God believes in equality but the big ashrams and temples will let beggars die under natural calamity but never allow them to enter. In the talk show sequence Kanji reflects on the corruption within such organizations.Subtly referring to Tirupathi he tells how all the Hairs taken are smuggled to foreign land for monetary gains.Even the so called social service done by all such temples and ashrams are just to convert their black money into white analogical to a Gutkha(raw tobacco) company building a cancer hospital (referring to a dialog in the film).He continues how religion makes one bewaas(helpless) or aatankwadi(Terrorist). The film doesn't attack any particular religion but speaks in a general tone.In one scene we find a Hindu priest, a Muslim Malawi and a Christian priest fighting within themselves about superiority of their "individual" god,while sadly god himself(brilliant portrayal by Akshay kumar) hopelessly looks at the ignorance of the people.The god-men are either shown ignorant and egoistic or intelligent and manipulative.During the climax, God himself tells Kanji that God is omnipresent and the knowledge of divine truth lies within every human which is written even in the holy books but sadly people don't have the time to read them. Over the years they are manipulated and genesis of rituals happened.Sadly even the educated mass falls prey to this over years.A large portion of violence and in-division are existent due to the distorted concept of religion.In one of the heart warming scene we find people are queuing to pour milk over some stone and the whole milk is going out through the drain while a poor hungry fellow looks helplessly at it.Such huge amount of resources are wasted or misused in the name of blind faith.God exists in all of us.To worship him one doesn't need to go to temples and waste crores of money on idols; but one should help people as Swami Vivekananda said "Jibe prem Kore jei Jon Se Jon sebiche iswar" (Bengali) (Those who loves and serves the people are serving the God).
Paresh Rawal again proves his competency as an actor and his Kanji will make his position strong among the stalwart actors of the nation.He uses his whole body to emote various emotions.Mithunda is another brilliant actor who can play a disco-dancer or a saint with same conviction. His portrayal of a knowledgeable effeminate saint who uses religious believes to lop off their money is brilliant. He does brings laughter with his gestures and at the same time makes us vulnerable and guilty at the thought of existence of such fake-god men traveling in BMW and speaking of humble existence. Govind Namdeo as the Hindu saint was loud and predictable. He did justify the character he played but could have toned down a bit.Akshay Kumar was restraint and calm which made the audience connect with him as God.Probably this is one of his best performances till date.Om Puri was effective in a small role of Muslim lawyer.The supporting cast were adequate.The characters were too one-dimensional and caricaturist at times but then probably the writer was more concerned on delivering the message than developing them. Low in production value the camera and editing were just about OK.Music was irrelevant in the film though "mere Nissan" song had some strong lyrics and apt visuals that would stay with the audience.The dance song "Go Govinda" was unnecessary.
On the whole this is not a path breaking cinema like Wasseypur or technically excellent like Barfi but it has a strong relevant message that needed to be told and they have done it in a commendable manner to reach to an wider audience.It is a must watch-one.
Umesh Shukla's film makes a strong case against blind faith.The film has message for both the ends of the spectrum – the atheists as well as the believers.The makers of the film has diluted on the complexities of the play to take it to the mass.Even the executions occasionally drift towards melodrama and become loud but then the end justifies the means.The film is meant to reach a larger audience and the often didactic mode of the film strikes a chord.Bhavna Mandalia's dialogs are spot on with ample support from Shukla's screenplay which leaves an impression in many scenes specially the court room sequences and Kanji's interactions with God.The film rightfully highlights on the fake god-men and how they manipulate the weakness and fear of ordinary men for their own benefits.Referring to holy Gita, Bible, Koran the film points out that God believes in equality but the big ashrams and temples will let beggars die under natural calamity but never allow them to enter. In the talk show sequence Kanji reflects on the corruption within such organizations.Subtly referring to Tirupathi he tells how all the Hairs taken are smuggled to foreign land for monetary gains.Even the so called social service done by all such temples and ashrams are just to convert their black money into white analogical to a Gutkha(raw tobacco) company building a cancer hospital (referring to a dialog in the film).He continues how religion makes one bewaas(helpless) or aatankwadi(Terrorist). The film doesn't attack any particular religion but speaks in a general tone.In one scene we find a Hindu priest, a Muslim Malawi and a Christian priest fighting within themselves about superiority of their "individual" god,while sadly god himself(brilliant portrayal by Akshay kumar) hopelessly looks at the ignorance of the people.The god-men are either shown ignorant and egoistic or intelligent and manipulative.During the climax, God himself tells Kanji that God is omnipresent and the knowledge of divine truth lies within every human which is written even in the holy books but sadly people don't have the time to read them. Over the years they are manipulated and genesis of rituals happened.Sadly even the educated mass falls prey to this over years.A large portion of violence and in-division are existent due to the distorted concept of religion.In one of the heart warming scene we find people are queuing to pour milk over some stone and the whole milk is going out through the drain while a poor hungry fellow looks helplessly at it.Such huge amount of resources are wasted or misused in the name of blind faith.God exists in all of us.To worship him one doesn't need to go to temples and waste crores of money on idols; but one should help people as Swami Vivekananda said "Jibe prem Kore jei Jon Se Jon sebiche iswar" (Bengali) (Those who loves and serves the people are serving the God).
Paresh Rawal again proves his competency as an actor and his Kanji will make his position strong among the stalwart actors of the nation.He uses his whole body to emote various emotions.Mithunda is another brilliant actor who can play a disco-dancer or a saint with same conviction. His portrayal of a knowledgeable effeminate saint who uses religious believes to lop off their money is brilliant. He does brings laughter with his gestures and at the same time makes us vulnerable and guilty at the thought of existence of such fake-god men traveling in BMW and speaking of humble existence. Govind Namdeo as the Hindu saint was loud and predictable. He did justify the character he played but could have toned down a bit.Akshay Kumar was restraint and calm which made the audience connect with him as God.Probably this is one of his best performances till date.Om Puri was effective in a small role of Muslim lawyer.The supporting cast were adequate.The characters were too one-dimensional and caricaturist at times but then probably the writer was more concerned on delivering the message than developing them. Low in production value the camera and editing were just about OK.Music was irrelevant in the film though "mere Nissan" song had some strong lyrics and apt visuals that would stay with the audience.The dance song "Go Govinda" was unnecessary.
On the whole this is not a path breaking cinema like Wasseypur or technically excellent like Barfi but it has a strong relevant message that needed to be told and they have done it in a commendable manner to reach to an wider audience.It is a must watch-one.