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Director Sai Paranjpe will always be known for making three films, Sparsh, Chasm-e-Baddur and Katha. Her three above mentioned films cover three different areas.

Katha: It’s a simply told visual story and yet it has universal appeal. All over the world, anywhere in any language, this film may appeal because it deals with the old age concept of “What looks good, is not always good in real sense”. Our desires and our dreams, which are yet to be fulfilled often make us blind and when something which we always desire, comes before us, we are easily swayed away. Women, anywhere in the world, basically are said to be having this desire to like and marry, attractive, smart, rich, talented, capable and an extrovert who can easily express not only his feelings but can manage anything by his efforts and introvert, shy, simple hearted and those who dont try to over power others and dont die to impress others, are often termed as dumbo.
In the developing country, a large number of lower middle class parents often cant give and bring everything and anything, their daughters may desire, and it creates this scenario that parents wish to marry off their daughter to a groom often richer than them. Girl too may like to have a husband who has everything which she has not been able to enjoy in her present life.
Even if riches are excluded then also there are numerous stories and it happens in real life also that a boy may marry a girl belonging to a family having less financial status than him. But in middle class(lower, middle, upper) its seldom seen where girl marry a boy belonging to comparatively less rich class than them. To marry with more richer ensures that their future life will be better than their past and present life. So real characteristics go in background and shallow things come in to the front scene.
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Many films have dealt with this subject and one famous example is “Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman” of SRK- Juhi-Aziz, where SRK who dreams to become rich ignores the love of girl living in his proximity. Or if people can recall DD’s first soap opera, Hum Log then Nanhe’s character was caught between two girls, one was rich, daughter of a mafia and other was belonging to Nanhe’s own economic class. Story took pengs between two girls and it was a great debate among large section of audience, with whom Nanhe should go ahead. Writer Manohar Shyam Joshi had caught the pysche of the mass.

Katha scores over many films dealing with similar subjects because of the many factors:

(1) Simpleton way of visual story telling and yet it covers the human psychology which works for masses
(2) Performances by Naseeruddin Shah, Farooq Shekh, Deepti Naval, Mallika Sarabhai (yes the famous classical dancer and
daughter of great Vikram Sarabhai), and Veeni Paranjape
(3) Direction of Sai Paranjpe

Rajaram Purshottam Joshi (he has name plate on his door, Rajaram P. Joshi) lives in a chawl in Bombay. He works as a clerk in a private company. Rajaram is a simpleton and utterly honest. He likes and to some extent he loves Sandhya, living in his neighbourhood, along with her parents. In the Chawl, people often takes advantage of simplicity of Rajaram and often he is used as coolie by clever people living in the chawl and being a good hearted man he does not mind if someone borrows things from him and if Sandhya comes to have anything then it’s a sunny day for Rajaram. Though whenever she visits his room, he is so nervous that cant talk properly but he feels very happy with her coming and his day is made whenever she visits him. He dreams about her and he thinks she also likes him and her parents also like him and he hopes that one day he will propose to her. Sometimes Sandhya’s parents invite Rajaram on tea and he takes it as green signal. Rajaram is like a person who thinks too much but cant express it. Be it with the woman he likes or his outside life where anyone can shout over him and he reacts later. In the office also his colleagues exploit his simplicity and hard working nature and often many people give him extra work and make excuses that they have emergency at home or in family. He is simple hearted man and helps others. His simplicity and goodnature can be understood with an example.
Once he is standing at a bus stop and waiting for his bus. But due to crowd he could not ride over the bus and he has to wait again. He maintains the cue but bus come and people push him back and he has to leave this bus also. He cant afford taxi so he waits for the next bus. Then a person comes with portable radio in his hand and Rajaram listens on the radio that there is an emergency in a hospital in the city and someone needs blood of rare group O negative and he forgets everything and shouts that his blood group belongs to that rare group and he hires a taxi to go to hospital and donates the blood and comes home late, to prepare his dinner etc so that he can sleep. People may call him emotional fool also but he believes in goodness of human being and believes that when he is good then other people will also be good and why to doubt every other person?

Well his life goes on with his dreams to get promotion and to propose Sandhya afterwards. But then a change comes in the life of this Tortoise. His old schoolmate Basudev meets him in the city and Rajaram brings him in his home rather it should be said that Basu being a clever man, forces simple Rajaram to bring him at his home. Basu has no job in the Bombay but he tells that he has left his previous good paying job and now will do something in Bombay. His sharp observation identify quickly the simplicity of the Rajaram and when he meets Sandhya then he observes it also that she is that dreamy girl who wishes to have better life then her present life. He starts luring Sandhya’s parents with his sweet talks and boasting. They think he is very shining man and will do something better in life and they start treating him nicely and feed him whatever they can. Basu spends his time in Chawl like a king and he eats in any house. He knows human mind likes praising and he does it with everyone and wins his/her heart.
He witnesses Rajaram’s boss, and finds that he is very fond of golf. So Rajram goes to a book shop and reads few books on golf. He does not buy any book and makes fool out of shop owner also. When Basu finds that now he knows something about Golf, he create scene that he has accidentally meet Rajaram’s boss and he start praising his golf skills. Boss falls for his praises and invites Basu for a cup of tea. Basu reveals to him that he has come back from London and there he was engaged with a shoe manufacturing co. (he already knows via Rajaram that his co makes shoes) and Boss offers him a position, next only to him, at his Co and Basu. Next day Rajaram becomes astonished to know that Basu has become Manager in the co. where he works as clerk. Basu does not do anything in the office and handles over all his files to Rajaram to take care and he talks with girls in the office.
Soon Boss invites Basu to a party at his home also and Basu’s sharp eyes sees the age difference between the Boss and his young wife, Anuradha. He starts luring Anuradha also by prasing her beauty and sense of dressing, artistic interests etc. She likes it and soon Basu becomes like a family member to them. Then he is introduced to the daughter of Boss - JoJo(daughter from his first wife) and she sees that Basu is engaged in flattery and when he tries to flirt with her also but when he is busy in prasing her father, she comments, Makhan?( Buttering?). He gets his impression that girl is very smart and will not be an easy game. However he continues his fling with Anuradha and soon she starts an affair with him.
Basu continues to live with Rajaram and he tries to get car and flat from the Company. He has given impression of a smart young man to Sandhya and her parents and they three think he is very bright and he is going to become very big in coming future. They start dreaming about marrying Sandhya with Basu and now don’t give any attention to Rajaram. Rajaram sees everything and though he tries to alert them but who will listen to him. He is treated as jealous man. When he finds that Basu has started taking Sandhya out also he tries to warn Basu also that Sandhya is very nice girl and he should walk ahead only if he is serious about this relationship. Basu ridicules him and Rajaram cant stop Sandhya either. Even Parrot at Rajaram’s house ridicules him.
Basu goes ahead his affairs with Anuradha as well as Sandhya. When Sandhya’s parents propose before him he gives his consent that he would marry Sandhya and he takes Sandhya to a hotel and even after her reluctance and resistance he makes her agree to have physical contact with her.
One day, when he is enjoying time with Anuradha, in a hut at sea beach, Jo Jo sees them and with the help of her friends she takes snaps of both the lovers in enjoying time in physical intimacy. Jo Jo sends those snaps by post to her father at his office. When Basu reaches at office as usual very late, he is called by boss and he is fired there but when he comes out, he tells Rajaram that he has left the job as it was so boring.
Sandhya’s parents prepare for the marriage and on the day of marriage, they wait for the Basu but he does not turn around and when its clear that he wont come, guests go back. Its also found that Sandhya has got pregnant. Sandhya’s life has been ruined and she is heart broken. For Rajaram its very difficult to see Sandhya in trouble and in such situation he talks to Sandhya’s parents that he is ready to marry Sandhya if they give their blessings. They are very much happy to know this but Sandhya says that she will talk to Rajaram in closed room. And she asks him that why he wishes to marry her out of pity? He replies that he always loved her and he still loves her and its unconditional. After some arguments problem is solved and they are married and we see Basu sitting with an Arab Shekh, and trying to lure him.

Sai Paranjpe has made film in such a simple way but still maintains the sensitivity intact associated with the film that it touches the audience. And her casting of actors is a considerable selection. Normally audience have seen Farooq Sheikh in the roles of a simple, ordinary man but here he plays the con man Basu and he plays his role wonderfully. He spread charm and wins easily the people not only in the film but in audience also. In a role of charming, smooth talker but very clever and selfish man, Farooq Sheikh is fantastic.

Naseeruddin Shah plays the simple, Rajaram P Joshi and he steals the show. Perhaps this is one among his best 5 performances. Role is so simple and yet his character has to pass through several phases in life and he acts wonderfully. The scenes where he is so happy to find Sandhya inside his room and how he prepares the tea, though minute ago he was dreaming that he would order Sandhya to make tea herself, are proofs to show his capabilities of an excellent actor. When he is emotional and his voice is choked with emotions he uses his facial expressions to convey the feelings his character is passing through. He has no loud dialogues and seldom actors play such simplistic roles with such élan as Nasseruddin Shah has played. He is the true winner not only in the story of the film but in performance also.

Deepti Naval plays Sandhya and she is one such under rated actress who has played many roles wonderfully but less discussed among top rated actresses. Here also she is just Sandhya. Whatever happens to Sandhya in the film, we feel that its happening to Deepti Naval, that’s her level of involvement in the role.

Mallika Sarabhai in the role of Anuradha, wife of Boss, does what she is supposed to do. She looks beautiful and enough seductive that Basu look characters should fall for her. She has small role but makes her presence in the film worth watching. She did very few films.

Veeni Paranjpe, daughter of director Sai Paranjpe, in the role of Jo Jo, looks convincing and the scene where she applies butter on toast and throws sarcastic remarks on Basu,” Buttering” reveals her sense of timing. She did not do many films and perhaps acted only in her mother’s films. If someone had wished to make film on Eric Segal’s Love Story and wanted an actress resembling the main female protagonist then Veeni could have been right choice. She resembled with that character.

Raj Kamal’s music is good and the Chorus “Kaun Aya Kaun Aya (Who has come)” was a famous one.
The use of cartooning art in the film brings comedy touch in the film. Story of Rabit and Tortoise is old and its used here very beautifully.
A simple but interesting, entertaining yet sensitive film to watch.

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