Ghoomketu
Director: Pushpendra Nath Mishra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ragini Khanna, Anurag Kashyap, Ila Arun, Raghubir Yadav and Brijendra Kala
Ghoomketu starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui is brilliant in parts but as a cohesive film, it is too scattered to give viewers a wholesome experience of a well-made film.
There are a whole lot of elements that if woven properly could have transformed the film from a yawnfest to a gudgudi inducing comedy. But the film struggles to keep the viewer hooked much like writer Ghoomketu’s half-baked scripts that held promise but lacked commercial appeal.
What’s it about
Ghoomketu (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a seedha-sadha village lad with a talent for writing who aspires to be a scriptwriter in Bollywood films. In want of opportunity and guidance, he satiates his love for writing by penning one liners on trucks and scripting creative wedding cards. His life changes after a meeting with editor of a local magazine Gudgudi who doesn’t give him job but hands him over a book on Bollywood writing. He decides to run away from home (with kirana items from his daddu’s (played by Raghubir Yadav) shop) to try his luck in the big bad world of films. His bua (played by Ila Arun) knows about his dreams and supports him in his quest to become a big name in film industry.
A bit of both worlds
The film is set in two places–Ghoomketu’s village UP’s Mahona and the city of dreams Mumbai. It also breaks the film into two different parts where one segment has a more earthy and rustic flavour to it with the most endearing characters. The city part focusses more on Ghoomketu’s struggle to write a perfect script and his confusions about the genre that will sell. The Mumbai part has some interesting characters too. Anurag Kashyap’s Inspector Badlani will leave you grinning while the police officer’s son too catches attention with his natural act.
Ghoomketu’s struggle in Bollywood has been captured in a very entertaining way and is also one of the better parts of the film. But a major flaw of the film is that the moment viewer starts to enjoy a part, it disconnects you from it and skips to the other part.
While Ghoomketu is trying to find his feet in the film world, his MLA chacha has been putting pressure on Mumbai police to look for his family member on an urgent basis even though they do not have a single picture of him (as he has run away with the family album).
Bagal mein chhora sheher mein dhindhora
Inspector Badlani (Anurag Kashyap) who hasn’t solved a single case in his 15 years of career is assigned this case or he faces a transfer. A corrupt officer to the core, Badlani crosses paths with Ghoomketu several times, but never comes to know that he’s the same struggling writer who can save him from a transfer.
Interestingly, it was literally the case of Bagal Mein Chhora Sheher Mein Dhindhora. Ghoomketu decides to rent a room near Badlani’s home and everyone in his family except the cop knows about this. In fact Ghoomketu is a frequent visitor to Badlani’s house and even feeds the besan ke laddoo made by his bua to them.
Ghoomketu’s struggles reap no result. After facing multiple rejections he on his last day in Mumbai visits SRK’s office and after failing to meet him loses his script.
That’s when he goes to police station to file a missing complaint and tells Badlani his name–Ghoomketu. But alas, Badlani manages to lose Ghoomketu yet again and he heads straight back to his village to apologise to his newlywed wife.
Ghoomketu’s work is finally noticed by a veteran actor but his luck doesn’t support him and daddu picks up his call. In the end, Ghoomketu’s life resembles a Bollywood film as he finally sees the face of his newlywed bride and patches up with daddu and also finds a job.
What went wrong
Ghoomketu couldn’t be an entertaining movie. Blame it on the fact that it released 7 years after it was completed or it’s faulty editing because of which even a good story seemed a drag.
Here’s why you must watch Ghoomketu
Where it scores the most is in the performance department. Nawazuddin as Ghoomketu is the perfect fit and looks every bit his part. He owns his scenes and portrays them with perfection. His gaanv ka chhora act is in fact one of the most endearing of his roles so far. His pauses, fumbles, desi accent and dressing sense, all come together effectively in making his character an unforgettable one.
Ragubir Yadav does the role of khadoos Daddoo to perfection. In villages, fathers do not show their emotions because of societal pressures. Daddu loves Ghoomketu but is scared to show his emotions and to hide them, he constantly scolds him. But in the end he surrenders to his emotions and gives Ghoomketu a warm hug.
Ila Arun as Bua is another endearing character who dotes on Ghoomketu and supports his dreams. Her burps might be loud but her act is completely natural and refreshing. Her nok jhok with her brother and sister-in-law is what village families are made of.
Gudgudi Editor played by Brijendra Kala, Ghoomketu’s wife Janaki Devi (Ragini Khanna) all impress in their short and sweet roles.
Anurag Kashyap as corrupt police officer Inspector Badlani puts up a brilliant show. He also gets an interesting signature tune which accentuates his character and although you do sympathise with him, you also agree that he’s responsible for his fate. Kashyap can make you laugh with his silly grin and can very well get more comedy characters in future.
My personal favorite is the scene where Badlani’s family history is narrated through an interesting song sequence and you come to know how he comes from a family of honest police officers who sacrificed their lives on duty while he himself survived on bribe and corruption. His son also has an interesting part and viewers wouldn’t have minded if he had additional scenes.
The animation that was shown to depict Ghoomketu as a bird–leaving and returning to his nest is cute and is a good storytelling style. The way Ghoomketu’s family is introduced to the audiences with their unique traits is a little 80s style, but works in favour of the film.
70s and 80s old world charm works wonders
The guest appearances of Amitabh Bachchan, Sonakshi Sinha, Ranveer Singh among others give story a Guddi (1971 film) kind of appeal. The Jaya Bachchan-starrer where the heroine wanted to marry Dharmendra featured many top actors of the time who made a guest appearance in the film. SRK’s Zero and Farhan Akhtar’s Luck By Chance also follow the same formula and have many guest appearances.
With the 70s and 80s charm and a novel story, Ghoomketu is a film we sincerely wish would have been made better for the sake of fans who have adored Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee kind of films like Mili, Guddi, Chupke Chupke, Golmaal ( Amol Palekar starter), Chhoti Si Baat.
It is a film that leaves you dissatisfied simply because it makes a promise that it never delivers and also because it is a waste to bring such a stellar caste together for a half-hearted film like this.