Tears rolled down my eyes last evening, this is not the first time for an emotional guy like me but what brought the tears was a story that had been pictured on the big screen sometime in 2004 all across Maharashtra and brought similar tears in almost everyones eyes.
Yes the most acclaimed Marathi movie, a National Award Winner “SHWAAS” ( Means breath).
What a sensitive, thought provoking, heartwarming little film this is!
Its a story of an old villager (Vichare ) who brings his eight year grandson(Parshuram aka Parshya) to a doctor (Dr.Sane) in Pune to get his eyes checked.
The trauma they face for getting Parshya tested and the usual run around the hospital takes you to the reality of life in a hospital. They are helped by a social worker (Asawari ) who accompanies them and helps them overcome their fears.
Later the child is diagnosed with a rare retinal cancer and is told to undergo an operation which will end the kids vision forever.
The film then takes through grandfather's struggle to accept the reality that the only way to save his grandson is at the cost of his eyesight and trying to console and explain the condition to his daughter- in- law.
What really was the touching part of the story was when its time for the Parshya to get operated and the operation gets advanced cos of non availability of the doc, this makes Parshya frigidity and uncontrollable.
Then the grandfather and grandson duo decides to disappear from the hospital ward to show Parshya the sights of the city for one last time as this would be his last few memories he would carry for the rest of his life.
The beauty of the film is that it tells a very human story delicately and humanly. No melodrama, just simple storytelling leading to a strong emotional wallop at the end.
A must watch even if you can't understand Marathi as subtitles are available on most of the DVD's these days.
