Boring
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No one expected a film like Quest Films’ Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hain from director Mahesh Manjrekar after giving some sensible films like Vaastav, Nidaan and Astitva. The few basics of logic which one looks for in the story of a film have been given a big kick and what has been churned out is a innane storyline which lacks conviction. There’s no doubt that the film is an inspirational piece of Dada Kondke’s Marathi superhit Ektaa Jeev Sadashiv but Mahesh neither could extract the same performance from his lead artistes nor could infuse it with fair amount of humour. The first half of the film is quite boring with songs hogging the limelight, while the second half could have been better if the director had restrained himself from going for cheap comedy. On the whole, the subject and narration will have few takers even among the masses, the target audience for such kind of films.

Ganga (Govinda) lives among the cows, goats and buffalows in Rampur though he belongs to a rich family from the city. The reason: suffering from aneamia, a family astrologer strangely suggests that the lad stay in a village for 24 years among the cattles as a cure. In the village, Ganga falls in love with a belle Saavni (Sonali Bendre). But he dare not speak about this love to his foster father. In the meantime, Ganga’s parents realise that 24 years vacation for Ganga is over and they land up in the village to take him back. Ganga is too stunned to learn that the persons who looked after him all these years are not his real parents. Reluctantly, Ganga accompanies his parents to the city. But Ganga’s living style causes problems for his siblings. His elder brother and wife leave the house. But these things don’t put off the spirits of his parents, reunited with their son after 24 years. Saavni also makes her way to the city in search of Ganga.

He is also forced into an affair with a college girl (Rinke Khanna) so that he doesn’t run back to the village. But in the end, nothing succeeds Ganga from snapping his village connection, his foster parents and his love.
Govinda appears to be doing a carry-on series these days with repetetive kind of performances. But at the same time, he is the saving grace of an otherwise boring film, with his trademark antiques. Sonali Bendre as the village belle looks charming and does her job remarkably well. Rinke Khanna doesn’t have much footage as she appears in the latter half of the film with very little scope in the narration. Shivaji Satam and Reema Lagoo come out with a polished and convincing performance. Kishore Nandlaskar, a theatre veteran, as Govinda’s buddy excels in a role where he could exhibit his talent. Shakti Kapoor and Himani Shivpuri unwarrantedly tend to overact in certain scenes.

Director Mahesh Manjrekar fails to explain the backdrop of the story- whether it is Maharashtra, Gujarat or Rajasthan- and the dialogue adds to the confusion. There are too many continuity lapses in the screenplay. In the final analysis, it appears that the director has adopted a very relaxed posture unlike his work in earlier films. Anand Raaj Anand has done an excellent work of tuning some good popular numbers like Usne bola khem che and Prem taal. But unfortunatly, these don’t serve any purpose to save the film as the days of a repeat audience for the sake of songs is a thing of the past. Choreographer Nimesh Bhatt has conceived some very good hip-shaking numbers.


Padmaraj Nair

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