Welcome to Sajjanpur: Benegal’s Political Satire

Dileep.M.M

In Bollywood there is no shortage of comedies. From the hilarious romantic comedies of Hrishikesh
Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee to the slapstick comedies of Priyadarshan’s southern remakes, our national
language cinema has been giving it’s audience many glorious moments for laughing – in some way or
another. But it is a fact that only a handful of them had given us some food for our brain. Usually some
clichés like ‘Gaon ki Gori, good old heroes’ are bestowed to commercial ventures. Using all these tools wisely
for creating a brilliant political satire and a romantic comedy with a ‘Malgudi’ type village setting of ‘Hindi
heart land’ at the same time is a rarity. And it also needs simplicity and much dexterity. No one might think a
Shyam Benegal film, the film maker who is associated with socially relevant movies, will venture into the
comedy genre. But before going for his new film Welcome To Sajjanpur, one thing is sure that the filmgoers
might expect some thought provoking laugh. But followers of the Shyam Benegal school of movie making
will recall Charandas Chor (1975) and Mandi, which he describes as a ‘black comedy’. So in effect, Welcome
to Sajjanpur is Benegal’s return to comedy genre. And it has some political overtones. The film is a light
hearted political satire.

This Benegal film amalgamates hard realities (honour killings, political manipulations,
branding/marginalizing the minorities, land acquisition for industrialization, etc) with a feel-good setup,
leaves you entertained and somewhere a little touched too. The film’s earlier title was Mahadev ka Sajjanpur
(the censor certificate has retained the original!). Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade) is a wannabe novelist and is
among the more literate, educated folks in Sajjanpur, a village in North India. Not inclined towards jobs like
running his family vegetable shop, Mahadev opts for a more interesting career choice: writing letters for the
village-folk, most of who are illiterate, and others who are unable to express their feelings in writing like him.
And through this he comes across many a life story, spanning characteristics from the touching to banal to
ridiculous.

The story of a local body election also unfolds through the Letter-Writer. This starts with a village
goon / a typical Sarpanch like (Yashpal Sharma), who is supporting his wife to win the panchayat elections,
threatening Mahadev into writing to the village collector and falsely implicating the opposition candidate as
having a with Pakistan’s ISI. A village lover boy (Ravi Kishan) is in love with a widow, and coaxes Mahadev
to write a love letter in which he can express his feelings to her. A transvestite, who eventually fights the
elections against the goon, forces Mahadev to write a song that the eunuch can use as a slogan to win the
elections.

The song sequence in the film is composed with clear political visuals [first of its kind in a Benegal
film!]. The party, representing the goon’s wife, is an amalgamation of our two national parties. The colour of
its flag is a saffron mix and the candidate- goon’s wife- waving her palm for vote! And as the brave
transvestite, who takes on this amalgam of national parties, marches along with her song the visuals focus on
a hammer and sickle with bold inscription of CPI (M) Zindabad underneath it. Earlier in the film, there is also
a sarcastic depiction of the villagers’ concern about the lack of electricity and how the government is parading
the hope that everything will be alright when nuclear energy comes. Clearly, there is little doubt about
Benegal’s political inclinations.

Among other such village bumpkins is Kamala (our famous girl next door star Amrita Rao), whose
husband Banshi (Kunal Kapoor)has left to earn a buck in Mumbai four years ago, soon after the wedding, and
hasn’t returned since then. Mahadev falls in love with Kamala and starts manipulating the letters to ensure that
Kamala and Banshi never meet again. Too many plots, you would think. Till the interval, the journey has been
breezy. As each plot unfolds, you are left amused by the fresh dialogues with a strong rural dialect and a
brilliant craft [remember, strong Hindi knowledge with its nuances is a prerequisite for the enjoyment!].

In the second half, the film goes about closing each chapter intertwined with the main story, in a
beautifully thought-provoking manner, with the humour undercurrent present throughout. The film shows
perfectly that, how the changes and attitudes of urban India will reach to our rural folks.

The script and songs keeps the pace intact. There is no need to classify the performances. Shreyas
Talpade deserves a good pat, for carrying the character on his shoulder! Please, give us some more Ravi
Kishan movies for a nice viewing! Of course, Amrita Rao is apt for her role. Shyam Benegal successfully
manages to do justice to both aspects of the film – as a political satire and as a romantic comedy. The veteran
film maker shows great dexterity in both the emotional and comic scenes- extracting great performance from
the entire cast. Of course, it is needless to say its political tone!

So let me welcome you to Sajjanpur! It wiil not frustrate you. Sure!

The End.