Gurugram village visited by Gandhi battles filth, neglect
NO SWACHHTA After Partition, Mahatma Gandhi visited Ghasera village in December 1947 to convince Meo Muslim refugees to stay in India. Later, it came to be known as Gandhi Gram Ghasera. However, 71 years after independence, residents are not happy with the living conditions as they are surrounded by water bodies filled with sewage, nonmotorable roads and poor sanitary conditions. Hindustan Times’
moustache.) Sharma simpers. She plays a crucial role, the wife who bestows faith in her husband: he only dares to dream because she dares him to. The two actors work well together, him selling the injuries while she sells the anguish. After being mousy throughout, her smile in the last stretch is fittingly bright. Raghubir Yadav does typically well as Dhawan’s disgruntled father, and Namit Das has fun playing a character who tickles people as hard as he laughs at his own jokes. The film’s finest performance comes from Yamini Das, playing Dhawan’s mother. She runs her house on autopilot, and can’t let go of instructions or kitchen utensils even when collapsing to the ground. She chides her husband for crying over television soaps when he can’t bear them, but later allows him to recap to her those very shows she doesn’t really care about.
Katariya’s films have nuanced asides and nice dialogue, but this one refuses to get interesting. Lyricist Varun Grover writes some evocative lines, although I found it interesting that this proudly make-in-india film has songs made by Anu Malik, a composer known for appropriating knock-offs of established products.
Sui Dhaaga is a feel-good film about dignity of labour, and the honest toil of a hardworking tailor. Too bad it feels machine-made. (Full version on hindustantimes.com)