‘Anna: Kisan Baburao Hazare’ movie review: Motivating and worth a watch

Directed by: Shashank Udapurkar
Produced by: Manindra Jain
Cast: Shashank Udapurkar, Tanishaa Mukerji, Govind Namdeo, Rajit Kapoor
Duration: 2 hours 22 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 2.5/5

It wouldn’t be wrong in saying that the year 2016 has already seen some inspiring and motivational biopic with ‘Neerja’, ‘Aligarh’, ‘Sarbjit’ and most recently ‘M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’. Following these movies, this Friday the box office is ready to witness the journey of social activist Anna Hazare. So, will ‘Anna: Kisan Baburao Hazare’ emerge as a winner in conveying the uncommon struggle behind this common man? The answer is, yes!

Written-directed by Shashank Udapurkar, who also plays the titular role, this film narrates Anna Hazare’s participation in the India Against Corruption movement in 2011, which paved way for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill.

In between the bookends, the film rolls out in a linear narrative from 1946 onwards, highlighting the milestones in the life of Kisan Baburao Hazare, which includes how he was anointed ‘Anna’ — an endearing term for older brother, in Marathi — after he converted his draught-stricken village to a verdant paradise.

With the gesticulation of his hands and hollow facial movements, Shashank emulates Anna to perfection. He is aptly supported with a retinue of ace actors from the Hindi and Marathi film industry which includes Govind Namdeo as the self-interested landlord of Ralegan Siddhi Village, Kishore Kadam as Anna’s father, Daya Shankar Pandey as an alcoholic villager Ramya, Sharat Saxena as the Army Commander Bharat Sinha. They all have their moments of on-screen glory.

Tanishaa Mukerji as the journalist trailing Anna’s roots, Rajit Kapur as the anchor at ABP channel are merely used to take the narrative forward. On the writing front, some scenes are lazily crafted. They do not go beyond the dramatisation of the event. Especially evident is the scene when during the 1965 war in Khemkaran sector, Anna’s colleagues are killed in an aerial attack.

Mounted with moderate production values and shot in real locations, art director Anil Watt’s efforts are worth a mention. So are the cinematography and costumes. The background score is loud and adds to the dramatisation.

On his maiden directorial front, Shashank focuses the camera on his designed script and fails to avoid minor flaws, creatively. This is especially evident in the scene when his mother is older and the camera in mid-shots focuses on her badly patched visage.

While the film delves and glorifies Anna’s works, it antiseptically eliminates Arvind Kejriwal and his coterie who had coaxed Anna to join the IAC movement, thus giving this film an unnecessarily skewed slant.

Overall, the film does deliver what it set out to do.

WATCH TRAILER:

https://youtu.be/qDsAtOVTtqk