Director: Vinod Kamble
Writers: Vinod Kamble, Shivaji Karde
Cast: Samarth Sonawane (Gopi), Shravan Upalkar (Adim), Kunal Pawar (Vikas)
Overview : The movie deals into the psyche of a boy from an impoverished family of manual scavengers in insidious ways and compels him to seek escape from its warth
Storyline : The Story is set in dusky village in Solapur district of Maharashtra where 14 years old Gopinath Chavan aka Gopi (Samarth Sonawane) is subject to manual scavenging and societal prejudice. He belongs to a low caste and is forced to join his father who is a drunkard to conduct post mortem on unknown and unclaimed bodies at a local hospital , due to such work his clothes stink due to which he is subject to bullying in the school , he tries hard to get rid of stinking smell from his clothes by using atar etc but still its not enough .By Accompanying his grandmother on religious programme he learns about Kastoori ( the musk) whose perfumes lingers for many months .He is determined to get hold of kastoori to make atar from it , His best friend Amid ( Shravan Upalkar) tells him that certain person in the village having kastoori , they both set up for quest to obtain it and ready to pay for it Rs 3000
Gopi has for a prize for his essay in sanskrit in school which will be given to him on 26th jan at a programme ,gopi theron takes up odd jobs to collect the amount , on this quest what hardships he has to go through forms the crux of the film
Technical Review : Vinod Kamble and co-writer Shivaji Karde craft a nuanced narrative extending beyond caste issues. The film addresses child labor exploitation within families, depicting the grim reality of parents leveraging their children for economic survival
The narrative delicately navigates caste dynamics, portraying Gopi’s resilience against classmates’ taunts and societal expectations
At the heart of Kastoori lies Gopi’s quest for the scent of Kastoori to mask the stigma associated with his tasks, symbolizing a journey of self-discovery and identity amid societal challenges and his determination to pursue education amidst all these discrimination
Performances : The caste primarily non professional actors the main protagonist Gopi played by samarth sonawane has done a commendable job , Its not a easy task to play such a character who is downtrodden and looked down by the society .He has given an impressive performance, Adim gopi’s friend played by Shravan has given depth to the movie overall.
Final Word : The film explores the complexities of caste discrimination that is still prevailing in rural india and children are subject to conducting such hard and dirty jobs its not an easy watch certainly not for the faint heart
Ratings : 3*/5*
Watch Trailer Here
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