When Tingya goes to Cannes
April 17th, 2008 | by Vijayaraghav |
When Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali got an entry into Cannes in 1955, it got the deserved attention and secured an award in the Best Human Document prize category. The legend Akira Kurosawa got excited and commented during that occasion that "I can never forget the excitement in my mind after seeing it. It is the kind of cinema that flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river." When Tingya goes to Cannes, there won’t be much hype because it’s a Marathi film made with a low budget. But it will certainly make an impact and build up the image of India. Tingya bagged Best International Marathi Film Award at the Pune Film Festival along with best Actor Award for the 7 yr old child artist Sharad Goekar. It was part of the 21 films selected for Indian Panorama section in International Film Festival of India as also selected for screening in the category for Director’s First/Second in the Asian Film Festival. A brilliant directorial effort by debutant Mangesh Hadawale, this insightful and perceptive portrayal seems to have caught the attention of millions of viewers. About the selection of his subject, Hadawale says: “I was aware of frequent farmer suicides in Vidarbha. But I was disturbed when someone, who had taught me how to ride a bicycle, ended his life as he couldn’t pay his daughter’s engineering fees due to debt.” On the other hand, Ravi Rai, the producer of Tingya has his own concept and says, “I realized way back that apart from entertainment, cinema has other wings as well. Creativity for me personally is something that disturbs me. It is born out of a disturbed mind. The life of farmers in India right now is in a phase that is very dark, tough and turbulent. Approximately every 9th hour a farmer commits suicide. The newspapers reports disturbed me everyday. I wanted to make a film. What? and How? I never knew till Mangesh came up with this subject and I knew I was doing it.” It’s a painstakingly meticulous film about an emotional love story between a bull and a boy called Tingya. Let me summarize the storyline as follows: A small farmer’s old bull, Chitangya, falls into a ditch and is permanently debilitated. The farmer gets into a situation where he has only two choices that is unless he sells Chitantya, he cannot buy another bull. Unless he buy another bull, he cannot plough the fields. Unless he ploughs, his family will starve and the moneylender will be after his blood. Now his younger son Tingya coming into picture. Tingya and Chitangya have grown up together and they can’t think of separation. The worse is that Chitangya can be sold only for slaughter and not for farm work. Tingya asks his father why his friend Rashida’s grandmother, who is too old and cannot work isn’t being sold off for slaughter. At last Tingya realize that arguing about old age and death is not a proper thing and even you can’t equate human life with that of animal. He also began to learn so many things about life and birth. The struggle of the villagers for survival against all odds is depicted with perfection. Its emotion moves around love, fear, frustration, anxiety, grief and humour in a classic and natural way. It leaves us to learn more lessons about moral and tricky politicking. Tingya is a story of a child who portrays the world, which we are unable to see, which we are not ready to accept or decipher. It enquires through Tingya’s innocence, the validity of existence. It queries the order of the alive as “is it the man, animal, bird and the sea or vice versa who regulates and classifies the categories?” Tingya stands out on the sheer strength of its concept and the depiction of harsh realities that we always love to watch from quite a distance and only prefer to discuss in our leisure. The star cast includes Sharad Goekar, Tarnnum Pathan, Ajit Gwande, Inesh chauhan, Sunil Deo, Madhavi Juvekar, Chitra Nawathe and Vitthal Umap. The child artist Sharad Goekar made Tingya alive with his exemplary skills in acting. You rarely get a chance to explore watching such serious movies. After watching the movie I got overwhelmed by its sharp edged criticism towards so many burning issues. It’s certainly an excellent piece of work and a must watch. When Tingya goes to Cannes
30 Responses to “When Tingya goes to Cannes”
By Arnie on Nov 30, 1999 | Reply
i m intrigued by the concept of the movie, but i really don’t like such depressing topics in movies - i prefer escapist fare only
By violethue on Nov 30, 1999 | Reply
i heard abt this movie..i’ll surely try to watch this movie…ur review made it more interesting
By Tingtong on Nov 30, 1999 | Reply
Feel like watching the film, after reading ur beautiful presentation.. but we do’nt get to see marathi films here.
By Padma .l. on Nov 30, 1999 | Reply
a moving post about the ripple effects of globalisation on the indian farmer, his struggle for survival amid depleting oppourtunities to continue a family vocation, also protrays a father’s struggle to provide for his family, am touched
By cool_friend on Nov 30, 1999 | Reply
Our country’s economy is based on sgriculture. But some people think that capitalism plays an important role. Govt. always tries to remove hindrance from capitalists way but they forget our farmers so soon. Time and again farmers are cheated and do not ge
By Madhu Vamsi on Apr 17, 2008 | Reply
HI Vijay, Satayjit ray is a legendary figure of Indian cinema..He never imitate the western culture in his films. Nice cool post and thanks for sharing…
By Shrihari on Apr 17, 2008 | Reply
By the way I have been nominated as HOF Member do visit my new blog and comment on it.
Yes I have seen this movie when I was in Mumbai last month end. Nice direction and I like most is the acting of "Bal Kalakar - Sharad Goenkar" many think he
By Sunil T on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
thx for sharing! you are right…it will be quite low profile!
By Nidhi M on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
it sounds good,i am sorry to say hvnt heard abt it but will nw try a dekho definitely.
By santa claus on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
satyajit ray is a legend and his films are too god …
By savita on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
Nice review of the movie. Sure want to see it.
By Idle Mind on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
I love such brilliance in films … all my fav films delve on the depth of life. Dancing around trees to waste thousands of feet of raw film is an utter wastage of time and effort. I will be on a watch for this movie, for sure. Very apt review!
By Swati . on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
I am really moved with the concept and the story of this movie and i am really interested to watch this master piece..u have rightly said that we hardly want to discuss the relity in our country..great review Vijayji…
By S U G A R on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
hey vijay,gr8 read and good i read this piece cos i will definitely watch this movie..i am a marathi girl and i am also very disturbed by whatever i keep readg in the papers about farmers in vidarbha…sounds like a gr8 movie..thanks for this post,regards
By Dipankar on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
Moving tale of harsh reality. And India grows at 9%. Ha, ha …
By aleen dyan on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
beautiful presentation…I liked the way you have created the scene before you have actually presented the review….sure I am going to watch this film….thanks for sharing.
By aleen dyan on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
beautiful presentation…I liked the way you have created the scene before you have actually presented the review….sure I am going to watch this film….thanks for sharing.
By aleen dyan on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
beautiful presentation…I liked the way you have created the scene before you have actually presented the review….sure I am going to watch this film….thanks for sharing.
By aleen dyan on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
beautiful presentation…I liked the way you have created the scene before you have actually presented the review….sure I am going to watch this film….thanks for sharing.
By Madhu Vamsi on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
Hello Vijay, My new post is waiting for ur interesting comments. Looking forward for ur new post…
By Surya Pratim on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
Nice presentation! Good informative post! Welcome in my new post!
By Iona Lazar on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
Thank you. It is very useful for me.
By Anonymous on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
i would love to see this movie..if u have one pass it on to me…
By Rajib Gurung on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
Worth the penny. well presented and nicely put for the readers. Thanks for sharing such a nice piece.
By Horizon on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
Vijay!! nice thoughts on a cinema!!!! let me try to see the same! thnx for sharing all these
By Miranda . on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
Definitive…to read u is like to live something such special as in real life…
By Priya on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
Definitive…read u is like to live something such special as in real life…
By Anonymous on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
I am very intereted to see Tingya I hope that I will be able to rent a copy or even see it at my multiplex. I woul like to watch more serious Indian films, as well as the singing and dancing which I also enjoy. Thanks for the tip.
By MOIN on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
An excellent review Vijay of Tingya.You are right, more to learn about moral and tricky politicking. Thanks for sharing a wonderful review of a masterpiece.
By charlie on Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
and that is so very interesting…must keep a look out for it…and wish it all the success and recognition that it richly deserves too…best and cheers