Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008) isn’t your typical Bollywood
narrative. It’s practically an anthology; the film presents a series of
incidents in the life of a small, fictional village, as seen through
the yes of aspiring novelist Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade). Unlike most of
the villagers, Mahadev is educated, but after failing to find work after
college, he had to return to the family vegetable stand. He’s drifted
into a side job writing and reading letters for the mostly illiterate
villagers, in exchange for a few rupees or whatever his clients have to
give.
As the village letter writer, Mahadev is a witness to the private
lives of many of the villagers. Despite his best efforts, he also finds
himself more and more involved in the election for village headman,
which quickly narrows into a contest between the murderous wife of Ram
Singh (Yahspal Sharma), former village headman and wannabe brutal
warlord, and the hijra Munnibai (Ravi Jhankal).
Still, Mahadev is mostly a witness to the world around him. And then she
walks back into his life. Kamla (Amrita Rao) was Mahadev’s childhood
sweetheart, and he’s crushed to learn that she needs his help to send a
letter to her husband. Then he learns that the husband is in Mumbai,
and Kamla hasn’t seen him in four years. Assuming the marriage is on
the rocks anyway, Mahadev starts tweaking the wording of Kamla’s
letters, and carefully summarizing when reading her the responses, all
while playing the kind and understanding friend whose advice can be
relied upon. (Yes, this is completely reprehensible behavior, and yes,
Mahadev does eventually realize this and try to make amends.)
Those are the two major plotlines in Welcome to Sajjapur,
but there’s an awful lot going on in this town. The local pharmacist
(Ravi Kishan) is in love with the widowed daughter-in-law (Rajeshwari
Sachdeva) of a retired army officer (Lalit Mohan Tiwari). A snake
charmer without a snake is looking for his missing father. And a
superstitious mother (Ila Arun) tries to break the alleged curse on her
independent, stubborn, and surprisingly awesome daughter (Divya Dutta)
by marrying the girl to a dog. (One of these plotlines ends in murder.
I’ll let you guess which one.)
The diffuse nature of the plot, the almost anthology like structure, is one of the strengths of Welcome to Sajjanpur,
because the movie doesn’t have to be about only one thing. Village
life is wonderful and idyllic, except when it’s stifling and violent.
There’s always time for a song about how great it is to live in a
democracy. And Mahadev himself . . . well, he’s complicated.
I spent a good part of the movie actively disliking Mahadev; he does
engage in some very creepy behavior, all in the hopes of winning the
heart of a married woman he hasn’t seen since they were both children.
And then, actual character development happens. Usually in this sort of
plot, the hero gets caught lying, and makes a big, tearful, public
confession, at which point everyone forgives him because he’s such a
wonderful person when not lying and scheming and manipulating people to
get what he wants. Mahadev, on the other hand, doesn’t get caught.
Instead, he realizes that what he’s been doing is wrong, and goes to
great lengths to make amends. But that’s not all!
While at the beginning of the movie, he’s clearly uncomfortable with
Munibai and the other hijra, and insists that any help he gives her is
kept a secret, he learns to see her as a human being and becomes one of
her staunchest, and most public, supporters. It’s refreshing to see a
character work so hard to earn his happy ending.
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