Plot:
Babu, an ambitious young man tries hard to rise from his family’s debt but his poverty keeps pulling him down.

Rating:

Team:
Director – Bhaurao Karhade
Cast – Pruthviraj Thorat, Kalindi Nistane, Nana More
Writer – Bhiku Devkate
Music – Onkarswaroop Bagde, Vaibhav Shirole
Cinematography – Veerdhaval Patil

Review:
After setting himself up as a groundbreaking filmmaker with two back to back hits and a national award, ‘Khwada’ and ‘Baban’, Bhaurao Karhade marks his return with ‘TDM’.

‘TDM’ is yet another Bhaurao Karhade trademark film. He has beautifully carved out a portrait of rural Maharashtra in all his films. TDM’s premise is also set in the soils. But with TDM, we can only see his brilliance in parts and fails to deliver a complete Bhaurao Karhade package.

Set in the rural Maharashtra of 1995, TDM begins with Babu striding along the village leisurely passing time. Because of his poverty, Babu has failed to even complete his basic education. Hence, now he works as a labourer doing daily wage jobs here and there. He often works as a tractor driver for his Mamaji (maternal uncle). With a sister awaiting marriage and the turmoil of debts striking his family again and again, Babu decides to buy a tractor of his own. Between all of this, he finds peace when he falls in love with Mamaji’s daughter, Neelam. Their love story secretly blooms between all the chaos. Will his assumption of fulfilling his dreams by buying a tractor come true or will it drown him more into the spiral of debt is how the film moves forward.

Going with the trend of abbreviations as titles, TDM is an abbreviation of a very unusual quirky full form. I won’t spoil it for you. Sprinkled with a pinch of comedy, the film really keeps itself as close to reality as possible in all terms. Even the romance feels pretty straightforward and nothing extraordinary.

The department which excels the most has to be the music. The background music is dreamy. The songs are lyrical genius and are penned so brilliantly that not only do they express the feelings of the characters but also take the movie forward. The cinematography is technically perfect but the grading could have been better to add another layer to the film’s tone.

Again, the technical and creative brilliance of Bhaurao Karhade is visible but only in parts. Sometimes it peaks during emotional scenes and sometimes they just go bland leaving no impact. This ultimately affects the pace of the film which blows hot and cold throughout. The story is pretty simple to start with. But the best part is how Karhade manages to weave the simplicity of the village life into living the Indian dream. Although the climax is really abrupt and doesn’t do justice to the world, Bhaurao Karhade builds in the 140 minutes. It feels like punching above the weight of the character.

Pruthviraj Thorat as Babu does an excellent job. His versatile graph of emotions and portrayal is top notch. Kalindi Nistane as Neelam doesn’t get enough screen time in the first half but the second half brings out the best in her. Other supporting cast do their routine job. Another thing that worked for me was the accent. All the actors have picked up the accent really well and not even a single actor’s delivery feels fake, which is a rarity in recent films.

Overall, TDM is a treat for Bhaurao Karhade fans but might be a tough pill to swallow for others. If you loved his previous ones, you may love this one too. But don’t expect the same brilliance like his previous two films. Worth a watch for the sake of independent cinema.

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