Katha (1982-The Fable) is a delightful tale of chawl life in the city of dreams: Mumbai. The story is set in the early 80’s and the director was Sai Paranjpe. The story was adapted from the director’s own play Sakkhe Shejari . The actors were Naseeruddin Shah, Farouque Shaikh and Deepti Naval. The story is an adaptation of the classic tale of the hare and the tortoise with an appropriate twist at the end.
The struggles of the Mumbai chawl life are very well depicted. The trivial happenings like asking the neighbors for a bowl of milk, standing in the early morning lines to collect water for the house, the cricket being played at the nukkad etc. No one can be serious while watching the general bonhomie of the chawl life, in which people need to know anything and everything that happens in the chawl: be it the entry of a guest, a office announcement, anything.
Naseeruddin Shah plays Rajaram, a man so simple that the whole world takes him for an emotional ride. He is simple, honest and frank in his views. The plot discusses the small time aspirations of Rajaram whose biggest goal in life is to become a head clerk in his organization. He is in love with the typical girl next door; Sandhya (Deepti Naval), who is totally oblivious to his feelings.
Enter the conniving Farouque Shaikh (Basu) (Rajaram’s old college friend) who has come to Mumbai with plans of his own. Basu is an inveterate liar who casts his charm over everyone. He impresses everyone with his big talk but in reality he is just a smart aleck who can talk his way through anything and everything. In no time Basu acquires three girlfriends(one of them being his boss’s wife!); a higher position in Rajaram’s company and throws his friend’s life into a tizzy. Ultimately the con guy ends up getting his just deserts. When things go out of hand, he makes a gentle exit from everyone’s lives. Thankfully the movie ends in a quintessential manner with good triumphing over evil (so to speak).
The film has interesting cameos by Jalal Agha, Mallika Sarabhai(the acclaimed danseuse) etc. The director’s husband and daughter have also played minor characters in the film. The USP of the film was its extremely realistic portrayal of Mumbai chawl life and the love and friendliness that abounds in life there. Even though Mahesh Manjrekar recently tried depicting the chawl culture in two of his movies, he just could not capture the beauty of it. It’s a little sad that such good movies are not made anymore. The movie was a good product inspite of the fact that it was made on a shoestring budget. May the golden era of satirical, realistic and wholesome entertainment come back soon.
Direction & Screenplay: Sai Paranjpye
Cast: Farouque Shaikh, Naseeruddin Shah, Deepti Naval, Mallika Sarabhi, Leela Mishra
Music: Rajkamal