NAYA PATA: a new address to new-age Bhojpuri Cinema [3.5/5]

In one of the most unsettling scenes, an old forlorn man in his late years is seen enquiring for the easy-availability of ice slabs in his village as his son might take more than a day to come to perform his last ceremonial services after he’s dead. Now, I haven’t seen a single scene so emotionally charged up with plenty rich sensitivity in recent Bollywood. So, I am sure you’ll rub your eyes in disbelief that this is actually happening in a Bhojpuri film and not some mainstream Hindi cinema. Released by PVR, Pawan K Shrivastva’s NAYA PATA never ceases to surprise you even for once with an honest and wholehearted effort to break the jinx that has already put Bhojpuri Cinema on the spot.

In his very first outing, Pawan decides to take you through the throbbing pain of migration in hunt for better job opportunities for young blood in metros. After spending 25 years in Delhi, Ram Swarath Dubey is returning to his native place Chhapra in Bihar. In midst of switching between two different addresses, survive the soreness of identity getting lost and a certain kind of discomfort that doesn’t allow him to feel his roots. No wonder, he gets restless when someone addresses him ‘Dilli wale baba’ (the grandfather who belongs to Delhi). Things get worst for him as loneliness approaches the poor old man, after his son too leaves the place to get settled in one of the bigger cities.

NAYA PATA scores big time in its sincerity that doesn’t get diluted by any of the gimmicks Box Office demands. Shot authentically and esthetically on real locations with challenging lighting techniques responsible and well-efficient to set the desired mood on screen is one of few highlights. The man behind camera Saket Saurabh deserves an accolade. In others, the film is blessed with excellent music sense. With a recurring rendition of Bade Ghulaam Ali Khan saab’s ‘Yaad piya ki aaye’, use of Kabir’s Nirgun and the extracts from ‘Shakespeare of Bhojpuri’ Bhikhari Thakur’s writings and the essence of true folk, this is an album you would be asking for soon after leaving the theatre.

Though the film could not save itself from falling into ‘the very first effort in filmmaking’ syndrome; resulting in performances that look less confident, clumsy and extremely cautious to camera; it’s Abhishek Sharma as the main protagonist and Chandra Nisha as a supporting character who outshine rest in the cast. They both get it as real as it could be especially Chandra Nisha. She is effortless and totally in control. And finally the director, Pawan K Shrivastava should be given every credit to bring back possibilities in Bhojpuri Cinema. There’s a ray of hope and a streak of light on the other side of tunnel and Pawan cements that belief- that hope we all have been dropping after the saddening emergence of so many Ravi Kishens, Manoj Tiwaris and Nirahuas. This is a dawn of new age cinema in Bhojpuri…and I would die to see NAYA PATA leading the way with immense social responsibility and sincere creative accountability for a huge cultural restoration.

NAYA PATA is a new address to Bhojpuri Cinema. Come, visit without any hesitation, inhibition or apprehension! It is here to bring the change and you should be a part of it! [3.5/5]