Film: Cycle
Cast: Hrishikesh Joshi, Priyadarshan Jadhav, Bhalchandra Kadam, Deepti Lele
Director: Prakash Kunte
Rating: * * * & a half
A seaside village in the Konkan is the idyllic setting for Pankaj Kunte’s feel-good family film set in the late fifties and scripted by Aditi Moghe who subscribes firmly to the belief in man’s innate goodness. Which may prove challenging for viewers who know or have experienced otherwise.
The titular vehicle is the object of a lead character’s affection.Keshav ( Hrishikesh Joshi) the village astrologer is attached to the yellow cycle bequeathed to him by his grandfather who was gifted the vehicle by a retired British bureaucrat. This slice of family history Keshav has regaled his young daughter with a thousand times; a story she never tires of hearing.
The film employs the precocious little girl to raise questions about astrological omniscience (or the lack of it) when the cycle is stolen along with jewellery and idols by thieves in saffron clothing.This rascally duo is also smartly delineated, in particular, the one who beseeches God to be an accomplice in their sinful deeds. Clearly, such stupidity can only come from a twisted mind. Evil indeed are those believe Heaven is the reward for slaughter.
Naivete and innocence is customarily attributed to rural folk and in the fictional village, the villagers perceive Keshav as a very good man. It does not cross anyone’s mind of the impossibility of forecasting the future on the basis of the patterns of stars spinning trillions of miles in the firmament above. In a different film, Keshav would have been a charlatan.
We won’t quibble. Suffice to say, we humans can be naive and gullible. The Konkani villagers respond with generosity and kindness to the conmen who claim kinship with Keshav.
Moghe’s story reveals keen societal insights. The film could have been a scathing expose of fake religiosity but the scriptwriter takes another path, to construct the comfort that all will be well; that all manner of things will be well. Cycle stands out with a talented cast, beautiful cinematography and excellent direction.