Pushpak Viman Review: Only Suspension of Belief Can Save The Plane from Crashing

• Review : Pushpak Viman (2018)
• Producer : Manjiri Subodh Bhave, Arun Joshi, Sunil Phadtare, Minal Shripat Indulkar, Mukesh Patil
• Studio : Kanha’s Magic, Zee Studios, Shree Ganesh Marketing & Films, Maaydesh Media, Beyond Media Productions
• Director : Vaibhav Chinchalkar
• Screenplay : Chetan Bhila Saindane, Vaibhav Chinchalkar
• Star Cast : Subodh Bhave, Mohan Joshi, Gouri Mahajan
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 2/5

Pushpak Viman Review (Marathi Movie):

‘Pushpak Viman’ is like a dish from a popular restaurant that just fails to match the restaurant’s standards. Zee Studios, Subodh Bhave (as actor & the story writer), Vaibhav Chinchalkar as the director (who previously was the associate director to Subodh’s ‘Katyar Kaljat Ghusali’), Mohan Joshi in the role of an eccentric old man; all of these make for the right ingredients to a tasty recipe, but that doesn’t happen. ‘Pushpak Viman’ had an interesting thought to begin with, but the backdrop in which this thought is utilised just doesn’t make sense.

Another big issue of the film is the music! None of the songs connect with you. And they are in plenty almost every 10-15 minutes. Most of them are bhajans. One needs to understand that the form of ‘Bhajan’ by default doesn’t become good spiritual music. The music needs a spirit of it’s own! ‘Pushpak Viman’ is clearly targeted towards an audience who believe in the idea of a ‘Pushpak Viman’ or are leaned towards spirituality in some way. Nothing wrong in this, but it doesn’t succeed on a basic front of writing.

The most important aspect of the film, the grandfather-grandson relation that was beautifully (remember the very first mesmerizing teaser) depicted in the promotions doesn’t really make an impact. In fact the dialogue in the teaser doesn’t exist in the film (it’s ok to not exist) & the film doesn’t capture any essence of that dialogue! The only thing left for an audience to be attached to this film while watching is Tatya’s (Mohan Joshi) dream to fly in the Pushpak Viman.

What is essential here is a suspension of belief that Tatya just doesn’t understand that aeroplanes are not Pushpak Viman. Even when he sees so many people at an airport, the whole working of the system, never does he doubt that all this has nothing to do with Tukoba or Pushpak Viman! Especially because the rest of the film has clearly made him appear completely normal! He isn’t someone who is distant from reality, then how come just in this case he becomes delusional?

Till the film arrives on this basic conflict of Tatya’s Pushpak dream, the film tries it’s hand to create a grandfather-grandson bond, one that works better than the actual conflict. But again that works because of Bhave & Joshi’s inherent chemistry & not really because of the writing. Though the inconsistency of the this chemistry curbs it’s overall impact throughout the film.

Having said all that ‘Pushpak Viman’ has a slight chance of working with the audiences who find most of the TV serials engrossing & amusing, but for audiences who are watching this film to have a satisfying ‘cinema’ experience ‘Pushpak Viman’ has nothing to offer. Had the film worked on it’s intended humorous moments it could have made some difference. But almost every attempt at comedy falls flat, & seems forceful & outdated.

Subodh Bhave & Mohan Joshi both are seasoned actors with plenty of good, bad, average films to their credit. They have been good in all kinds of films. Mohan Joshi in fact has a habit of standing out in his role even in bad or average movies. Here too Mohan Joshi’s performance is probably the only good thing about the film. Bhave too is convincing & so is the debutant actress Gouri Mahajan. But all of this doesn’t help the film one bit.

Overall:

Had the makers worked harder on the script, ‘Pushpak Viman’ did have the potential to be made into a heart touching film. In the current scenario it’s a complete snooze fest!