Review of the movie Phule

Featuring Pratik Gandhi, Patralekhaa, and Alexx O’Nell

Directed by Ananth Mahadevan

Rated three stars

What Jyotiba Phule and his wife, Savitribai Phule, accomplished for the eradication of the caste system in India during the late 1800s, along with their advocacy for female education, must not- and cannot- be overlooked. Recognizing this from the outset allows the writer to discuss solely the film in question, along with its positive and negative aspects. Phule aims to be an accurate biographical film about the lives of the two reformers, helmed by Ananth Mahadevan and featuring Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa.

What's Phule all about?

It starts with Savitribai's charitable actions for those enduring the Great Plague of Pune (formerly Poona) and then shifts to a flashback, in which Jyotiba, who is married to the young Savitribai, consents to educate her despite opposition from his family and community.

From the outset, their relationship embodies equality, and Ananth captures the essence of the biopic accurately.

What's effective and what's not

Phule will definitely educate many people on these unsung heroes of India, whom we don’t talk about enough. Some scenes in the film truly stand out. Like the one where Savitribai shows a man his place when he tries to intimidate her. Or the courtroom scene where Pratik successfully stands up to a group of Brahmins who object to his attempts to abolish the caste system

Where the film begins to feel weak is cramming in so much into a little more than two hours' runtime. What it leads to is thus one getting exhausted before the intermission. I don’t think the makers have left out anything, but it was never meant to be like a history chapter in class X, which faithfully covers everything. What unfolds on screen isn’t treated like a film. And by the time the ending is near, one is hoping it will at least wrap up on a poignant note, on time. But again- it stretches on. There’s no climax really.

What doesn’t help is that both the leading actors, who put in decent efforts, sometimes give in to caricaturish portrayals. The screenplay jumps from one good deed to another, but there’s no focus on making us understand these two people.

The attention to detail in the production design is commendable. Rohan-Rohan's music is average, though.

Overall, Phule is a sincere, important film, dulled by an oversimplistic screenplay and treatment.

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