Beginning with a sequence focusing on a poor, homeless and shabbily dressed woman being kicked out of a hotel, NOT ONLY MRS. RAUT right away comes to the point when in the very next scene the same woman brutally kills a person jogging at Juhu Beach by madly stabbing him several times in the body with a specific dagger.
As she surrenders herself with the weapon in a police station, we get to know that she is Mrs. Raut, the main protagonist of the film having an unfortunate background leading to her current status of a murderer. And from here onwards the film moves into a flashback revealing some shocking events, returning back to the court case proceedings featuring another strong lady Swati who happens to be Mrs. Raut’s lawyer coming from a reputed family of lawyers more interested in just money than any justice served.
Revolving around these two women characters facing their own individual struggle against the biased, exploitive social system dominated by males, NOT ONLY MRS. RAUT might not be a great gem as per technical and other finer aspects of filmmaking are concerned. But it certainly raises a voice against many significant issues of our society that have been there since ages and are still experienced by the women repeatedly even in the new millennium. To be specific, it questions why the society fails to treat a single mother with respect post her husband’s death and why she is always considered to be a soft target for all (or available) in the absence of a male support. The film also questions the suppressed status of an honest, educated and capable lady in the house of all dominating males, having a different viewpoint towards life and professional ethics. But most importantly it strongly points towards our debatable Judicial System and the profession of Lawyers that often proves biased and beneficial to the more affluent ones in comparison to the common man asking for a fair trial and justice.
Directed by Gajendra Ahire and produced by Aditi Deshpande, who also plays the lead role of Mrs. Raut in the film, NOT ONLY MRS. RAUT won the National Award for the Best Marathi Film in 51st National Film Awards. Plus Aditi Deshpande also won the Screen Best Actress Award in a Marathi film sharing it with Sonali Bendre for her film ANAHAT (2003). With two decent performances by the leading women, Aditi and Madhura Velankar, the film gets good support from its talented cast ensemble and the writing team, but still lacks that much required punch at many crucial points, turning it into a decent social drama that could have been a much bolder, hard hitting and eye-opener one as per its powerful subject.
Having said that, NOT ONLY MRS. RAUT still deserves all the praises showered since it’s a film showing us the mirror forming the sick society that doesn’t allow a woman to grow as an individual. Moreover it once again proves the fact that the regional cinema of our country is surely much ahead and responsible when it comes to choosing their basic concepts or themes without thinking about any commercial or box office returns. For instance the wide vision gets depicted here in the title itself that says, NOT ONLY MRS. RAUT………. as there ought to be countless of exploited women around in our own surroundings who we don’t even know of…..!
Rating : 3 / 5
(At the time of writing this article, the film could easily be seen at YOUTUBE.
So do try searching it there if interested.)
Tags :
Not Only Mrs. Raut (Marathi) Review by Bobby Sing, Not Only Mrs. Raut Regional Film by Bobby Sing, Regional Films Reviews by Bobby Sing, Regional Films at bobbytalkscinema.com, Marathi Films Reviews at BTC.
