Movie: Woda No. 6
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| photo courtesy: facebook.com/PriyankaKarkiOfficial |
Director: Ujwal Ghimire
Starring: Deepak Raj
Giri, Priyanka Karki, Dayahang Rai, Kedar Ghimire, Sitaram Kattel, Jitu Nepal
and more
In my eyes: *** (out of
5)
A comedy that does not say ‘leave-your-brain-at-home’. A social
drama that has the ability to touch the hearts. Combined together and blended
just right. Presented in a way that entertains the audience thoroughly. This is
Woda No. 6. Every places has both good and bad elements there;
likewise, this “woda” is also not free from the flawed elements. But as long as
the entertainment matters, this movie is super successful.
Time-zoned at fictional place Jhulebasti Woda No. 6, Nuwakot
in 2058 B.S., this movie is set against the backdrop of civil war. Smells
different? A bunch of comedy actors and the serious issue? Do not worry because
it carefully balances both in the way we have never seen in a Nepali movie. Neither
does the maoist conflict over-sensitize nor does the comedy over-shadow the
core point of the movie. This is the best thing of Woda No. 6.
It does not discuss the goods and flaws of civil war, neither
does it portray the political backdrop. What it shows entertainingly and
sometimes heart-touchingly is the small effects of that war period on common
villagers that turn their life upside down. Story is simple where dialogues
play the winning role and the plots happen to be the engaging factor. Credits goes
to writer Deepak Raj Giri and the director Ujwal Ghimire, specially for taking out the controlled performance from actors and preventing it from being loud.
The movie also touches the social problems such as class
differences, caste discrimination, unemployment, manpower company’s fraud, etc.
without going over the board. The lovestory between hero and heroine is set as
the main line and all the other factors come as the consequences after the
twist of that war. But the irony, the main line falters where as the other
factors make the movie good. While most of the small elements works well and
becomes the essence of movie, the main love-story, playing as a binding wire to
the plots, falls flat to the face. But again, the movie is much beyond this
love-story and it works big-time, which is good.
At many places, this movie gives the feel of old movies, pattern
of more than a decade back. Even though old school drama is not that bad, the
movie could have used the more new kind of angles to present the story. It becomes
predictable at few places and the ending is bad - compared to the body of a movie.
Extended ‘last fight’ and unconvincing happy-ending ruin the climax. It looked
so hurried. Scenes between Deep and Sushila in the second half are quite
awkward-ish and cheesy.
Surke Thaili Khai is a very nice song and is well
placed in the movie – yes, this one has fitted in just right. But Waiyaat Love Story could have been given
a miss for its own good – unnecessary! Background music, except for some
scenes, might sound loud. Cinematography is okay. Locations look fresh and
beautiful. The large range of mountains in the background with the beautiful
Mount Gaurishankar in centre looks wonderful.
Characterization is the other nice thing here. There are so
many characters and each of them has their own share of individuality and the
presence. Their detailing is well cared of, especially the main five actors. They
shout out funny one-liners and carry the humorous lingo. Apart from this, they
bear the serious sides too some of which are built on emotional portrayal and
some on humorous quotient. However, the character ‘Sushila’ seems
under-developed.
And the performance! So many actors in a single film! The ones
who shine the most are Kedar Ghimire as Maagne Budho, Sitaram Kattel as Netra
Prasad and Jitu Nepal ‘Mundre’ as Birkhe. Yes, even the great Dayahang Rai is
on the back seat here. The above-mentioned three actors are hugely popular on
TV and their antics are well known. While Kedar Ghimire and Sitaram Kattel have similar features, Mundre takes a complete turn from his TV avatar. The former
two must be credited for their comic timing. It might have got some boring on
TV but not here in a movie. They stand out with the talent they possess. Jitu
Nepal has done quite a nice job in this movie. He has less comedy and more
serious shades, which he has performed well.
Dayahang Rai as Dayaram has done his job effortlessly as
always. His character seems restrained and somewhat less important this time. But
still, he is the actor who manages to make the lemonade of lemons. It is just
that the audience wants more from him. While Deepak Raj Giri scores brownie
points for the writing, he seems average as a lead here. His performance as
Deep gradually grows to good but could have done much better. Ditto for the
leading lady Priyanka Karki. She handles her part well but her character Sushila
has little substantial to do. Seeing her sound performances in Suntali and
Mala, she seems average here. She can perform much better.
All the other supporting actors including the veteran Nir
Shah, Rajaram Poudyal, noted actors like Aruna Karki and Buddhi Tamang have done an ‘okay’ job. They
deserved more! Quite many guest and special appearances too - standing out of a
lot is Deepa Shree Niroula as Comrade Pratigya. The crush of Maagne Budha on
her is something entertaining to watch in the film. She has done what she was
required to do – she is good in her role. Ranjita Tamang and Wilson Bikram Rai
are good too. But the talented Sandeep Chhetri’s cameo appearance is not so
nice; same for Kishor Khatiwada.
Overall, Woda No. 6 is a good entertaining film that can touch
the heart while making the audience laugh and laugh.
Compared to the previous movie of same team - Chha Ekan Chha, Woda No. 6 stands way
higher.
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