Yellow (Marathi, 2014)

Movies revolving around a mentally/physically handicapped child are common with Taare Zameen Par coming to mind immediately. But what is different here is there is a slight novelty associated with the premise, the portrayal of the chillingly evil Dad, a kind but baffled mom, a witty almost childish uncle, & a strict yet passionate coach. The actors too have been cast perfectly and they make us invest in their line of thinking with convincing performances.

There is ample space for melodrama with such a premise but they have done away with almost all such theatrics by deftly cutting to another scene. Sample this: we have an old lady very close to the mother, Mughdha (Mrinal Kulkarni) who takes care of her ‘Special’ grand child alone. When news of her demise reaches Mrinal, before she gets into melodrama mode, the shot moves on to her voicing aloud to her brother as to who after them would take care of Gauri.

The dialogues between the swimming coach, Pratap (Upendra Limaye) & Mughdha have been written very well and the actors have also risen admirably to the task by modulating them effectively. The situations where Gauri’s uncle, Shri (Hrishikesh Joshi) gets into, exhibits a certain childish enthusiasm which works to the film’s inherent feeling of goodness.

The songs and the background score certainly play a part in elevating the film. The umpteen sequences in the swimming pool generate that feeling of thrill primarily due to excellent combination from the editing, music and cinematography departments.