My cousin – Kisha mama

(If you have not seen the Marathi movie “kaaydyacha bola” and intend to, read no further – this post will steal the thunder for you. Well, actually, if we can read between lines, the title already has.)

Kaahi picture-bicture baghitala kaa? – N asked casually. (Seen any movies lately?) I nodded no. It appears having a multiplex close to my house makes it imperative that I watch movies regularly. He went back to the time when he watched kaaydyacha bola and how he couldn’t stop laughing.

Before I knew what was happening, my father made the plan, bought the tickets and I was in sipping on an over-priced, supposedly authentic American black coffee watching kaaydyacha bola.

The title of the movie is a pun – you can either interpret it as “talk about the law” or interpret it as “talk about the bribe” – and that is where the hilarity starts. Two college students are on their way to Mumbai to have some fun instead of helping out families with chores. They refill the car tank and move on when they are promptly arrested on the charges of murder of the gas station attendant. A lawyer– uncle to one of the friends – is sent to defend the boys. A rustic Makrand Anaspure plays Advocate Keshav Kunthalgirikar a.k.a. Kisha mama and the first scene of altercation between the judge and the lawyer about inappropriate attire hits you on the forehead – this is a remake of My Cousin Vinny! Sharvari Jamenis plays the bimbo girlfriend and the movie makes bit more fun of Pushkar Shrotri – the stuttering lawyer. The movie has been modified for Indian context – a little bit of melodrama, betting scandal, and scathing criticism of socio-political caste system, of the police and of a justice system still mired in the colonial era expectations. Thankfully, there is no song-and-dance sequence between Sharvari and Makrand who are hopelessly in love and waiting for the lawyer to win his first case before getting married.

Kisha mama proves to be very adept in cross questioning and showing follies in the arguments and Sharvari’s Anglo-Marathi usage of wrong words adds to the fun. Just like the original movie, the bimbo helps in solving the crime – apparently, we left-handed people could only have struck the victim and none of the defendants was south paws. All in all, good movie – oops good remake. Even if this post has stolen the thunder of watching Marathi My Cousin Vinny, it is worth spending 2 hours having fun.