Fandry

Plot

Fandry is a story set in the background of caste discrimination depicting the love of a 13-year-old boy.

Jambhuvant Kachru Mane (nickname: Jabya) (Somnath Awghade), a pre-teen lives in a makeshift house on the outskirts of a caste segregated village with his parents and 2 sisters (one a widow with a toddler). The family belongs to a low-caste community (Kaikadi) and earns its living by doing menial jobs. Owing to the caste-ridden power structure of the village society, the boy's father has a fearful and submissive personality which is exploited by the upper-caste villagers.

Jabya is disillusioned by the predicament of his family and shows interest in school where he has also fallen in one-sided love with a forward caste girl named Shalini (nickname: Shalu) (Rajeshwari Kharat) who he has never talked to but tries desperately to get her to notice him.

The plot opens with Jabya and his school friend Pirya (Suraj Pawar) armed with a slingshot trying to catch a bird (the Black Sparrow) in the wilderness. However, the bird call that punctuates the film is that of the Red Wattled Lapwing (Titawi), which is supposed to bring bad luck. The black sparrow, with its distinctive forked tail, and the call of the red wattled lapwing occur repeatedly throughout the film. The duo keep trying to catch the bird in the entire film for an unknown reason which is later explained in the film. According to a local legend, it is believed that when the ash obtained by burning the black sparrow is sprinkled on someone, it hypnotizes them to fall in love with the person sprinkling it.

Jabya also befriends a bicycle mechanic named Chankya (Nagraj Manjule) who sees his young self in the boy. Chankya had once gotten married to a girl but she was soon forcefully taken away by her brother and left him beaten very badly. Since then he has renounced family life and taken up refuge in spirituality, mysticism and liquor. Jabya seeks support from Chankya in his quest to obtain his love, which Chankya readily extends. Perhaps the idea of sprinkling the ash of black sparrow on Shalu is suggested to Jabya by Chankya himself. The idea, however, is executed only in Jabya's dream.

Back in the village, a face of social politics is displayed over and over again as members of the segregated village exploit and ruthlessly dehumanize Jabya and his family who co-operate in the act due to poverty, fear and social hierarchies. The film reaches its climax in one such exploitation where Jabya finally reaches his tipping point and explodes in an impulse driven intense backlash against the oppressors. He hurls a stone at one of the high-caste boys, who were teasing Jabya and his family by calling them "Fandry" (pig). The stone is seen fast approaching towards the audience and the film ends. The closing scene deliberately aims the stone at the audience, which is not only a victim but also a carrier of the exploitative caste-based social system.

Cast

Crew

Production and release

The film was praised at the Mumbai International Film Festival and was subsequently picked up by Zee Entertainment for distribution rights in Maharashtra in 125 to 150 screens. Vivek Kajaria, who produced the film along with Nilesh Navalakha, said "Fandry is one of the most awaited films of recent times and we have decided to go very strong on our marketing. Our partnership with Zee Entertainment has helped us a lot. We are trying our best to give it a wide release and hoping that the word-of-mouth will help us grow. Then it’s up to the audiences really."

The film released all over Maharashtra on 14 February 2014 and it was released in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa along with 12 states on 28 February 2014

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album of Fandry received positive reviews among the fans.

Awards and festivals

Official Selections: