Ventilator (film)

Plot

The film tells the story of a joint family whose eldest and most respected person, Gajju Kaka, goes into a coma few days before the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. His demise during an auspicious festival would mean a period of mourning, which would ruin the festive plans and celebrations. Everyone from family and neighbourhood visits Gajju Kaka at the hospital, praying for his speedy recovery, each one having their own reasons for it.

Production

The film is produced by Priyanka Chopra under her production company Purple Pebble Pictures and is directed by Rajesh Mapuskar. The films stars Ashutosh Gowariker and Jitendra Joshi along with an ensemble cast of 116 actors from the Marathi cinema and theater background. The filming began on 10 February 2016.

The idea for the movie came to director Rajesh Mapuskar's mind when a family member of his was hospitalised and put on a medical ventilator and he also happen to knew other people who were put on the same. According to the director, the word "ventilator" became a part of his daily life and he began to follow the stories of the people who were going through medical treatment. He said "Relatives were also trying to treat life with humour in the face of death. That’s how the story was born in my mind, and I began to write it." After completing the script of Ventilator, he approached several filmmakers, who thought it to be "a great script" but were sceptical to produce. He revealed that the people even tried to discourage him from making it in Marathi, since his debut film Ferrari Ki Sawaari (2013) was in Hindi. They thought going from Hindi to Marathi would be a downgrade. However, he was confident that the film would be a Marathi production. He said "It makes economic sense to make the film in Marathi, where better scripts are accepted and projects are wrapped up in record time."

At the same time Priyanka Chopra set up her production company Purple Pebble Pictures and was looking for content-driven regional cinema scripts. After reading the script, Priyanka Chopra was impressed and immediately agreed to produce the film under her production company. Rajesh Mapuskar said "With her as producer, it also meant a large market for the film." When the director approached Ashutosh Gowariker with the script, he assumed Rajesh wanted him to produce the film. However, despite liking the script, he declined after learning that he wanted him to act. Ashutosh Gowariker, who had last acted in a film 18 years ago, was shocked on the idea of returning to acting after so many years. Adittionally, he was busy with his own directorial venture at the time. After six months, Rajesh Mapuskar again approached him. A surprised Ashutosh Gowariker insisted on for an audition so that he could get rejected. However, after getting a phone call from Priyanka Chopra, who insisted he do the film, he finally agreed.

Release

The first poster of the film was unveiled by Priyanka Chopra on 31 August 2016 through her Instagram account. Between 7 October 2016 to 11 October 2016, two teaser trailers were released. Following the teasers release, the official trailer was released on 18 October 2016. Ventilator premiered at the 18th Mumbai Film Festival on 24 October 2016. Priyanka Chopra recorded a soulful song called "Baba" and featured in its music video which was used for the promotions of the film. Ventilator was released on 4 November 2016 accompanied by English subtitles in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Critical reception

Ventilator has received critical acclaim from critics. Filmfare magazine gave 4 stars out of 5 and said "Ventilator is one of the most honest and emotional films of the year. It’s a Marathi film worth treasuring. It’s an Indian film worth celebrating." The Times of India also gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote "The list of must-watch Marathi films of recent times just registered an addition in the form of 'Ventilator'. This Priyanka Chopra production is a beautiful journey of relationships, emotions, misunderstandings and priorities that are a part of many families." ABP Majha also gave the film a rating of 4 stars out of 5. Rediff.com gave the film 3.5 out of 5 calling the film "a refreshing family drama". Mumbai Mirror gave a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 and said "Rajesh Mapuskar handholds this one carefully, trying his best to contain the story and characters from stretching the limits of exaggeration. While he largely succeeds, he should be credited for elaborately examining the unexpressed emotions in relationships — and doing so amidst the cacophony of various other parallel tracks — without allowing either to shadow the other."

India-West awarded the film a 4 stars out of 5 and wrote that with its subtle as well as biting satire, the film grabs your emotional plexus and makes you love and cherish life and your loved ones all over again. Hindustan Times gave a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote that Ventilator is a delightful, well-written family drama and the director successfully conveys his message about a father-son bond without going over the top. It also praised the performance of the cast: "Ventilator has some remarkable performances. Sukanya Kulkarni Mone and Jitendra Joshi play their characters of Gaju kaka’s children to perfection." Indo-Asian News Service gave the film 3.5 stars calling it a "heart warming saga" and wrote: "we get another Marathi film of deep emotional worth, which challenges our long standing notions of the joint family system without the crutches of cynicism and self-loathing."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album consists of four original songs composed by the composer duo Rohan Gokhale, and Rohan Pradhan. The lyrics were written by Manoj Yadav and Shantaram Mapuskar co-wrote one of song's lyrics with Manoj Yadav. The music was digitally released on 31 August 2016 by Zee Music Company. It was physically released on 9 September 2016 at an event in Mumbai. Priyanka Chopra also recorded a song for the film, making her Marathi singing debut with a song named "Baba", which was released on 3 November 2016. The music directors suggested her to record a female version. However, she was apprehensive to sing in Marathi but later decided to record the song calling it "powerful and moving". This song was not used in the film but as a promotional song along with a music video which featured Priyanka Chopra recording the song in a studio and several scenes from the film.