Dhoosar

Wanted to write about this Marathi film before its memory fades and becomes a blurry haze in my thoughts. Dhoosar is about fading memories. It is about snapshots of a mother-daughter relationship, woven intricately into the story of how Alzheimer's slowly claims the mind and life of an ordinary woman with an extraordinary heart. It is about a stranger, who walks into the life of a single aging woman living alone and battling an evil illness, hoping to take what's hers, but ending up becoming her protector and son. It is about transformation. About photography, about legacy. It is an example of excellent story-telling.
A daughter settled abroad returns one day after 2 long years into her mother's bungalow, only to find its name-plate bearing the name of a stranger. She catches a glimpse of her mother, who fails to recognize her. She is shocked to see, after finally being allowed into her own house, that her mom's room has been painted white and her mom is being addressed as 'Avwa'- a strange word she has never heard. She is quick to grasp that her mom is ill, and conclude that the tenant who has taken over her mother's house and life is an intruder taking advantage of her ill old mother.  It is only after she calms down that the 'stranger' begins to explain the reasons behind each of his acts. It is really touching how she finally grasps that the white color, the strange name and the nameplate are acts of kindness on his part, and not the results of cruelty as she had concluded. It is also touching how the story of the mom's life is slowly unfolded as fleeting memories in the daughter's eyes.
Dhoosar falls under the category of 'meaningful cinema'. Amol Palekar's films are never masala entertainers. But this one, albeit a serious subject, hardly bores you, and surprisingly is not a tearjerker. Sure, there are a few moments that moisten the eyes, but overall, its a simple story, beautifully told.