Khwada

Khwada (Obstacle) is a 2015 Indian Marathi-language film, written and directed by Bhaurao Karhade in a directorial debut. It is a story about shepherds who suffer from land acquisition by the forest department and how their dreams of a settlement get shattered by different obstacles, leading them to migrate permanently.

The film won the Special Jury Prize and Best Audiography at the 62nd National Film Awards, it also won the other awards.^[1]

The film will release theatrically on Dussehra festival day October 22, 2015.^[2]

Plot

Fighting a legal battle for over 10 years in the hope of getting back his land from the forest department, the film narrates the story of Raghu Karhe who along with his wife and two sons - Panda and Balu, his daughter-in-law and grandson, all of whom wander, shepherding sheep from one village to another.

Balu, a budding wrestler and a daydreamer, foreseeing prosperity and good future in agriculture hopes to find his family a permanent settlement instead of day-to-day wandering.

Fate brings them to a village headed by the rowdy, Ashokrao, who along with his fellow wrestlers terrorizes all the adjoining villages and very often creates trouble by picking up the sheep of poor shepherds. Balu and his family bear everything silently.

In one of the wrestling competitions, Balu defeats Ashokrao's academy's wrestlers, which leads to animosity between him and Balu. Ashokrao compels Balu to a wrestle with his ace wrestler. Feeling the pain of Ashokrao's separatist remarks, Balu applies his full strength and breaks the wrestler's spine and runs away. This further hurts Ashokrao's ego who vows to finish him. Balu's angst for finding resolution culminates in a heart-wrenching climax of the film.

Through its protagonist, the film talks about the entire shepherd community and how their lives are unstable, full of challenges and how at times, they have to pay a heavy price for survival with dignity.^[3]

Cast

• Shashank Shende as Raghu Karhe
• Bhau Shinde as Balu
• Prashant Ingale as Panda
• Anil Nagarkar as Ashokrao
• Surekha
• Yogesh Dimbale
• Rasika Chavhan
• Vaishnavi Dhore
• Chandrakant Dhumal
• Vaishali Kendale
• Amol Thorat
• Hemat Kadam

Production

Bhaurao Karhade unable to find producers sells his land for the funding of the film. Everyone in his family was shocked at the idea but Bhaurao Karhade managed to influence his family members.^[4] Bhaurao from the draught-hit Shrigonda taluka of Ahmednagar district sold his land to raise Rs 85 lakh to produce a movie.^[5]

Publicity

Khwada used innovative publicity design to promote the film. The cartoons are drawn by famous cartoonist Uday Mohite. The cartoons have become instantly viral on social media platforms. Uday Mohite has earlier done some publicity cartoons for films like Balak Palak and Timepass 2^[6]

Awards and festivals

Official Selections:

Reception

Film received extreamly positive reviews from critics as well as audience. ABP Majha gave 4 out of 5 stars and declared movie 'Survival of the fittest'.^[7] Pune Mirror gave 4 out of 5 stars and declared movie 'For films like this climax always prove to be tricky. It can be either depressing or unrealistic in most cases. Khwada successfully manages to avoid both and reaches a satisfactory conclusion; it keeps the narrative real and yet takes things to a higher level'.^[8] Maharashtra Times gave 4 out of 5 stars and declared movie 'As spicy desi Maharshtrian dish '.^[9] Times of India gave 4 out of 5 stars and declared movie 'A realistic look at the life of a shepherd family and the obstacles they face while struggling to make ends meet'.^[10]

References

External links

• Khwada at the Internet Movie Database
• Khwada on Facebook
• Khwada on Twitter