Mala Chakravorty
has a Ph.D. in American Women's fiction from I.I.T. Delhi, and Master's degrees in English and American Studies from Delhi University and Smith College, Massachusetts. She has worked in the School of Women's Studies, Jadavpur University,
Kolkata, and Women's Studies Program at the University of Hawai'i at
Manoa, Honolulu. She switched from academics to Information Technology in 1999, and worked at HCL Technologies, Inc. and NIIT Technologies, Inc. in Atlanta. She recently moved to Orlando, Florida, where she joined
InfoSource, Inc. as Account Executive. Apart from her academic articles, Mala's short stories have been published in
Sulekha.com and BAGA annual magazines.
Despite the contrivances in plot and characterization and some avoidable emotional melodrama, the film works primarily because of the simplicity of Daima's approach and Madhavan's charming personality...
By chance I picked up a small movie,
Ramji Londonwale, a new film starring South Indian superstar Madhavan that hit the silver screen some time back. Directed by debutant Sanjay
Daima, formerly assistant to Ashutosh Gowarikar,
Ramji Londonwale is the remake of Kamal Hassan's Tamil production Nala
Damayanti, that also had Madhavan playing the lead. The Hindi film has been remade with a new setting and a fresh approach and tells the tale of the travails of a cook from Bihar who comes to London to earn money for his sister’s dowry.
The film opens at a wedding in a small Bihari village,
Takipur. The ambience is as loud, colorful and melodramatic as Bollywood can get when it comes to creating a rustic world. But the earthy simplicity, innocence and warmth of the villagers stand out even in this kitschy representation. Some negatives like class and caste hierarchies and gender oppression are touched on fleetingly. The bride’s brother,
Ramji, is deeply rooted in his village, and loves his profession as a cook. Pressured by demands for dowry for this wedding, he accepts a job offer to go to London as a cook to an affluent Indian businessman.
From here onwards starts Ramji`s cross-cultural journey from his beloved Bihar to his new home -- London. Unfortunately, his employer is dead by the time Ramji reaches London and he finds himself wandering around in this alien world, facing racial attacks, mugging attempts, having lost his money and immigration papers. Hope resurfaces as an Indian couple whose autistic son he rescues and befriends comes to his aid.
They give him a place to live, and employ him as a chef in
their Indian restaurant.
Problems follow
in the shape of immigration officers and the threat of
deportation. Ramji cannot go back without having
earned the money for his sister’s dowry and his
employer (Harsh Chhaya) fears imprisonment for
harboring an illegal immigrant. A solution to both
problems is presented by the employer's lawyer friend
(Raj Zutshi), who coerces Ramji to marry his own fiancée
Sameera [Samita Bangragi] and get a British
citizenship, suggesting they divorce after three
months. More complications follow, Ramji and Sameera
move from mutual dislike to love, some treachery and
betrayals and sacrifices are thrown in the mix, but
eventually all problems are solved, and all is well
that ends well. Ramji achieves his dreams and
aspirations and goes back to his responsibilities in
Bihar happy to be known forever as ‘Ramji Londonwale’.
Stories about an Indian hero’s adventures abroad are not new to Indian cinema. Way back in 1970 Manoj’s Kumar’s Bharat came from India to London to spread his message of traditional family values and purified the corrupted NRI souls of their western values of greed, selfishness and licentiousness
(Purab aur Paschim). This trend continued over the decades to follow and we recently had Sohail Khan’s
I - Proud to be an India (2003) that dealt with racism against Indians in contemporary London and Rahul Rawail’s action cum comedy
Jo Bole So Nihal (2005) that presented to us a honest constable from Punjab traveling to the US to clear his name and redeem his family honor. We have also had several crossover films like
Lonely in America (1991) Dude, Where’s the Party? (2003),
Flavors (2003) that dealt with the east versus west themes in comedic ways, Of course the latter films cannot really be compared to Daima’s film as they don’t belong to the same genre of filmmaking. But east versus west, rural versus urban, poor versus rich, has been an important theme in Hindi films from the time migration started, whether it be from village to city, or from India to foreign countries.
Why Ramji Londonwale is different, even though it stays within the realms of mainstream Hindi cinema, is because of the non-judgmental way in which Daima presents Ramji in an expatriate world without getting overtly preachy or moralistic. London is not portrayed as a touristy prop for songs and dances with semi-clad blondes, or as a den of vice that lures all good Indians to become immoral. It is presented as a place where several immigrants live and work, facing and working through day-to-day issues and problems. There are several clichéd situations and plot contrivances, but overall the film works due to several factors: good direction, a good script, melodious music, great cinematography and commendable acting, especially by the lead actor, on whose capable shoulders the entire film rests. Daima uses Ramji’s culinary skills and his pride in these skills, his love of feeding others as representative of his nurturing, caring personality. To carry on this analysis a little further, one can say that Ramji’s ability to combine various ingredients to create appetizing, healthy dishes is a metaphor symbolizing Indian immigrants living in a diaspora and carving out a niche for themselves in an alien world – a niche that has to be rooted in traditional values yet has to assume new shapes and forms in order to assimilate and survive in the new world.
The film really belongs to Madhavan, whose endearing personality and authentic Bihari accent (credited to his early years in
Jamshedpur) lends the stereotypical role of a village bumpkin a great deal of credibility and authenticity. He underplays both in the light-hearted and the emotional scenes which works extremely well. Leading lady Samita Bangargi has nothing much to do. She is just about adequate in her role as the arrogant westernized girl who gradually comes to love Ramji for his simplicity and innocence. Unfortunately there is not much chemistry between the lead pair, and to me the romance seemed contrived and unrealistic. While I can understand the mutual understanding and empathy that evolves as they get to know each other, the differences between them are just too wide for such a relationship to work – but to give it its due, this is a film, not a slice of life! Raj Zutshi as the crafty lawyer is good, though again, his bout of villainy appears to be somewhat artificially grafted on to keep the plot moving. The rest of the supporting cast comprises an array of new and familiar faces. Satish Shah as the sympathetic visa officer, Zarin Bhasin as Sameera’s lovable granny, Harsh and Sunita Chhhaya as the beleaguered couple who befriend Ramji and the child who plays their autistic son, Shalu Verma as the lawyer’s abused first wife, Ashmita Sharma as Ramji’s sister, Akhilendra Mishra as her greedy father-in-law, Govind Namdeo as the NRI VIP wedding guest and Dayashankar Pandey as Ramji’s best friend in Takipur are good within their limited roles.
Summing up, Ramji Londonwale is a feel-good film that provides clean family entertainment that should have a universal appeal to rural and urban Indians, as well as to
NRIs, even though it lacks the glamour and glitz that is expected of a film of this genre in contemporary Hindi films.
Despite the contrivances in plot and characterization and some avoidable emotional melodrama, the film works primarily because of the simplicity of Daima's approach and Madhavan's charming personality. There are no unwanted props, no redundant item numbers, and none of the vulgarities that have become the trademark of recent comedies from
Bollywood.
Ramji Londonwale is an unpretentious story about an ordinary man placed in an alien environment and faced with extraordinary odds. His challenge is to surmount these and reach his goals without compromising his basic values. At the finale, he is given a unique award (which I will keep a secret) for his success, spelling out the message of the entire narrative, that nothing is impossible if you persist in your efforts and stay true to your values. Daima presents Ramji not a miracle worker like his predecessor Raghu in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Bawarchi (1972), but as a lovable person who affects the lives of all the people he comes across with a positive approach, a sunny smile, faith in his cultural roots and a respect for all humanity. To adhere to the recurring metaphor of food and cooking that hold this film together, definitely worth a taste!
