Review : ‘Paath’ throws a strong social message of bride trafficking!

In our country killing girl child in the womb had reached its pinnacle till it was forbidden by the law. Actually the society was creating human gender imbalance hence there are lesser girls as compared to boys. This has given birth a problem of boys finding it difficult to get girls for marriage. Thus girl and bride trafficking has flourished especially in north India. A short film, Paath (The Lesson) starring Jackie Shroff, addresses this problem through an endearing story.

The story comprises of five parts, viz Beej (the seed), Ichcha (the desire), Prastav (the proposal), Vivaah (the wedding) and Paath (the lesson). In a village Ramvilas (Abhilash Thapliyal) is keen to get married to Kamli (Sara Arjun), a 12 year old school going girl. He bribes her father Nathuram (Rajkumar Kanojia) and tries to fulfil his desire. There’s another person, Rana, who too is keen to get Kamli for himself. But a man in his fifties, Kesar (Jackie Shroff), whose wife had died a couple of week ago, gives Nathuram more money and takes Kamli home. But the real reason comes to the fore at the end of the short story. In actuality Kesar buys Kamli as a daughter to save her from the clutches of scoundrels like Ramvilas etc.

Writer, director Karan Singh Rathore has picturised the film very crisply. The story is told effectively with demarcated portions. He addresses lot of issues in sub text. The end result is effective and impactful. He raises the question and gives a simple answer to the menacing problem of bride trafficking. The technical sides are ok and cinematography is good. Jackie Shroff impresses with just a couple of scenes at his hand. Abhilash Thapliya plays his character convincingly. Rajkumar Kanojia and Sara Arjun too are good.

***1/2

Keerti Kadam.