Review : Sumi : Simple story, outstanding results!

In continuation of content driven movies, #MarathiFilm industry gets one more film to be proud of. #Sumi, directed by #AmolGole has already won National awards for best Children’s Film and best Child Actors (2). After watching movie one comes to know, why the film has been the talking point all around. It’s a simple story with outstanding results. Cinematographer turned film director Amol Gole has shown spark in his first directorial, Nashibvan which had Bhau Kadam headlining the cast. It did well commercially too alongside getting rave reviews. Mr Gole shows progress in his second film Sumi wherein he delves into children’s mind space and education, especially education for girl child. In a country where a girl is not considered worthy enough to get education of her choice, this film could be an eye opener. He drives home this message without being preachy and that’s the beauty of Sumi.

Sumi (Aakanksha Pingle) is a teenager staying in a remote village with her mother (Smita Tambe), father (Nitin bhajan) and a younger brother. She is a bright student as she scores 90+% in the 7th standard. Irony is despite her desire to study further, her village doesn’t have a school for further studies. Nearest school is 25-30 km away and her teachers tell her to continue studying as she being a bright student. But her fathers’s earnings are meagre and he can not afford to buy her a cycle to commute to the bigger school. Sumi keeps insisting, demanding a cycle as she desperately wants to study further. Her mother is not very keen on her higher studies fearing that she won’t find a suitable groom for her. Her father keeps trying to fulfil his daughter’s wish but is unsuccessful. He even indulges is wrong practices which costs him his job. Sumi befriends a guy with a hearing problem (Divyesh Indulkar) but has a brand new bicycle and learns to ride it by bribing him with home made food. Whether Sumi gets her cycle to go to faraway school forms the crux of the narration.

As mentioned earlier the story is simple and with interesting screenplay it becomes a compelling watch. The movie starts with stone grinding scene which depicts the down trodden people’s lives which Sumi’s parents are part of. Also the director being a cinematographer has made arid and dry locales into beautiful frames. His storytelling depicts sincerity and quite a few scenes touch viewer’s hearts. Without preaching he drives home a good social message about girl’s education. Though at times the movie drags but picks up steam later. The music is good and complements the narration. The dialogues are far from ordinary and create required impact.

The scenes between Divyesh (who in real life too has hearing problem and wears hearing aid) and Aakanksha are cutely presented. Both have won National Awards for acting and there is no need to elaborate on their portrayals. Nitin bhajan is convincing as a father and Smita Tambe delivers yet another powerful performance. Sumi is a must watch film for all the children and their parents, especially from the rural part of india.

Rating : ***1/2