Review: Veni (2024)

Vishal Jejurkar's Veni (2024) is a social drama about a family living in a dowdy flat, whose eldest member, Narmada, a septuagenarian, has Alzheimer's. She is looked after by her granddaughter Varsha, her husband, Anmol and their son, Yash. Caring for Narmada proves no small task, and the members of the family perform their duties without any complaints. However, one day, Varsha misses her period and panics about whether she might be pregnant. Her uncertainty creates the dramatic tension around which the narrative is constructed.    

The film has an uncanny simplicity about the flow of events. There is not one scene or moment in the film that gets melodramatic or sugar-coated. The treatment of the film is realistic. The real-life-like dialogues and subtle dramatic scenes are woven into the melancholic fabric so close to life that it gives the story a touch of authenticity. Jejukar's approach is less is more and he does not exaggerate the emotional moments in the film for the sake of drama. He relies on the power of suggestion to convey, in vivid detail, the chaos and alienation felt by the two women, who are generations apart. 

Anmol forgetting to buy diapers for Narmada, tea boiling over the gas stove, Anmol making Narmada’s braids, or Narmada conjuring up her memories by humming folk songs are genuinely tender moments. Such instances endow the film with a nuanced feel as if we are experiencing these touching moments ourselves. Further, it emphasizes that when we can't fathom or control the unexpected situations in our lives, we must be resilient and accept the unwelcome situations with warmth. The conversation between different characters makes us realise that they are having an existential crisis in their lives. As they speak to one another and reveal their emotions, we understand that at times happiness could come easily from unfashionable corners of our lives.   

The casting is impeccable, and each of the actors communicates much of their emotional state with the heavy-laden depth of the eyes and the subtlest gestures. Anjali Patil, as Varsha, breathes unexpected emotional life into her persona. When she breaks down before her grandmother, we are equally hurt deeply by her unshared pain. Rukmini Sutar gives Narmada a natural poise. Her portrayal as a patient with Alzheimer's is performed with such stillness and restraint that it makes us empathize with her plight. Both the women characters have an on-screen bonding that weaves beautifully into the flow of the film. Vitthal Nagnath Kale Varsha’s husband is a supportive and compassionate person, who understands the struggle of his wife. Yash Nawale, as Varsha’s son, is equally sympathetic towards her mother and shows maturity in understanding the situation at his home.

As the film ends, we are left with a tender feeling towards the family members. The duties they perform for the elderly women evoke affection for them. It gives us a gentle, bittersweet impulse that feels both like heartbreak and something fundamentally commonplace. Undoubtedly, Veni triumphs in its simplicity.  

Veni was recently screened at Dharamshala International Film Festival.