Valu (2008)

Valu (translation: Bull) is a 2008 Indian comedy Marathi film directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni. Umesh Kulkarni is an alumnus of FTII, Pune. The film featured in various international film festivals as The Wild Bull. It also became the first Marathi film to be selected in Rotterdam International Film Festival 2008, the Netherlands. It was the only Indian film which was allotted four screenings during the festival. Valu was the first marathi film for which Mukta Arts took over the worldwide distribution rights. Shanta Gokhale from Mumbai Mirror wrote "Not in a long time (or never?) have we had a film like Valu that gives us a village that is neither idealised, sensationalised nor sentimentalised, but is simply itself, like something out of a Madgulkar story".

Plot

In the small village of Kusavde, there is a lonely misunderstood wild bull. The bull, "Durkya", is actually a holy, consecrated bull which is the responsibility of the village. It is allowed to roam free and is the responsibility of the entire village. But lately, Durkya becomes very aggressive and is blamed for every single act of chaos and destruction that happens in and around the village. Now, catching the bull becomes equivalent to establishing power in the village for the leaders and for those who are interested in the fringe benefits.

The film intertwines various stories of the war between the two leaders; love stories that bloom in the midst of the adventure; an amateur filmmaker who struggles to shoot a documentary; the forest officer who leads this chaos like a sacred mission along with the religious priest; the tricksters and an insane woman who seems to understand the mind of Durkya.

Cast

Atul Kulkarni as Swanand Gaddamwar aka "Foresht"

Mohan Agashe as Sarapanch

Bharati Achrekar as Sarapanch's Wife

Girish Kulkarni as Jeevan Chaudhary

Veena Jamkar as Tani

Dilip Prabhavalkar as Pandit

Nirmiti Sawant as Pandit's Wife

Nandu Madhav as Aaba

Renuka Daftardar as Aaba's Wife

Mangesh Satpute as Shiva

Amruta Subhash as Sangi

Satish Tare as Satya

Chandrakant Gokhale as Aaja

Jyoti Subhash as Sakhubai

Shrikant Yadav as Suresh

Ashwini Giri as Suresh' Wife

Deepak Alegaonkar as Shivai's Father

Rajesh More as Sangi's father

Meghana Vaidya as Sangi's Mother

Siddheshwar Zadbuke as Popat

Prashant Tapaswi as Shankrya

Nikhil Raut as Ganya

Vrishasen Dabholkar as Sameer (Swanand's Brother) aka "Dacumentary"

Ashok Kulkarni as Jagnade

Pournima Ganu as Gaddam's Wife

Sharavi Kulkarni as Sampi

Aditya Kulkarni as Sampat

Raja (bull) as Valu

Selection in film festivals

5th Asian Film Festival, 2007 Pune: Selected for screening as a closing film for the festival.

37th Rotterdam International Film Festival, 2008 the Netherlands

24th Warsaw International Film Festival, 2008 Poland

43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2008 Czech Republic

Reykjavik International Film Festival, 2008 Iceland

La Rochelle International Film Festival, 2010 France

Release

Theatrical release

The film was released theatrically, in India, on 25 January 2008.

Home media

The film is currently streaming on Ultra Jhakaas app.

Awards and achievements

Best Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni, Best Cinematographer: Sudhir Palsane (Pune International Film Festival 2008)

Best Eye-Catching Film of the Year, Best Supporting Actor: Girish Kulkarni (Zee Gaurav Awards 2008)

Best Film of 2008, Best Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni Maharashtra Times Awards - MaTa Sanman 2008)

References

External links

Valu at IMDb

Valu at Ultra Jhakaas

http://www.valuthefilm.com

The Hindu : Friday Review Delhi / Interview : Free spirit gets away

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Marathi-film-ValuThe-Wild-Bull-premieres-at-Rotterdam/267089/ Archived 10 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine