Redu trailer: Shashank Shende’s obsession with radio quite heartwaming

The title of director Sagar Chhaya Vanjari’s Marathi movie Redu suggested that it could be a character's name. The trailer reveals that Redu is actually what uneducated folks from a village call a radio. The trailer of the Shashank Shende-starrer is as funny as the nickname.

Redu takes place in a village in the Konkan region of Maharashtra in 1972. Tatu (Shende) lives an ordinary life like anyone else in the village. One day, he comes across a radio, carried by his brother-in-law. Tatu’s hatred towards him vanishes as soon as he sees the radio. He gets hold of a radio which becomes his most prized possession and neigbours' envy. One day, he loses the radio, and with it his mind.

The film appears to be a light-hearted episode talking place in a village. The setting brings back memories of the classic television series, Malgudi Days.

The peppy background score also adds to the period drama effect. The use of the 'Radio Song' from Tubelight (2017) goes well with the theme. The visuals of a simple village are pleasing to the eye, a constant treat to Marathi cinema lovers.

Tatu’s obsession with the radio reminds us of the new-age obsession with the smartphone, especially when he goes to bed with it.

This is Vanjari’s directorial debut. He has been an editor on a number of films, including the well-acclaimed Investment (2013) and Rangaa Patangaa (2015).

Redu will be released on 18 May.

Watch the trailer: