Machiwarla Budha review: A decent tale of the man who embraced wilderness

The advent of the internet has brought to light quite a few stories of people who live in the wild, completely disconnected from civilisation. For those living in urban areas this sounds like an impossible idea. Director Vijaydatta’s Machiwarla Budha throws an interesting light on how a person can live happily in such conditions.

The film revolves around the aged Budha (Suhas Palshikar). He visits his hometown, which is near Lonavala in Maharashtra. But his real aim is to live some distance ahead in the wilderness. He builds a hut and decides to spend the rest of his life here. He has left his family in Mumbai and has no plans of returning to them. He occasionally meets his friend who lives in the hometown.

Budha is happy and satisfied living in the company of nature with minimum needs. He doesn’t feel he is alone as he is constantly interacting with nature. His closest companion is his dog, with whom he forms a deep bond. But how long can Budha survive on his own in seclusion?  

Machiwarla Budha is not a story-based film. But the general phrase ‘the film has no story’ isn’t applicable here. It is more like getting a glimpse at the protagonist’s experience in a remote land in the lap of nature. This, in no way, makes the experience boring for a major chunk of the runtime. This is largely because the basic and most important requirement of getting the audience involved into this unusual world is fulfilled right from the start.

There are plenty of instances where Budha is seen interacting with nature. Normally, one might consider such a person a lunatic, but not in Budha’s case. His talks with nature are not only convincing, but also sweet because nature plays an altogether different character here. It is not limited to forests, flowers and mountains. It also includes a dog, goats, insects, squirrels, saplings, etc.

Budha, through his simple and content life, indirectly gives a message that one doesn’t need much from life to be satisfied. One also gets to know the difference between loneliness and solitude.

The tale of a man staying alone doing nothing productive in the conventional sense also comes with its share of flaws. The audience is not aware as to how Budha manages to earn a living. He is not shown farming. Eating non-vegetarian is out of question since he doesn’t even like killing an insect. We are also not given a clear picture of his life before he left his family members and what prompted him to take such an extreme step.

But what really stops the film from tilting completely to the positive side is the climax. It lacks proper conviction and doesn’t go with the nature of the film.

The low budget is evident in the technical aspects. It doesn’t affect you much, thanks to the locations. The sound of birds in the background is a pleasure to the ears. The editing seems abrupt as one scene does not smoothly flow into the other on a few occasions.

Palshikar is present in each and every scene. He appears as a real person staying in a remote land. This means that there is utmost sincerity in his act. He moves you on a number of occasions, especially in scenes with his dog. The dog deserves special mention for actually playing a supporting part convincingly.

The rest of the actors aren’t much to talk about and they don’t have much to do either. The actor playing Budha’s son, who appears for a brief moment, is clearly overacting. The one playing his friend in the village is decent. Smita Gondkar’s character has nothing much to do except be glamourous. We wonder why one needs such masala elements in this kind of a film.

Overall, Machiwarla Budha is an unconventional saga meant more for the lovers of nature.