Nashibvaan review: An entertaining rise and fall of a lucky man

What will happen if a poor man suddenly comes into big money? How would he handle the new found money and power? Would he be able to improve his status and make it big in life?

Director Amol Gole explores these questions through the story of a BMC sweeper whose fortunes change suddenly.

Baban (Balchandra Kadam) barely manages to make ends meet, even as his wife Geeta (Mitalee Jagtap), who works as a housemaid, criticizes him for being lazy, drinking too much and not fulfilling her wishes.

One day he chances upon a huge stash of cash in a wall. An excited Baban spends all the money he found on his family, lying to his wife that he has a new boss who is paying him handsomely in a scrap business.

Baban keeps going back to the wall to replenish his stock of cash. While initially he spends the money improving his lifestyle and making his family happy, his dark side begins to come to the fore very quickly.

Baban does not really hide his money, and shows off by spending incessantly on women, gold, alcohol and household luxuries.

His inability to handle his new situation leads to his eventual downfall. The climax and the end are not entirely surprising, yet an interesting twist ends the proceedings on a high note.

Kadam is apt as Baban, whose self-indulgent behaviour and selfishness gets the better of him. He pulls off not just the comedy that he is so good at, but also the emotional and dramatic scenes quite well.

Neha Joshi plays the part of an innocent girl in need of money, who falls for Baban's promises, with sincerity.

Jagtap is top notch in every scene. She portrays the joy, pain and dilemmas of her character with finesse.

Based on Uday Prakash's Hindi novel Dilli Ki Divar, Nashibvaan is an entertaining film overall.

Gole chooses to go for the drama instead of realistic portrayal.

While it loses its steam at times, the screenplay quickly regains ground with a hilarious sequence arising purely out of the strange situations (and of those there are many) or a dramatic scene.

Baban's eventual downfall does take longer than expected to arrive, but the consistently interesting plot points and the potential of his rise from the ashes keep you going. Was he lucky after all? That's for you to decide.

Nashibvaan was screened at the 16th Pune International Film Festival 2018.