Mukti Bhawan - A rare sanctum of satire
This is not a hapless movie which talks about the esoteric concept of "passing on".
Pun intended, this is a glorious movie emphasizing the importance of having lived well.
Mukti Bhawan - a paradise for those wanting to die in the arms of god, is merely symbolic of how much an individual wants to control his destiny, he wants to live for a particular time and when he feels the time is over, wishes to pass on... destiny can not be controlled, and the number of days one has to spend in the world is type written and passed on to every person, he has no wish or command over his own breath.
Lalit Behl is symbolic of a "free man" a man who enjoys his life superbly and lives it on his own terms, like grand father like grand daughter, both are dancing spirits, happy in the worldly matters of life.
Rajiv actually symbolises "death" in his current life, over burdened and jostling to everyone's tune, right from his father to his daughter to his wife, and even his boss. Whom he explains and cajoles a million times.
His guilt commands him and makes him stay with his father, in spite of any actual relationship or rapport, one which he slowly re-discovers on the ghats of Kashi.
Meanwhile, dad is busy be-friending Vimla, whose lilting presence is fantastic. A bit of research threw light on the fact that she is Behl's real -life wife and thus the fantastic chemistry. Vimla is a typical example of the circle of life being complete only when worldly matters come a full circle.
She waits for 18 years, post her husband's passing to move on to the other world and indeed that only happens when she is again in a relationship, and again satisfied materially.
Rajiv's daughter riding the scooter, completes the journey to freedom for Lalit Behl and he lives on through her free spirit.
Mukti Bhawan is a 2 hour rickshaw ride which sows modern mind sets to the crumbling ancient Varanasi.
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