Phule tells the story of a legendary social revolutionary and his equally legendary wife. The film educates viewers about their life and their struggles and watching it unfold is fascinating. On the flipside, the writing is weak while the direction is lacklustre. One doesn’t get charged up or get a high though some scenes could have had that impact. The episodic approach is also not a good idea. The makers jump from one incident to another, without allowing viewers to process it. Nevertheless, Pratik Gandhi is excellent and the way he subtly changes his body language is seen to be believed. Patralekhaa makes her presence felt and plays a difficult role with ease. Jayesh More (Usman) and Akshaya Gurav (Fatima) are adorable. Darsheel Safary (Yashwant) is horribly wasted. Vinay Pathak (Govindrao Phule), Joy Sengupta (Vinayak), Alexx O’Nell (Ribbs Jones) and Sara (Cynthia Farar) do well. All in all, Phule is a well-intentioned flick but suffers due to weak direction.
My rating – ** ½ out of 5!