SURESH NAUTIYAL Greenananda
Raibaar (The Message) was postponed for a week for some valid reasons.
Now, the wait is over and the Garhwali film, Raibaar, will be released nationally and internationally on the forthcoming Friday 19 September.
In fact, Raibaar is the first Uttarakhand film to be screened in the US. For sure, it is a film of a new genre in the Uttarakhand film world.
As announced by the producers, Raibaar will be released at the following theatres: PVR, Mall of Dehradun, Dehradun; RR Cinema, Jaipuria Mall, Indirapuram, Uttar Pradesh; PVR Logix, sector 32, Noida, Uttar Pradesh; PVR Vegas Mall, Dwarka, Delhi; Kay Pride Cinema, Kotdwar, Uttarakhand; and Cine Lounge, Fremont 7, California, USA. The California screening is already a sold-out story!
The film, Raibaar (The Message) is directed by Shishir Uniyal. It has been produced by Bhagat Singh Saini, Balraj Jangra, Parveen Saini & Shishir Uniyal of the Kinoscope Films and Vortex Echo Productions. The Co-Producers include Babita Agrawal, Ishita Manna, Ipshita Manna, Rakesh Pokhriyal, Shashi Pokhriyal, and Subhash Chamoli. Mohan Singh Bisht and Kamla Bisht are credited as Pushkar’s Father and Pushkar’s mother respectively. The Character of Manish Gairola is credited as Postmaster.
The story is by Shishir Uniyal and Bhagat Singh Saini; while the dialogues were written by Dinesh Bijalwan and Bhagat Singh Saini. The music has been composed by Rajendra Chauhan and directed by Vibhu Kashiv. Lyrics were composed by Satish Kaleshwari and sung by Rohit Chauhan and Kailash Kumar.
The cast of the film includes Sunil Singh, Shrish Dobhal, Hari Semwal, Suman Gaur, Rajesh Naugain, Mohit Ghildiyal and others.
Inspiration:
The idea for the film originated years ago from a poem by Jeevan Prakash Chamoli, which portrayed a beautiful poetic conversation between a postman and his daughter. This poem inspired the creation of the lead character and his world, highlighting how a postman, selflessly, goes out of his way to fulfil his duty of delivering messages to their recipients. In a nutshell, the films is an emotional drama about fathers, sons, and the redemptive strength of forgiveness.
Synopsis:
Pushkar Singh Bisht is a 34-year-old man who works as a postman in Pipalkoti Village, situated in the northern part of India (Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state). The village is located in the high mountains where life is difficult. With most employment opportunities dependent on tourism, this place has witnessed an increase in migration over the years.
Pushkar also had a desire to move to a big city in search of better opportunities, but his father Mohan Singh Bisht has been adamant and rigid about not allowing Pushkar to leave the village. His mother, Kamla Bisht, understands his feelings but is reluctant to persuade her husband to change his mind.
This led to Pushkar’s frustration, and eventually, he bottled up anger inside him towards his father. He is envious of his friends who have moved to cities and have a comfortable lifestyle. He doesn’t appreciate the beauty of the mountains anymore and hates them as if they are a cage keeping him imprisoned and locked away from all the happiness, he believes he can achieve in a city.
He has never been to any city other than the nearby townships.
After working in random jobs, he qualified for the role of postman in his father’s place after his retirement. At work, he is required to go on foot to nearby villages, delivering letters and carrying out government scheme work. The only reason he accepted the job is that he does not want to be at home all day.
The story begins when the postmaster, Manish Gairola, breaks the news to Pushkar that the post office will be shifted to a new location. During the process of shifting, Pushkar finds an old inland letter under an almirah. At first, he does not think much of it. On further examination, he sees that it is dated seven years ago and no recipient’s name is mentioned. It was written by someone named Bishan Chauhan from a nearby village, Angarthala.
Pushkar mentions the letter to the postman, who does not take the matter seriously, nor does the other postman. The postmaster suggests he let it go and focus on other official tasks. However, Pushkar decides to return the letter to Bishan Chauhan whenever he goes to Angarthala, so he keeps it with him.
Some days later, Pushkar goes to Angarthala and asks people about Bishan Chauhan. He learns from one of the villagers that Bishan Chauhan died five years ago. Though Pushkar is curious to know the content of the letter, he decides to drop it at the address, which is now an abandoned house. It is in bad shape since no one has lived there for years. On the way back, he meets his friends and they share a few drinks. When asked about his day, Pushkar tells them about the letter. One of them asks what was written in it. Pushkar doesn’t know, not even an idea. This piques his curiosity and makes him restless all night.
The next day, after completing his work, he goes back to Angarthala and retrieves the letter from the abandoned house’s yard. He opens the letter and reads it thoroughly. It was written by the now-deceased Bishan Chauhan to his son, Ajay Chauhan, asking for forgiveness and requesting him to come home. Pushkar did not expect this, and it intensifies the anger he feels towards his father, Mohan Singh Bisht. His curiosity grows further as to why a father would be apologising to his son.
He decides that he will find the son and deliver the letter himself. Perhaps, he will find answers that might help him solve his own problem with his father.
Pushkar asks the postmaster for help, who scolds him and tells him not to waste his energy and time on this. But Pushkar is determined to complete the task he has taken up. He asks the villagers of Angarthala about Ajay Chauhan’s address, but no one knows where he lives now. They tell him that Bishan Chauhan’s son Ajay ran away decades ago. Hopeless, Pushkar goes back to the post office.
Postmaster then gives him the phone number of Prabha Negi, Bishan Chauhan’s daughter and Ajay’s sister, who now lives in Dehradun. The postmaster again advises Pushkar to focus on his own life. Pushkar calls Prabha, but she tells him she does not want to know about any letter nor is she interested in talking about her father or her brother. Pushkar eventually visits Prabha, but she refuses to talk to him. As Pushkar steps out of the house, Prabha’s husband follows him and gives him the contact number of Ajay Chauhan.
Pushkar comes back home and is indecisive about calling Ajay. A few days pass by. One evening, he meets his friends. One of them lives in Delhi and is visiting his parents in the village. After a few drinks, Pushkar gets emotional and, for the first time, opens up to his friends. He tells them about the anger that has been inside him for so long and what sort of relationship he has with his father.
The following day, Pushkar decides to visit Ajay in Delhi. His parents try to stop him, thinking he might not want to return from the city. After an altercation, Pushkar leaves for the city. He meets Ajay and gives him the letter. Ajay reads it, gets emotional, and goes to his room. Ajay’s wife tells Pushkar that Bishan Chauhan was aggressive and abusive to the family. He used to beat Ajay’s mother over petty issues, and when Ajay tried to stop him, he would beat him as well. One day, an angry Ajay decided to run away at the age of 18, leaving his mother and sister, Prabha, at the mercy of his father.
Ajay’s mother died years later, and Prabha got married and moved to Dehradun. Bishan was left alone and died five years ago. Ajay learned about his father’s death a couple of years back when he visited the village for the first time since leaving.
Pushkar listens to all of it. Ajay comes out of his room and tells Pushkar that he had forgiven his father, not because he had forgotten everything, but because it was important for himself.
Pushkar realises that it is important to forgive not for others, but for oneself. He comes back to his village, reflecting on his own life and that of Bishan and Ajay Chauhan. For days, he continues his mundane routine.
One day, he decides to talk to his father but, unable to express himself, he chooses to write a note and hand it to him. His father reads the note and feels his son’s helplessness. An emotional conversation with his parents brings long-buried feelings to light, and in that moment of understanding, Pushkar resolves to take a decisive step toward his future.
Window to avant-garde cinema:
Lastly, I hope that the film will prove to be a new genre—avant-garde film in the Uttarakhand filmdom, and eventually push it to the level of Uttarakhand Cinema!
