Kaksparsh (Marathi: काकस्पर्श, English: Crow's Touch) is a 2012 Marathi film directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and produced by Aniruddha Deshpande and Medha Manjrekar. The film stars Sachin Khedekar, Priya Bapat, Medha Manjrekar, Savita Malpekar and Ketki Mategaonkar.

Based on a story by Usha Datar by the same name, the film depicts the tumultuous events in a Chitpavan Brahmin family, set around 1930-1950 in Konkan. Released on 4 May 2012,^[2] the film got critical acclaim for its direction by Mahesh Manjrekar, its screenplay by Girish Joshi and also for fine performances by its actors, especially Sachin Khedekar for his portrayal of Hari Dada Damle as a head of the family.^[3]

Plot [link]

Hari Damle (Sachin Khedekar), head of a Chitpavan Bramhin family, is living in Torgaon, one of the villages in Konkan with his wife Tara (Medha Manjrekar) and their three children. When Hari opposes some of the century-old rituals, it upsets other Bramhins in the village, especially Upadhyay (Vaibhav Mangle). Hari wishes to get his younger brother Mahadev (Abhijit Kelkar) married, who is pursuing LL.B in Mumbai. Damle family fixes the marriage with a pre-pubescent girl, Durga (Ketaki Mategaonkar), renamed as Uma after marriage, but tragedy strikes when Mahadev dies on the night when their marriage was to be consummated. Hari performs death rituals (Śrāddha) for Mahadev but crows which are considered to be symbolic of the spirit of deceased in Hinduism refuse to touch the offerings. Hari, then, mumbles something while offering food which leads to the desired.

Brahmin community in the village now expects widowed Uma to have her head shaved but then Hari opposes and does not allow any practiced rituals to be performed for her as a widow, which were performed for his widowed aunt, Namu Aatya (Savita Malpekar). Hari stands behind Uma in all her difficulties which raise doubts about his intentions, including that by his wife, Tara. Years later, when Tara is diagnosed of a terminal disease, the now grown-up Uma (now played by Priya Bapat) takes charge of the household. Before Tara dies, she realizes her mistakes and requests Hari to marry Uma which he refuses to. Bramhin community in the village continue to force Hari to perform rituals for Uma and attack Damle family who are saved by Hari's freedom-fighter friend, Balawant (Sanjay Khapre) in one such instance.

In the meantime, Hari gets his son Sankarshan (Saksham Kulkarni) married. Once Hari finds Uma sitting outside the room of newly married couple, listening to their playful banter. Disgusted by Uma's behavior, Hari stops talking to her. Unaware of the reason for Hari's changed behavior, Uma starts staying aloof. Worried Sankarshan requests his sister Shanti (Manava Naik) to talk to Uma. Frustrated and unknowing of what loss she had throughout her life, Uma opens her heart but situation raises more questions.

Uma's health gradually deteriorates as nobody is able to change Hari's mind, till Sankarshan starts questioning. Hari, left with no other option, explains his behavior. Hari reveals to Uma that when he was performing death rituals for Mahadev and offerings were not accepted for a long time, he promised Mahadev that he would not let anybody touch Uma. For the same reason, he did not allow practiced rituals of shaving her head to be performed and also declined Tara's request of his marriage with Uma. When he learned that Uma has started loving him, he stopped talking to her, in spite of his love towards her. He eventually accepts that he loves Uma and would marry her. Knowing the truth, Uma forgives Hari and agrees to the proposal but dies the very next moment.

Cast [link]

• Sachin Khedekar as Hari Dada Damle
• Priya Bapat as Uma
• Medha Manjrekar as Tara
• Savita Malpekar as Namu Aatya
• Sanjat Khapre as Balwant Phadke
• Vaibhav Mangle as Upadhyay
• Abhijit Kelkar as Mahadev
• Ketki Mategaonkar as Young Uma/Durga
• Saksham Kulkarni as Sankarshan
• Manava Naik as Shanti
• Saiee Manjrekar as Kushi
• Kishor Raorane as Janu

Soundtrack [link]

The soundtrack for the film is composed by Rahul Ranade and music director duo Ajit Parab and Sameer Mhatre, popularly known as Ajit-Sameer. Being a period film set in 1930, soundtrack mainly consists of traditional songs in the form of Ovee. Kishor Kadam, who also writes with the pseudo name "Saumitra" and Mitali Joshi have written the lyrics for the songs. Rahul Ranade predominantly used Vibhavari Joshi's voice for the traditional songs which were rendered by her without any musical accompaniment.^[5] The soundtrack was released after the film's release and was acclaimed for bringing an authentic and subtle flavour to the period of the film.^[6]

References [link]

External links [link]

• Official website
• Kaksparsh at the Internet Movie Database