Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008)

An educated man spends his days writing letters for the varied inhabitants of his small, poor, and illiterate village, in this political and social satire.

Director:

Shyam Benegal

Writers:

Ashok Mishra (screenplay and dialogue), Shyam Benegal (story)

Stars:

Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Rao, Ravi Kishan

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shreyas Talpade	...	Mahadev
Amrita Rao	...	Kamala
Ravi Kishan	...	Ramkumar
Ila Arun	...	Ramsakhi Pannawali
Rajeshwari Sachdev	...	Shobharani (as Rajeshwari Sachdev Badola)
Divya Dutta	...	Vindhya
Yashpal Sharma	...	Ramsingh
Ravi Jhankal	...	Munnibai Mukhanni
Lalit Mohan Tiwari	...	Subedar Singh
Shri Vallabh Vyas	...	Ramavtar (as Vallabh Vyas)
Masood Akhtar	...	Postman
Daya Shankar Pandey	...	Chidamiram Sapera (as Dayasankar Paandey)
Satish Sharma	...	Publisher
Mangala Kenkre	...	Mahadev's mother (as Mangal Kenkre)
Vineeta Malik	...	Kamala's mother-in-law

Storyline

It was Jawaharlal Nehru who changed the name of a small town, Durjanpur, to Sajjanpur, and that was about all the change that had occurred there since then. The town still lacks adequate infrastructure, no safe drinking water; in a 24 hour period, electricity is out for almost 23 hours, and most people, even though they own mobile phones, cannot speak or write English. One of the residents, who does speak and write English fluently, Mahadev Kuswah, lives with his mother, and both run a small fresh vegetable store after his dad abandoned them when he was very young. He has since obtained a degree from Satna University, and assists residents with written correspondence for a fee. Amongst his clients are Man Singh - who wants his homicidal wife to stand for the Municipal elections; a eunuch, Munnibai Mukhrani, who also to stands for elections; a snake charmer who is trying to make a living with fake snakes and is trying to locate his father; Ram Kumar, who is in love with a widow, Shobha...

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Plot Keywords:

election | eunuch | dog | widow | village | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

19 September 2008 (India)

Also Known As:

Mahadev Ka Sajjanpur

Filming Locations:

India

Box Office

Budget:

INR 55,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

IX Faces Pictures, UTV Bindass, UTV Spotboy Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Original title of the film was "Mahadev Ka Sajjanpur".

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Goofs

At the beginning of the film, the table that Mahadev uses to write letters is covered with newspaper. After he starts talking to the man on the motorcycle, all of sudden, the table is magically covered with a plastic sheet.

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Connections

Features Saajan (1991)

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Soundtracks

Aadmi Azaad Hai Desh
Written by Ashok Mishra
Composed by Shantanu Moitra
Performed by Kailash Kher
Courtesy of Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series)

User Reviews

Well made comedy by Benegal

Nice comedy set up completely in the rural India, with jokes that make good sense in the local dialect which should not be difficult to comprehend. Ace director Shyam Benegal has made a perfect movie, albeit quite different from the serious classics he has directed in the past. Shreyas Talpade as the aspiring novelist ends up being a scribe, and therefore has a peek into everyone's lives in the village. Ends up manipulating people's lives through letters, especially his love interest's. Quite a number of funny sub plots follow, and the humor doesn't let you feel they are getting too many to remember. A few melodious numbers add to the movie.