Ananya Review : Hruta Durgule Debuts With A Bang In The Extended Cinematic Version Of A Classic Play

Director Pratap Phad and actress Hruta Durgule are here to remind you again that "Nothing is impossible," with an inspirational human drama, Ananya. I remember watching Spruha Joshi's 40-minute spectacle way back in my college days, and then Rutuja Bagwe's astonishing show just a few years ago. Both left a huge impact on me, and therefore, I wasn't expecting its film adaptation to reach that level. That was impossible anyway, but Pratap and Hruta have made it very much possible from their side. Ananya is an inspiring, emotionally reassuring, and cinematically rich adaptation of the classic stage play.Ananya revolves around a young, smart, and responsible girl, Ananya (Hruta Durgule), who has big ambitions. She wants to become a top-class CA and make her family proud of her. Her wedding is also fixed with a boy from a well-established and rich family. When everything is going smoothly one day, suddenly, an accident comes to topple all the dreams of innocent Ananya. However, our talented Ananya starts from scratch and rises from the ashes to take a high flight up there above without wings. The writing was already classic material from the stage play, so there was never any doubt about it. If there was anything that could have pulled it down, then it was additional changes to cinematic Liberty. Well, Ananya survives the fall, and takes off like an eagle in flight, with no stopping around it.Dear Hruta, YOU DID IT! Watching your gorgeous face in Phulpakhru to see you take up a challenging role like Ananya, despite knowing what phenomena Rutuja had created on stage, surely proves your mettle. A start like Ananya is a dream for every debutant actor, and you did it flawlessly. It wasn't just a mentally challenging role, but a physical one too. How you did it still amazes me. The film gives her a chance to cross the limits that Rutuja had on stage, and Hruta pulls it off like a pro. That hospital bed scene is like a fire on the primary stage. It grows further in the second half, and Hruta scores distinctions in all the endurance tests.Although you loved Rutuja for making impossible things possible with her dedication, you must appreciate Hruta for what she has done. Of course, the adventure and majestic experience of watching her perform all those difficult tasks live on stage is missing, but the cinematic viewing is still very enjoyable and awe-inspiring. The rest of the cast members do not reach her heights, but have done well according to their roles and their potential. Suvrat Joshi, Yogesh Soman, Chetan Chitnis, Rucha Apte, Sunil Abhyankar, and Renuka Daftardar look good, while Amey Wagh spreads his magic with a humourous and funny role. Bodke's Jay Dikshit was applauded with thousands of claps on stage, and here, Amey makes that character look like his own.The stage version of Ananya wins you over with its never-seen-before portrayal of the female protagonist, and hence, you can never get over it. That impression stays in your mind forever. Ananya, the film, had to battle that huge challenge, where it somehow managed to stay afloat. Those who have seen the stage drama can easily see what's been copied and what's not. And to be frank, almost everything is copied. Even the dialogues are the same. What's new then? That's where Ananya struggles to make a jump. Now coming to the advantages, you see, cinema is a wider medium. It gives you more to explore, to spread your hands, from left to right, up and down.When you watch a stage play, you can only see it from the front. There is no other angle, and there can't be any dramatic pauses. Here, Ananya uses those advantages smartly. The framework and background score add something extra to that adapted copy and make the pasted version more enjoyable. The music could have been avoided, but we are yet to reach that advanced level of filmmaking in the drama genre. A film can't be a film without songs, and Ananya just follows this old basic rule. Nevertheless, the songs also add something to the narrative as they take it forward with useful visuals.Pratap Phad had done a magical job with the hit stage show, Ananya. He took the director's chair again, despite knowing the load of expectations and responsibilities. I must say, he has done a fabulous job. Except for a few countable blunders in the first 15 minutes, Ananya's direction is fleckless. The way Pratap has used his cinematic mind to present his most acclaimed work with remodelling is simply phenomenal. Like I said, the biggest USP of the stage play was that everything that happens happens live, in front of your own eyes. But with film, you know it's gonna be a lot of retakes, editing, and special effects to create that on-screen spectacle. Ananya, as a film, lacks that USP. But who doesn't know that? I mean, you know it's a film, so you don't expect any live performances. After all, a stage play is a stage play and a film is a film.Whoever knows it also knows that Ananya was indeed a very difficult film to make. The team has done an impossible thing possible with their hard-work, so obviously, a few flaws can be forgotten. But yes, there are a few improvisations too. Like in the stage play, when Ananya dances with Jay in the climax, you can't view it from any other angle but the front. Here, Pratap provides you with different angles, and exactly the ones from where the scene should be viewed. Kudos to Pratap Phad's intelligent experiments, which certainly leave a mark. Overall, Ananya is a must-see for those who missed watching the classic stage show, and it's a must-see for those who saw the stage play and loved it to experience it in a different format. Hruta Durgule has arrived, and arrived in style. People will remember her debut performance for a long time, all thanks to the inspirational Ananya – the world of her own, the power of her own, the strength of her own, the dreams of her own, and the achievements of her. If you ever feel completely lost and useless in your life, just remember Pratap Phad's Ananya, and you'll rise from the bottom to reach the impossible heights.