The Wild Bull Valu (2007)

Directed by: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni | 123 minutes | comedy, adventure, romance | Actors: Atul Kulkarni, Dr. Mohan Agashe, Girish Kulkarni, Amruta Subhash, Veena Jamkar

Viewers who expect an exciting story full of suspense and action based on the promising title ‘The Wild Bull’ will be disappointed. The wild bull from the title is just the starting point for the story, and may be the thread running through the film, in the end it’s an excuse to put completely different story accents, with the bull almost being reduced to a McGuffin, the word that Hitchcock used for an “empty”, seemingly important object in the film, which all the characters are after.

Although the tone of the film is actually comical from the start, it is a shame when it becomes clear that the bull is not as dangerous as the population makes it seem. The beast is large and unsightly, but is usually very quietly grazing somewhere and in any case does not seem to think about attacks or (for the population) dangerous actions. As a viewer you expect a more dignified personification of all the fears and great stories of the citizens.

This also makes it funny: all the fuss about the bull, and the large crowd that follows the bull catcher while the animal is quietly enjoying ten meters further from the environment. And, as said, it is the film and director, more concerned with other subjects and figures. For starters, they are all very pleased with the arrival of the bull catcher himself, and especially his cameraman, who wants to make a documentary based on eyewitness accounts and the eventual capture of the bull. The whole concept of a “documentary” is new to the residents and very exciting. They use the word over and over. For example, if someone is going to be interviewed, they say that his or her “documentary” is being made. The funniest, and recurring, joke is that all these citizens (of course) have to tell about the bull, but instead tell an elaborate story about themselves or their loved ones. And then maybe laterally incorporate the bull into the story. For example, in the story of a woman that her husband gets stomach ailments from the bull.

However, these funny behaviors of the pleasant people in the village are not enough to keep the film interesting for the entire running time. The humor and fun backgrounds cannot bear the film of more than two hours. There are too many scenes in the film in which little interesting happens and this is a shame because the film is quite charming in itself. A shortening of about half an hour could have done this debut film by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni a lot of good. Now ‘The Wild Bull’ stays a bit too much in good intentions.