Ananth Mahadevan says Phule was “silently boycotted” after IFFI snub; reacts to Homebound going to Oscars: “I feel angry, pained, and helpless”
PHULE is the story of a legendary social revolutionary and his equally legendary wife. The year is 1848. Jyotiba Phule (Pratik Gandhi) is an English-educated scholar who lives in Poona with his wife Savitri Phule (Patralekhaa), father Govindrao Phule (Vinay Pathak) and brother Raja Ram Phule (Sushil Pandey). Jyotiba belongs... to the lower caste and has been ill-treated by the members of the upper castes his whole life. But thanks to education and exposure to the happenings in the Western world, he realizes that this discrimination is unfair. He decides to work for the betterment of society and his first step is to educate girl child, an unheard-of concept in those days. The Brahmins are completely against this idea. Yet, a kind-hearted Brahmin, Vishnupant Thatte (Asit Redij) agrees with Jyotiba's vision. Vishnupant allows his mansion to be utilized as a school for girls. They secretly even manage to enrol six girls. Soon, more and more girls secure admission. All is going well until one day, Vinayak Deshpande (Joy Sengupta) and other Brahmins of the area learn about the school. They vandalize the property and even bash Jyotiba. The Panchayat head (Amit Behal), also a Brahmin, orders Jyotiba to shut down the school or face the consequences. Jyotiba doesn't want his family to feel the heat. Hence, he and Savitri leave the Phule residence and start living with Jyotiba's childhood school friend Usman Sheikh (Jayesh More). Usman has educated his sister Fatima (Akshaya Gurav), just like how Jyotiba educated Savitri. Hence, Usman understands Jyotiba completely and supports him in his endaevour. Jyotiba once again decides to open a school and this time, he changes his strategy. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
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