''Chaukat Raja'' ( mr, चौकट राजा) is a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

film made in 1991. The film was directed by

Sanjay Surkar Sanjay Surkar (19 August 1959 27 September 2012) was a Marathi film director. He won three National Film Awards for the films ''Rao Saheb'' (1996), ''Tu Tithe Mee'' (1998) and ''Gharabaher'' (1999) in Best Feature Film in Marathi category. Alo ...

and produced by

Smita Talwalkar Smita Talwalkar (5 September 1954 – 6 August 2014) was a Marathi film actress, producer and director. She won two National Film Awards as producer of the films ''Kalat Nakalat'' (1989) and ''Tu Tithe Mee'' (1998). Career Born as Smita Govilk ...

Plot

Meenal and Rajan Ketkar move to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

with their daughter Rani. Meenal is simple housewife who has grown up in the village and is not used to city life. Durgamaushi is an old woman who delivers milk to the apartment Meenal and Rajan have moved in. Durga Mavshi lives with her adult intellectually disabled son Nandu in a Chawl in front of Meenal's apartment building. During their first few days in the new house, Rani becomes the target of Nandu's mischief. Thinking Rani is in danger, Meenal intervenes and slaps Nandu. Durga Mavshi comes over and drags Nandu home while beating him with a stick. Meenal feels that she has met Durga Mavshi before but she is not able to place her in memory. When Meenal visits Durga Mavshi's house with Rani to retrieve Rani's lost doll Gana, Durga Mavshi's neighbor, tells her about Nandu's past. Meenal realizes where she has met Durga Mavshi. Through flashback it is revealed that Nandu and Meenal (then Mangala Karve) were neighbors on Pawas, India. They were best friends and cared for each other a lot. Meenal called Nandu her Chaukat Raja (King of Diamonds in English) because of his versatile but uncommon personality. When Nandu is 10 and Meenal is 7, Nandu climbs a mango tree at Meenal's insistence but loses his footing. He has a severe brain injury due to this fall. Soon after, Durga Mavshi and Nandu move to

for better medical care and Meenal moves to a different village due to the father's job. Realizing Nandu is her long-lost best friend and feeling responsible for his intellectual disability, Meenal tries to support Nandu. She reveals her identity to Nandu and then to Durga Mavshi. Durga Mavshi discourages Meenal from rekindling any relationship with Nandu since even though Nandu is intellectually a 10-year-old, physically he is in his 30s and society sees him as a man even though he is still a child. Meenal still tries to be friends with Nandu. Rajan doesn't understand the relationship Meenal and Nandu have, he becomes very possessive and tries to distance Meenal from Nandu. Thinking that if he is older, Meenal might feel more comfortable with being friends with him, Nandu observes older people around him and imitates some romantic behavior he has seen. Scared, Meenal seeks help from Director (

Reema Lagoo Reema Lagoo (born Nayan Bhadbhade; 21 June 1958 – 18 May 2017) was an Indian theatre and screen actress known for her work in Hindi and Marathi cinema. She began her acting career in the Marathi theatre, after which she became a household nam ...

) of a school for intellectually disabled kids. Rana and Meenal convince Durga Mavshi that the school is the best option for Nandu and he will be able to show improvements with support from the school. It takes Nandu a while to settle in his new environment but he is able to make friends and learn new skills. During a talent show, Nandu performs a song on stage. He notices Meenal in the audience but gets spooked when Meenal has to leave in the middle of his performance. Nandu runs away from the school. On hearing this news, Durva Mavshi goes into shock and passes away soon after. Police find Nandu near a brothel and bring him back to the Chawl. Nandu is unable to perform last rites for his mother as he does not understand that she is dead. He runs to the only other person he finds comfortable - Meenal. Meenal is shocked to hear about Durva Mavshi's death, but Rajan doesn't want to see Nandu in his house and he kicks Nandu out. Rajan's lack of empathy saddens Meenal even further. Understanding his mistake, Rajan follows Nandu to the Chawl, to find him curled up in bed, helpless, crying his eyes out. In the aftermath, Rajan and Meenal adopt Nandu. Nandu, with support from the school, becomes an internationally renowned artist.

Cast

Dilip Prabhavalkar Dilip Prabhavalkar (born 4 August 1944) is an Indian Marathi actor, director, playwright and author. He has a career spanning over four decades in Hindi and Marathi theatre, television and movies. He was awarded the National Film Award for Best ...

as Nandu (a disabled boy) *

as Meenal Ketkar * Sulabha Deshpande as Durgamaushi (Nandu's mother) * Dilip Kulkarni as Rajan Ketkar *

Ashok Saraf Ashok Saraf (Hindii pronunciation: �ʃoːk səɾaːf born 4 June 1947) is an Indian film and stage actor and comedian. He has appeared in many Marathi language films and stage plays in lead roles and in Hindi language films and TV serials in ...

as Gana *

Nayana Apte Nayana Apte Joshi (born 1950-) is an Indian singer-actress who worked in Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati Movies and stage plays. Early years She was taught classical music by her mother Shanta Apte, Indirabai Kelkar and Yashwant Bua Joshi. She go ...

as Gynaecologist *

Nirmiti Sawant Nirmiti Sawant is a Marathi actress, who mainly acts in Marathi films, television and dramas. She became popular after her performance in daily TV soap ''Kumari Gangubai Non-Matric'' along with Pandharinath Kamble. This was followed by a ser ...

as Colony resident * Rajasi Behere as Rani

Awards

* 1992 - Maharashtra State Award for Best Actor -

- for his portrayal of a disabled boy

Soundtrack

The music is by Anand Modak. Songs were penned by Sudhir Moghe.

References

{{Smita Talwalkar 1990s Marathi-language films Films directed by Sanjay Surkar Films scored by Anand Modak