Hapus: The sweet sour story of Kokan

Hapus – the celebrated mango from the Kokan region of Maharashtra has indeed been a celebrity in the domain of fruits for long. The recently released Marathi movie “Hapus” makes this king fruits a celebrity on the silver screen as well. The Hapus is the narrator in the background several times in the movie, which nicely depicts the important place that Hapus or Alphonso mango has in the lives of the people of Kokan region.

The cinematography set in the serene surroundings of south Kokan is good with verdant scenes from mango orchards, sea shores, beaches, creeks, dense mangrove forests in the background, small bridges spanning the backwaters and the curvaceous roads of Kokan snaking their way amongst some of the finest greenery and forests in the state. This setting is sure to hook on the nature lover and the lay person alike.

The movie revolves around a family from Vanarwadi village near the town of Kudal. The Gurav family is traditionally into growing mangoes and they regularly sell the fruit to the agent from Mumbai for whatever price he offers. The simple village folk, including the Guravs are happy with this state of affairs. But the young son of the older Gurav clearly sees that the agents are minting money by selling the Hapus in Mumbai and abroad, while the growers of mangoes get a pittance. And he is determined to change this state of affairs by directly selling the fruit in the market.

Gurav senior has two more twin daughters and another younger daughter. The twin daughters are diametrically opposite in their temperaments, while one is a dashing tom-boy, the other is a sweet lass who attracts myriad Romeos from the small town. The family is complete with an ageing mother of senior Gurav, his wife and the younger Gurav’s wife. Gurav senior, along with most villagers want to continue the system of selling the fruit to the agents. Here arises friction between the two generations of Guravs. The hilarious mess is compounded by a government school teacher from the far distant town of Ambejogai in Marathwada region of Maharashtra who has just arrived in Vanarwadi on job, the happy-go-lucky rickshaw driver who loves the sweet looking daughter of Gurav senior and the general humour associated with little things in small town life.

The movie has its own share of serious scenes where the mango agent tries several times to sabotage the plans of junior Gurav to sell mangoes directly, the astrology-maniac senior Gurav who takes his knowledge in this science of the stars a bit too far, the secret why the Guravs have stopped their earlier generation practice of selling mangoes directly and the illness of senior Gurav’s mother. But barring some emotional scenes and some exaggeration, the movie overall does two things in one go.

Firstly, it nicely portrays the beauty of the Kokan region and its growth potential in the mango economy. Secondly, it throws light on the menace of mango agents who invariably have the last laugh in this nature-dependent business. Although many Marathi newspaper reviews have given average rating to this movie, I would rate it decently for all the natural beauty and rural rustic charm that it portrays.

It is not very common in the western Maharashtra dominated themes of Marathi movies to depict other regions of the state like Kokan, Marathwada and Vidarbh. Hapus brings Kokan to the drawing rooms and cinema halls of the state. The narrator Hapus fruit says in the end that the mango agent, who now has tough competition from the mango growers, has decided to focus attention on Kapus (cotton in Marathi). So, one can expect a sequel of the movie on the Kapus theme, which would essentially be based in Vidarbh region. It is indeed a nice effort to show a different theme in the movie, complete with the natural beauty of Kokan. Happy viewing…

Atul Sathe (This article is under copyright © and the writer can be contacted on atulsathe@yahoo.com )