‘Adkitta’ review: Film about working parents and their son’s nanny falls between the cracks

Adkitta examines an important urban reality: to pursue their professions, working parents who must rely on nannies. Ashutosh Parandkar’s Marathi film, whose title means nutcracker, explores the fissures that develop when a young couple find themselves sharing their infant with their maid.

Gautam (Siddharth Chandekar) and Kasturi (Sakhi Gokhale) hire Mangal (Sai Tamhankar) after meeting and rejecting several prospectives. Neither Gautam nor Kasturi can rely on the free labour provided by family members, which might have lessened their guilt of being away at work rather than bringing up their toddler Arjun.

Might they have been better off with the woman who insists on fixed working hours, a weekly off and a Diwali bonus over Mangal, who neglects her own ailing son to care for Arjun? The hard-working and compliant Mangal initially appears to be a dream hire, but then morphs into something resembling a nightmare.

Boundaries are diluted as Mangal becomes family and not-quite family. Kasturi is especially angst-bitten over Mangal’s growing closeness to Arjun.

Professional diligence begins to look like overweening control. Gautam tries to play peacemaker but he too is nonplussed by Mangal’s behaviour.

Adkitta is out on Zee5. Based on a story by Bhaktiprasad Deshmane and a screenplay by Ashutosh Parandkar, Adkitta adequately sets up its topical premise...

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