| Yatra | |
| Director: | Goutam Ghose |
| Producer: | Bipin Vohra |
| Starring: | Rekha Nana Patekar Deepti Naval |
| Cinematography: | Goutam Ghose |
| Music: | Khayyam Goutam Ghose |
| Runtime: | 129 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Hindi |
Yatra (Devanagari: यात्रा,) is a 2007 Indian Hindi drama film directed by Goutam Ghose. It stars Rekha, Nana Patekar, Deepti Naval in lead roles.
The film premiered at the 2006 Montréal World Film Festival.[1]
Dasrath Joglekar (Nana Patekar), a celebrated writer, travels to New Delhi to receive the prestigious 'Sahitya Sanmaan' Literary Award. During the journey he meets a young film maker Mohan (Nakul Vaid), an ardent fan of Dasrath's writing and the encounter brings back memories from the past. Both of them travel back in time, remembering characters from Dasrath's celebrated novel 'Janaaza', reconstructing the true story of the novel's protagonist – Laajvanti (Rekha) from their own perspective. Fact and fiction merge to create a new journey.
After the gala award ceremony in New Delhi, Dasarath begins another journey in his new novel 'Bazaar', while the nostalgia of the previous one haunts him. Dasarath disappears from his hotel in New Delhi. Tension mounts in his family and associates regarding his whereabouts.
Memories from the past and passion bring him to Mehendi galli near Char Minar in Hyderabad where people flock to enjoy mujra dances. The entire area has changed. Laajvanti alias Laajobai has become Miss Lisa, presenting popular film songs numbers to entertain a new clientele. Dasarath's sudden appearance is a great surprise for Laajvanti. The character of his novel Janaaza comes alive at an unexpected juncture.
Laajvanti shows her reverence to Dasrath by singing melodies from their past. Fate accomplices another journey into the unknown. Is this fact or is it fiction, created by filmmaker Mohan for his forthcoming film called Janaaza?[2]
In January 2006, Stardust reported that Rekha and Nana Patekar were cast to play the lead roles in the film.[3] Director Goutam Ghose said of the film: "There are autobiographical elements in the film, like my journey as a filmmaker, what I've absorbed from around myself along the way and I've used them to tell this story."[4] [5]
The film was received well by The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and The Indian Express,[6] [7] [8] but panned by Rediff.com.[9]