Ventilator is a 2016 Indian Marathi-language comedy drama film written and directed by Rajesh Mapuskar and produced by Priyanka Chopra.

The film features an ensemble cast of more than 100 actors, including Ashutosh Gowariker, Jitendra Joshi, Sulbha Arya and Sukanya Kulkarni.

It tells the story of the Kamerkar family, whose eldest and most beloved member goes into a coma and is put on a medical ventilator a few days before the Ganesh Chaturthi festival celebrations.

Ventilator received widespread critical acclaim, garnering praise for its direction, screenplay, cast performances, music and its treatment of humour and emotion.

All of the family members and their neighbours visit Gajju Kaka in the hospital, praying to Lord Ganesha for his quick recovery.

Meanwhile, Pritam, Prassana's and Raja's cousin from the village, is on his way with his uncle (Gajanan's older, unmarried brother), his mother, father, wife and other relatives.

Prasanna reveals his anger towards his father and how he could not be like "his favourite Raja", and that Gajanan never understood him and overlooked him in favour of his sister Sarika.

Ventilator was directed by Rajesh Mapuskar and produced by Priyanka Chopra under her production company Purple Pebble Pictures.

According to the director, the word "ventilator" became a part of his daily life and he began to follow the stories of the people undergoing medical treatment.

[3] In an interview with Scroll.in, Mapuskar recalled how relatives of people who were under medical treatment made efforts "to treat life with humour in the face of death.

He revealed that these people tried to discourage him from making it in Marathi, since his debut film Ferrari Ki Sawaari (2013) was in Hindi.

[3] At the same time, Priyanka Chopra set up Purple Pebble Pictures and was looking for content-driven, regional cinema scripts.

[6][7] Sonal Kharade designed the costumes for the entire cast, Savita Singh handled the cinematography and Nikhil S. Kovale was in charge of the art direction.

[8] Chopra filmed her cameo appearance and the music video for "Baba" in a three-day schedule which was completed on 2 July 2016.

[13] Priyanka Chopra also recorded a song titled "Baba" for the film, making her Marathi singing debut, which was released on 3 November 2016.

[1][24][25] It opened to a positive response at the box office, did good business in its first weekend and continues to perform well in its first week.

[32] Rachit Gupta of Filmfare gave it 4 stars out of 5, calling it an "achievement in handling extended ensemble casts and genuine human emotions with great effect", and said it "serves up humour, anger, hatred, envy, sorrow, regret and myriad human emotions with flawless impact.

This Priyanka Chopra production is a beautiful journey of relationships, emotions, misunderstandings and priorities that are a part of many families.

"[36] Kunal Guha of Mumbai Mirror gave a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 and said that Mapuskar handled the film carefully while trying his best to contain the story and characters from stretching the limits of exaggeration: "While he largely succeeds, he should be credited for elaborately examining the unexpressed emotions in relationships—and doing so amidst the cacophony of various other parallel tracks—without allowing either to shadow the other.

[38] Vijayakar praised Mapuskar's "masterly control of his script", and said that despite "the crackling undercurrent of humor", the film was a tearjerker and that "there will be lumps in the throat and tears in the eyes of those susceptible".

[38] Hindustan Times writer Gulshankumar Wankar gave a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5, calling it "a delightful, well-written family drama" in which the director "successfully conveys his message about a father-son bond without going over the top" and "takes you inside the hospital and makes you sit with each character".

[39] Wankar also praised the performance of the cast, calling them "remarkable", and saying "Sukanya Kulkarni Mone and Jitendra Joshi play their characters of Gaju kaka’s children to perfection".

[41] [50] Soon after the release and success of the film, Mapuskar said the producers had received several offers to remake Ventilator in other languages, including Bengali, Tamil, Punjabi and Gujarati.

[56] In early September 2017, it was announced it would be adapted into a Gujarati play directed by theatre actor Rajesh Joshi, with Mapuskar serving as a creative consultant.