Rating: ★★ ½ Genres: Drama Censor: U/A Duration: 125 Min. Studio/presenter: Shivam Creation Producer: Yuvraj Pawar Director: Rajendra Pawar Writer: Rajendra Pawar Lyrics:  Guru Thakur Music: Pravin Kuwar Cinematographer (DOP): Sujeet Mahto Cast: Prajakta Yadav, Pritam Bhujbalrao, Arun Nalawade, Dr. Vilas Ujavane, Sanjivani Jadhav, Jairaj Nair, Deepjyoti, Prabhakar More, Mahendra Abhang , Deepali Kulkarni. Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

Falling in love during an adolescence stage, is nothing unusual. But, one should decide the limits and attain maturity quickly, to know what is good and bad in this world. To an adolescent, there is nothing as embarrassing, than to face his or her parents, after the secret love is noticed. Till now, so many films have been made on love during teenage, especially during schooldays.

About seven years ago ffilmmakerMilind Ukey made a Hindi film ‘Humne Jeena Sikh Liya’ with Siddharth Chandekar and Mrunmayee Deshpande , on the same subject. Then we saw Sujay Dahake’s ‘Shala’ giving slightly a different look to the subject and last year, we saw Ravi Jadhav’s ‘Time Pass’ handling the same subject, in an entertaining way. Now, we see producer Yuvraj Pawar and director Rajendra Pawar handling the same subject through their film ‘Katti Batti’, cautioning the teenagers and their parents; about the care to be taken in such cases.

The story of this film is set on the backdrop of a village somewhere off Kolhapur region. Paresh ( Pritam Bhujbalrao)who is studying in 9^thstandard in a village school, is in love with his classmate Janhavi ( Prajakta Ydav). Encouraged by his close friend Lalya( Ketan Pawar) Paresh dares to express his love to Janhavi. Not taking him seriously at initial stage, Janhavi then all of a sudden reciprocates. And, then both start dating, only to be noticed by a drunkard Babnya( Arun Nalawade).The news spreads across the village and the trouble begins for Paresh and Janhavi.  Paresh’s mother( Sanjivani Jadhav ) is very annoyed; but Janhavi’s father takes a different approach. Being a headmaster of the school, he finds a solution to the problem in his own way. The film does conclude with a message, delivered by Babnya, an irritating, but important character of the film.

‘Katti Batti’ has nothing new to offer , except for the message. The film lacks skilful presentation. However, the director has worked hard to convey his thoughts, through some emotion filled scenes in the film. Watch the reaction of Paresh’s mother, after knowing her son’s love affair and at the same time the approach of Janhavi’s educated father. There is lot to convey through these scenes. Similarly, the stand taken by Paresh’s friend Lalya on two occasions, is also well presented. There is no doubt about the sincere efforts put in by the two debutants Pritam and Prajakta, to express their emotions; but Pritam hasn’t maintained the continuity through his dialogue delivery. It differs on many occasions. In comparison, ketan Pawar steals the show, though in the post interval session, he has very limited scope.

Among the the supporting artistes Dr.Vilas Ujavane, Arun Nalawade and Jairaj Nair have proved their versatility, through their important characters. Sanjivani Jadhav is a waste in this film. Except for feeding her son and shouting at him, she has nothing much to do. Film has limited scope for music, which is also not very impressive. Photography and background music is good. The film has therefore turned out to be an average entertainer .