Tag Archives: Jeetendra Joshi

Realistic ‘Tukaram’ is a work of art

Tukaram Marathi Movie
Rating: na
Banner: Everest Entertainment
Producer: Sanjay Chabria
Director: Chandrakant Kulkarni
Story: Ajit Dalvi, Prashant Dalvi
Cinematographer: Rajan Kothari
Editor: Ballu Saluja
Cast: Jeetendra Joshi, Veena Jamkar, Ravindra Mankarni, Madhav Abhyankar,
Radhika Apate, Sharad Ponkshe, Pratiksha Lonkar, Yatin Karyekar
Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

The reality behind the popularity of the literature of Sant Tukaram, the 17th Century saint and poet from Maharashtra was his thought provoking literature. It has been translated into 10 European languages, which itself speaks about his selfless service. In the year 1936, a Biopic made by Prabhat Film Company on this well known Saint, had invited attention from all over the world and the film was the first Indian film to receive award at 5th Venice International Film Festival. The film still remains popular and is subject of frequent studies.

Today, when people have turned to materialistic living, producer Sanjay Chaberia has dared to produce a Biopic on the famous saint, under the direction of Chandrakant Kulkarni and on the script of Ajit Dalvi and Prashant Dalvi. This film focuses on his life before sainthood, trying to cover his childhood with his family and later assisting his father in his traditional money lending business. Very cleverly, the director has tried to show the maturity of young Tukaram in understanding the poverty in his village, during drought and still managing to maintain a balance between his business minded father and the defaulters,using his diplomacy.

The film also goes on to show, how during that period of 17th century, the elders forced their children for second marriage, if the first wife failed to conceive. So, we find a firebrand young woman- Avali walking into the life of Tukaram in presence of his first wife Rakhma, who willingly agrees for the same, to make her mother-in law happy. Initially, Tukaram is not fully devoted to Lord Vitthal; as much as his brother Savji . In fact, as a child, he poses question to his father, as to why he has to travel on a pilgrimage in the form of ‘Vaari’ every year, to seek blessings of Lord Vitthal, when there is already a temple of the same Lord in their village.

Jitendra Joshi
A little before interval, the film shows the transformation of Tukaram into Saint Tukaram, when he leaves his house in search of peace and happiness for all those who suffer the drought conditions. The Saint’s poems and his Kirtans( devotional songs) gather support from devotees from different places, including Bramhmins. This disturbs some of the selfish Bramhins, who demand respect to their profession and feel that no other person from a lower caste has the right to offer kirtans. So, Tukaram is tried in the court of so called religious leaders; and asked to destroy his collections and prevented from writing any more lyrics. The caste discrimination occurring those days, is clearly shown through some of the scenes. But, the popularity of the Saint gathers support from the places around and the Saint is forced to break his 13 day fast.

Director Chandrakant Kulkarni has covered most of the important events in the life of the Saint Poet, starting with his childhood days, his young days, while assisting in his father’s business, post marriage tragic events faced by the family and later his turning towards devotion to God and selfless service to the society. The incidences of his advice to Bahinabai a Varkari female, who later turned a saint from Maharashtra, his encouragement to brave young man from village- Laxman, to join the force of Shivaji Maharaj and also his interaction with the Great Maratha Warrior, have been well captured. The wonderful photography by Rajan Kothari makes the film more appealing, with the proper selection of ideal locations and costumes.
Jitendra Joshi who portrays the popular saint, simply steals the show with his remarkable performance. His body language, dialogue delivery and changing expressions according to the situations, test his tremendous capacity as an actor. Sharad Ponkshe as Bolhoba Ambile More (Tukaram’s father) and Pratiksha Lonkar as Kanakai (Tukaram’s mother), impress with their astonishing performances. Veena Jamkar playing his first wife Rakhma and Smita Tambe playing his sister-in-law, have displayed their talents through those few emotion filled scenes, they have to their credits. Yatin Karyekar as Mambaji Gosavi, the orthodox Bramhin, succeeds in creating an impact through his negative role. Radhika Apte in the role of Aaavli, the saint’s second wife sounds very loud; but that must be going with the requirement of the script. She too has done a good job in the company of artistes like Vikas Patil, Madhav Abhyankar, Ravindra Mankani and others. Padmanabh Gaikwad as young Tukaram has also done a good job. This biopic, is a real tribute to the great saint of Maharashtra.
‘Tukaram’ is a timely release, when we find our own country’s administration surrounded by corrupt practices and the people of today getting used to such practices. Presenting the thoughts of the Saint into a cinematic format and reminding the message behind his meaningful lyrics, with suitable music compositions, this realistic film has turned out to be a real work of art.

‘Guldasta’ has light shades of humour

Guldasta Poster
Rating: na
Presenter: Zee Talkies, Shivleela Films
Producer: Nilima Lonari, Sanjay Thube
Ex Producer: Nikhil Sane, Amit Phalke, Omkar Ranade
Direction: Hemant Devdhar
Story, Dialogues: Arvind Jagtap
Photography: Suresh Suvarna
Music: Shailendra Barve, Tyagraj Khadilkar
Cast: Makarand Anaspure, Jeetendra Joshi, Tejaswini Lonari, Uday Tikekar, Sagar Talashikar, Mangesh Satpute, Pari Telang, Vishakha Subhedar, Sayaji Shinde
Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

Zee Talkies’ latest Marathi film ‘Guldasta’ has hit the screens all over Maharashtra, on the auspicious Maker Sankranti day. With comedy king Makarand Anaspure in the lead, the film had raised some hopes, since the last three films of Zee Talkies with Makarand had achieved good success. The theme of ‘Guldasta’ revolves around a model Jahnavi Deshmukh (Tejaswini Lonari), the only daughter from a well to do family. Besides being an aspiring model, she is also very keen on making it to Bollywood with a big banner. Her friend from an ad agency Aman Pradhan (Sagar Talashikar) tries to help her out.

In the meanwhile, she comes across two young men, who are childhood friends of each other. A simple living Rajwardhan Chougule alias Raja (Makarand Anaspure) is the owner of a winery, while Jeetu Desai (Jitendra Joshi) is the news reporter of a TV News channel which believes in sensational news. Both of them fall in love with Jahnavi, but try to hide the same from each other. Jeetu develops misunderstanding about his friend Raja, who he thinks has moved very close to Jahnavi. One day, Jahnavi insults Raja and also slaps Jeetu for his misbehavior.

After facing such humiliation, both Raja and Jeetu decide to teach a lesson to Jahnavi, who also has a helper- Madhuri ( Pari Telang) at home, treated like her own sister. Jeetu, seeks help from his colleagues to conduct sting operations to expose Jahnavi. In the meanwhile, Raja plays another game by throwing away money at Aman Pradhan, asking him to make Jahnavi a brand ambassador for his farmhouse. He even manages to come closer to Jahnavi, by gifting her costly items. This is followed by the Media game of Breaking News, which helps Jahnavi to find a role in Bollywood.

Makrand

Finally, the film concludes at a reality talk show held by the TV channel in an
Amphitheatre. In that last scene, Raja tries to send across a message to the society and the film ends with a happy note. ‘Guldasta’ does not have anything very special like non-stop entertainment, but it certainly offers light shades of humour especially shot on Makarand Anaspure and Jitendra Joshi together, to explore their chemistry. But, how long these Marathi movies are going to depend upon comedy subject, still remains the question? In the role of Jahnavi, Tejaswini Lonari displays a satisfactory performance. There isn’t much scope for music, but Tyagraj Khadilkar’s music isn’t bad. Cinematography by Suresh Suvarna is good, capturing those beautiful locations around the farm house.

Among the supporting cast, Uday Tikekar, Sagar Talashikar, Mangesh Satpute, Pari Telang are fine. Sayaji Shinde, is just namesake in special appearance for one scene. There are few new faces also in the supporting cast. Director Hemant Deodhar has done a good job as a director. But, the two hour long film drags on till interval, with just routine passtime material, which ultimately gains momentum during the entire second half. Some of the dialogues are tailor made to suit the duo comprising of Makarand and Jitendra. ‘Guldasta’ is a display of light humour combined with mockery of our news channels. It has a different style of presentation supported by good performances. There is a doubt, whether the film would receive good response in a city like Mumbai, but, it has chances of pulling the crowds at small towns, especially with single screens, because of the village and city connect through the characters.