Mahesh Rajmane’s ‘Unmatta’ will be a Sci-Fi horror film
Some filmmakers are passionate about making horror films. Pune based Mahesh Rajmane is one of them. Last year Mahesh made an action packed adventure n horror film ‘Mukkam Post Dhanori’ with all new comers. Now, he is busy in the making of another Sci Fi genre action horror film titled ‘Unmatta’, which in Sanskrit means intoxicated, insane or crazy.
MarathiMovieWorld spoke to Mahesh Rajmane, who was more than happy to talk about his forthcoming film. “In fact sci-fi horror is a genre, which is rarely seen in Indian Cinema. My film is not futuristic , its subject is scientific. In terms of action, we are choreographing very high quality of action sequences, which involve martial arts like Judo and Wing Chun. We are sure to bring high quality martial arts in Marathi films, for the first time. In short, ‘Unmatta’ falls under philosophical horror category, a genre crafted by Masters like HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe.” he said.
Speaking about his passion for films with such a subject, Mahesh said, “I had seen the film ‘Alien’ by Ridley Scott during my college days and was highly influenced by it. It was this film, which made me fall for science fiction horrors. But, my drive to actually work on a Sci- Fi horror genre initiated almost one and half year ago, when I had very detailed horror experience, in my dream. Since then, I had been working on this script. It took almost a year of writing and re-writing, to be convinced that this script can now be actually converted into a movie. I then discussed the script with our team and they really liked it. That’s how ‘Unmatta’ was born. The film will be subtitled in English , as we wish to reach wider audience, across India.”
So, ‘Unmatta’ will be a science fiction movie, that’s what we understand. Primary Language of this film will be Marathi, though the makers are also going to shoot this film in Hindi too. The film will be targeted at youth, and the work on screenplay is already over. At present Mahesh is busy with special effects work , since there will be lot of work in this area; but at the same time he is busy with fight choreography scenes. He is also busy with auditions and is also looking for co producers, as the present budget is tight. According to Mahesh, his lead characters (a female and a male) should be extremely fit and able to do difficult fight sequences. In all, there will be five main characters (2 female and 3 male), all of whom should be college students in the age group of 18 to 25 yrs age. So, those deserving talented artistes may try their luck.
Prabhat Chitra Mandal celebrate 47th Anniversary
“When a Marathi film is screened by us, before its formal release, it goes on to receive critical acclaims film fests and critics.Best examples are films like, ‘Shwaas’ & ‘Harishchandrachi Factory”, Santosh Pathare, secretary Prabhat Chitra Mandal, was claiming, during the first ever screening of an unreleased Marathi film ‘Chuk bhul Dyawi Ghyawi’. Initially, Kiran Shantaram, President of Prabhat Chitra Mandal welcomed the director and artists . Prabhat Chitra Mandal is one of the oldest Film Societies of India and the screening of ‘Chuk Bhul Dhyavhi Ghyavhi’ was part of the celebration of their 47th anniversary at Y B Chavan auditorium in Mumbai.
Before the start of the screening, director Viju Mane, who is in the limelight these days for his short film Ek Hota Kau being part of ‘Bioscope’, was reluctant to talk and said “I won’t say anything now, because my film will talk.” He was all praise for Makarand Anaspure, one of the leading artists in the film and said, “Makarand is one of the very few marathi artists, who follow international cinema passionately and contrary to his screen image, he’s a serious person off-screen. I was always fascinated with road movies. And when I decided to make this one, a lot of research went into the project. I have tried to address the problem of indiscriminately increasing number of divorces in Maharashtra’s premium cities through entertainment.”
Mrunmayee Deshpande who also is part of the film, was candid in admitting her role being small and commented, “As ‘pickle’ enhances the taste of food in a Maharashtrian ‘Thali’, same is my role, though small but important.” Makarand Anaspure enthusiastically said that , he enjoyed being part of this movie. “Viju gave me full freedom, to design my role in this film. I have purposefully moved away from my trademark Marathwada dialect and have adopted a rural dialect of Western Maharashtra.”
The film is still in the process of giving finishing touches to its technical side and the makers will announce its official release date very soon.
Bhushan Patil goes on district wise campaign for ‘Olakh’
Promotion of Marathi films at district places other than Mumbai, Thane and Pune in Maharashtra is very important. Makers of Marathi film ‘Olakh‘ have perhaps realized this, as the lead actor of the film and six pack holder young actor Bhushan Patil has been campaigning heavily, at such places. Last week he covered five district places, covering about 17 to 18 colleges and interacted with nearly 2 lakh students . And, he has been receiving very good response from students. Incidentally, Bhushan is from a village in Dhule district of Maharashtra.
The film is targeted at youth and presents a subject, which would appeal to them. Along with Bhushan, the film also stars talented Khushboo Tawde in the lead role. Presented by Lehar Entertainment, the film is produced by Harshadeep Sasan , co produced by Sheetal Rajaveer and is directed by Jameel Khan. Veteran actress Alka Kubal also plays a prominent role in this film.
Mahesh Manjrekar unveils the music of ‘3:56 Killari’
Actor- film maker Mahesh Manjrekar recently released music of Marathi film ‘3:56 Killari’. In presence of the entire team of the film, except Jackie Shroff and Sai Tamhankar , who were absent. The film is Produced by Girish Sathe, Directed by Deepak Bhagwat and Vijay Mishra and stars Jackie Shroff, Sai Tamhankar, child actress Gauri Ingawale, Anurag Sharma, Pankaj Vishnu, Shrikant Moghe, Rama Joshi & others. The film is made under the banner of DG’s Entertainment.
Based on the backdrop of devastating earthquake that struck village Killari off Latur district, the film narrates the stories of many innocent people , who were victims of this natural calamity. Actually, the story of the film revolves around a girl who dies in this earthquake and is reborn again in a nearby village. In this strange happening, the girl remembers herself by her old name and goes to find her previous identity. Sai Tamhankar and Jackie Shroff help her to trace her identity
Written by Deepak Bhagwat, DOP of this film is Vijay Mishra, with Music and Background music provided by Chinar Mahesh.
Subodh Bhave pays tributes to Lokmanya Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak is considered as pioneer of India’s independence movement. He was the first one to reach out to people at the grass root level, awakening among them the need for freedom movement. His famous words ‘Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it’ are still fresh in the memory of Indians. To commemorate his 159th birth anniversary scheduled on 1st August, , Lokmanya Seva Sangh Vile Parle, along with C M Joshi Dilasaa Kendra, had designed a programme ,which comprised of discussions with the people associated with recently released Marathi film ‘Lokmanya Ek Yugpurush’.
Pradeep Bhide and Avadhoot Paralkar held the reins of the discussion, with Subodh Bhave (who has played the role of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the film), Kaustubh Savarkar (writer of the film ), took part in the discussion. Answering a question, about how difficult it was to select a subject of Lokmanya, Subodh Bhave replied, that it was a difficult decision, as he was not prepared to play Tilak, initially. “In fact, my knowledge about Tilak was as limited as everyone around. But, one day, my actor friend Sharad Ponkshe, gifted me a book on Lokmanya. It was so fascinating, that I completed it start to finish and my whole perspective changed. Even otherwise, I wanted to do something about the subject and coincidentally Om Raut offered me this role. And after his detailed narration, made me rethink about my reluctance, as he was very sure of, what he was getting into.” said Subodh.
When asked about insertions and deletions of incidents from Tilak’s life in the film, Kaustubh Savarkar also admitted about his limited knowledge on this subject. “We wanted to present Tilak’s thoughts, through this film and did not want it to be a biopic. Again, we incorporated a dialect, which could appeal to all and settled for an amalgamation of language pattern of that era and today’s time.” he reminisced. Incidentally Kaustubh’s father, veteran actor Jayant Savarkar, was also present at the event. Pradeep Bhide too, shared his views on Tilak and narrated couple of incidents which brought tears to his eyes. A lady in audience shared an incident from Tilak’s life and she happened to be Lokmanya’s fifth generation grand-daughter.
Subodh Bhave finally concluded, “Tilak’s larger than life, his zeal to fight Britishers, his intellect and self-belief and nationalistic views right from his younger days , is remarkable. He can easily be termed as ‘India’s first Dabang’.”
Smita Tambe turns glam girl
We have seen Smita Tambe performing non glamorous roles in Marathi films, for which she has also won popular awards. But now, Smita will be seen in forthcoming Marathi film, as a Lavani performer. Recently, Smita performed on a Lavani, a glamorous role, where she has also displayed her dancing skills. It may be recalled that two years ago, during Zee Talkies MFK awards, Smita Tambe had performed on Vidya Balan’s famous song from her film ‘Dirty Pictures’ and that too in presence of Vidya, who was the special guest of honour, for that programme. And, Vidya had praised Smita, stating that she had performed on that song, better than her. And, this compliment was enough for Smita, almost like winning an award.
Now, that she has performed on this hot lavani, there are big expectations from her. ‘Jeet’ is produced by Pritpal Singh Shergill and directed by Sagar Chavan. The lavani is rendered by Vaishali Samant on the music of Amitraj. The film stars Bhushan Pradhan and Trishala Shah in the lead, along with Sayaji Shinde, Sachin Danai, Sharad Ponkshe, Manoj Joshi, Vilas Ujawane and others.
‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai-2′ announce the wedding day as November 12
Five years after the release of ‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai’, its sequel ‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai-2 Lagnala Yaychach’ is getting ready for release. The makers Mirah Entertainment of Amit Bhanushali and Everest Entertainment of Sanjay Chhabria have announced the release date of this film as 12th November 2015. Today morning, they unveiled the first look of this sequel, in presence of lead stars of the film Swapnil Joshi , Mukta Barve and director Satish Rajwade. It was more like an interaction with the press, with director disclosing his intention of making this sequel at the most appropriate time, after waiting for 5 long years.
Teaser of the much awaited Marathi film ‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai -2′ was unveiled in Mumbai, which is all set for release all across Maharashtra during Diwali on 12th November 2015.The film is produced jointly for the first time by Mirah Entertainment and Everest Entertainment and is directed by Satish Rajwade and has noted actors Swapnil Joshi & Mukta Barve.
Speaking on the occasion, Actress Mukta Barve Said, “Every one of us has been in love with somebody at some point of time…The love turns out to be more beautiful than our expectations at the beginning. One does not plan about falling in love, it just happens, compelling us to be soaked in it.” Swapnil was all praise for director Satish Rajwade and said that it was his creation and offered him all the credit, for the success of Part 1.
Sanjay Chhabria of Everest Entertainment said, “Ever since the my first film, Everest Entertainment and Mirah Entertainment have been associated for various other Marathi film projects. However, to strengthen this relationship, we have together jointly produced for the first time Mumbai Pune Mumbai – 2, which gave me an opportunity also for the first time, to work with actors Swapnil Joshi, Mukta Barve and renowned Director Satish Rajwade.”
Now, ‘Lalbaugchi Rani’ will invite attention
All roads lead to Lalbaug during the 10 day Ganapati festival , to take the darshan of ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’. This deity has gained so much importance that many dignitaries including celebrities from film industry make it a point to visit this place, during Ganapati. Perhaps, inspired by the importance of this place, Cinematographer turned director Laxman Utekar had planned his next film suitably titled ‘Lalbaugchi Rani’, after making a successful film ‘Tapaal’ last year.
Shooting of this film is now over, Mr. Utekar is planning to release this film by end of this year. He will be paying more attention on post production work, as the film is produced by Boney Kapoor and Sunil Manchanda. For this film, he has already engaged few Bollywood technicians like sound designer Nihar Ranjan and cinematographer Lawrence D’cunha. The film presents the story of a young girl, who goes missing from Gateway of India. Then begins her search by family and friends and besides this emotion filled story, the director also goes on to tell the story of this dream city.
‘Lalbaug chi Rani’ stars Veena Jamkar in the lead role, along with Ashok Shinde, Pratima Joshi, Prathamesh Parab & Parth Bhalerao.
Health Check up camp to benefit Drama Theatre workers
There are many hands working behind the state, which are associated with staging of a play in drama theatre. Many a times, they are required to travel along with drama troupe, at different places. They too need medical assistance. In Maharashtra they have an association called ‘Rangamanch Kamgar Sangh ( Theatre Workers Association), looking after the welfare of these people.
Recently, this Association in arrangement with Seven Hills Hospital had organised a Health Check Up camp for the workers, at Yashwant Natya Mandir. The Health Check up camp, also had the provision of Blood Sugar test, Eye Check up & Distribution of specs to the workers, was inaugurated by well known Marathi actress Nirmiti Sawant . This health scheme also covers Rs. 2 lakhs for operations purpose, under the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme. This camp received a very good response and hence the association has planned to organise one more camp on 25th August 2015.
‘Mee Aani Shahir Sable’ – Kedar’s tribute to Shahir
Known for his super hit Folk songs during the period 60s to 90s, Maharashtra Shahir Krishnarao Sable alias Shahir Sable had created a special place in the hearts of folk music lovers all over the world. His musical plays like ‘Yamarajyat Ek ratra’, ‘Nashib Futala Sandhun Ghya’, ‘Bapacha Baap’ created records with maximum shows. In short, he was a legend in folk music.
In order to pay a tribute to this legend, his grandson and well known Marathi film maker Kedar Shinde is organizing a special programme of about two hours, which will be staged on the auspicious occasion of Guru Pournima on 31st July 2015. This inaugural show will be staged at Gadkari Rangayatan, thane at 4.30 pm, in presence of dignitaries from Marathi entertainment industry and special invitees. This will be followed by two more shows at 8.30 pm on 1st and 2nd August, at Atre Rangmandir, kalian & Shivaji Mandir, Dadar respectively.
The concept of this programme has been designed by Shahir Sable’s daughter Vasundhara Sable and produced by Bela Shinde & Narendra Firodia. Kedar Shinde, Santosh Pawar & Bharat Jadhav will present some of the scenes from Shahir Sable’s plays, while popular singers like Prasanjit Kosambi, Rohit Raut & Sayali Pankaj will be offering playback .