Manva Naik reveals first look of her film ‘PorBazar’
Well, Marathi Actress & Anchor Manava Naik is all set to present herself in a new role. Her new directorial venture ‘Por Bazar’ was revealed with first look and poster launch in Mumbai, recently. After perusing her film making course from New York in 2011, Manva made her first feature film “DOPHERI”, which won Best Film award at Nashik Film Festival. She also received an award for The Best Director at Sangli Film Festival and the Best Emerging Filmmaker award at Kashish Queer Film Festival, Mumbai, in 2013.
Now, her film ‘Por Bazar’ made under the banner Strawberry Films, introduce 5 new faces, namely- Satya Manjrekar, Dharmaj Joshi, Anurag Worlikar, Sakheel Parchure & Swarangi Marathe . During the event, Swarangi Marathe was introduced by Sai Tamhankar, Anurag Worlikar was introduced by Ankush Chaudhari , Satya Manjrekar by his father Mahesh Manjrekar (Renowned Director & Actor), Sakeel Parchure by her father Atul Parchure (Renowned Actor) & Dharmaj Joshi by his father Manoj Joshi (Renowned Actor). The Unveiling of the Poster was done by Mr.Madhukar Pichad (NCP President) in presence of other star cast of the film.
Por Bazaar is the story of five youngsters, namely Ajay, Manjiri, Samar, Vishal and Raghini, who often bunk lectures and go to cinema halls, parks and other places for time pass. On one such occasion when they are hanging out, they encounter a weird house and few people in it. The movie then shows the adventure of these inquisitive 5, who get intrigued by this house, the people there and eventually enter the house to reveal a truth.
Produced by Ashwini Ranjit Darekar, the film’s screenplay and dialogues are written by Parag Kulkarni. DOP is by Dhanajay Kulkarni, choreography by Umesh Jadhav, Sonia Parchure and music by Shailendra Barve. The other important artistes of the film are Ankush Chaudhari, Sai Tamhankar, Chitra Nawathe, Swanand Kirkire, Prajakta Dighe, Kamlakar Nadkarni, Shantanu Gangavne & Vikas Patil.
Marathi film to be made in Tamil, before its release
Generally we hear about the remakes of Tamil films in Hindi or other regional languages. But, now it will happen the other way. Marathi film ‘Mukkam Post Dhanori’ which is in news before its official release, has received an offer from a tamil film maker for its remake in Tamil. It so happened that Mr. Sanjiv Rao from Bangalore was on a business visit to Pune. When he visited the studio of Kedar Athavale, he happened to watch the clippings of ‘Mukkam Post Dhanori’. which was being processed there.
The visitor was so impressed by the story and production techniques in this film that he met producer – director Sudarshan Varale & Mahesh Rajmane and expressed his desire to remake this film in Tamil. Obviously, they agreed for the same. The work on Tamil version of this film begins at the end of the year, while the Marathi film will be released on 26th June 2014.
‘Daptar’, ‘Dhadas’ & ‘Tujhi Majhi Love Story’ for Friday release
Everybody talks about the burden of books a school student has to carry on his shoulders, besides the pressure of studies and the stress suffered due to high expectations from the parents and teachers. Now, writer director Pundalik Dhumal has given cinematic form to these issues and has showed the solution through his latest film ‘Daptar – The School Bag’ which will be released on Friday June 20th. The highlight of this film is that popular Bollywood actor Tom Alter will be making his debut in Marathi, with an important role through this film.
‘Daptar’ also stars child artistes Yash Shah and Tanvi Kamat along with Dr. Anjana Shah , Dr. Abhay kamat with others. Music by ‘Taptapadi’ fame Rohit Nagbhide and cinematography by Tapan Vyas are other credits.
Another film comes from a group of young artistes and technicians; who have shown their guts in making this Marathi film aptly titled ‘Dhadas’, which will also be released on Friday. Directed by Pramod Shivram Sawant under the banner of Sai Siddhi Movies, the film presents a story of three collegians, who have planned their career; but a happening of an event changes their life. Starring Rohit Dalvi, Vishal Khair, Praveen Shigan, Julisha Raut & Priya Mawa, the film also stars Sanjay Mone and Atul Todankar.
Third film to be released on the same day is ‘Tujhi Majhi Love Story’ (TMLS) starring Gaurav Ghatnekar and Shruti Marathe. Clearly indicating through its title , this film is a love story, directed by ‘Picnic’ fame Rushikesh More. It is a story of a 23 year old Indraneel from Mumbai, with his interests in painting and photography and Aditi a sensible matured youngster from Goa, who happens to be Indraneel’s elder sister’s friend. With the music by Bapi Tutul, the four songs of this film have already popularised on social networking sites.
So, let us wait and see, which film is able to invite the audience to the theatres, on friday.
‘Yashwanti’ – the historical mountain lizard will come alive on Marathi screen
Inspired by the animated character featured in movies like ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Life of a Pie’ producers Dadasaheb Shinde and Nikhil Bhagat are now making a Marathi film ‘Yashwanti’. For the past three years both of them were working on the creation of this animated character of the mountain lizard, which has a big relevance to Maharashtra’s history. On Saturday evening, they announced the launch of their film, with the release of film’s specially designed poster and disclosing the animated character, which will be part of the film’s story, happening in the modern time.
Actually, in history of Maharashtra, ‘Yashwanti’ has a special significance during Shivaji’s time, when a steep cliff leading to the fort was scaled by Tanaji and his team with the help of this domesticated mountain lizard colloquially known as a ‘ghorpad’ in Marathi.
The film is to be directed by Jalinder Kumbhar and the screenplay and dialogues are being written by Sanjay Pawar. Actually, the film’s poster was to be unveiled by film maker Mahesh Manjrekar, who was the guest of honour; but, since he could not reach in time, the film’s artistes did that job. Mr. Manjrekar, who later arrived, felicitated all the unit members of the film, who were present on the occasion, for this press conference.
Very confident about their film’s story, both Dadasaheb and Nikhil felt that it was the first experiment to be tried in Marathi on the lines of Hollywood. “There are many films, with animated characters linked with the live characters in the film; but the film should have a good script, to keep the audience engaged.” said Dadasaheb Shinde. Director Jalinder Kumbhar said that he was all excited to work on such a subject, while screenplay and dialogue writer Sanjay Pawar said that it was a challenge for him, to work on such an unusual script.
Suparna Shyam, who is making her debut in Marathi films, was dressed up in black western outfit, for this occasion. She has been paired with Amey Wagh, who is also making his debut as a hero; as he has only performed character roles in Marathi films before. Pooja Pawar Salunkhe, is now making a comeback to Marathi films, after a long gap. She too plays an important role in this film, along with another talented actress Pari Telang ( ‘Lakshya’ serial fame) . All of them were present on this occasion, along with Shubhangi Latkar and other unit members, finalised so far. The other artistes of the film are Kishore Kadam, Rahul Solapurkar, Vidyadhar Joshi, Sagar Talashikar & Mangesh kadam.
Sandeep Patil will be the cinematographer of this film, while Sidharth Tatoskar will be the art director. Executive producer Praveen Wankhede, editing by Asish Mhatre and music by Avinash Vishwajeet are the other credits. The actual shooting of this film will begin soon.
‘1234’ completes 26 days start to finish schedule
Director Milind Kawde, who directed films like ‘Yedyanchi Jatra’, ‘4 Idiots’ & ‘Gammat’, has now successfully completed 26 days start to finish shooting schedule for his forthcoming film ‘1234’ at Ramoji Film studios, Hyderabad. Besides directing this film, Milind has also written the story and screenplay of this so called suspense thriller.
Starring a big team of comprising of Sanjay Narvekar, Vijay Patkar, Pradeep Patwardhan, Ganesh Yadav, Vijay Kadam, Arun kadam, Vijay Morya, Yatin Karyekar, Jaywant Wadkar, Aniket kelkar, Vishakha Subhedar, Priya Marathe, Bhooshan Pradhan, Teja Deokar, Sanjay Mone, Abhijit Chavan, Kishore Chougule, Anshuman Vichare, Kamalesh Sawant, Guru Anand & Pranav Raorane.
Produced by Shailesh Pawar, the film’s music is by Amitraj and choreography is by famous south choreographer Bhanu
P. L. Deshpande’s play ‘Tee Phulrani’ to be telecast by Zee Marathi
As Maharashtra will salute their beloved personality late P. L. Deshpande on his death anniversary on 12th June, Zee Marathi will pay tributes to the popular Marathi writer and humorist, by showing his play ‘Tee Phulrani’ on Sunday 15th June at 1 pm, in their programme ‘Nakshatra’ on their popular channel.Based on George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’ , this play written by P. L. Deshpande had become very popular during 70s, when Bhakti Barve had performed the title role opposite Satish Dubhashi. Later, when this play was revived in the recent past, Avinash Narkar and Amrita Subhash played the lead roles. The video version of this play will be telecast to coincide with the death anniversary, on television. And, it will be a real treat to the drama loving audience, on the weekend.
Riteish Deshmukh receives grand welcome at ‘Lai Bhari’ music release
It was the happiest moment in the life of actor Riteish Vilasrao Deshmukh on Sunday evening; as he received a grand reception from the capacity packed invitees comprising of well wishers and media persons at West Inn, Goregaon. The occasion was release of music and first look of his forthcoming Marathi film ‘Lai Bhari’ through which he makes his acting debut in Marathi films.
Directed by Nishikant Kamat (‘Dombivali fast’,’Mumbai Meri Jaan’ and ‘Force’ fame) the film is produced jointly by Jitendra Thacheray, Amey Khopkar and Genelia Deshmukh. Interestingly, story of this film on the backdrop of Pandharpur, is written by Bollywood film maker Sajid Nadiadwala. Another highlight of the film is that the music of this film is composed by Ajay-Atul. The film stars Riteish is the lead role of Mauli- an exemplary action hero in the company of Tanvi Azmi, Uday tikekar, Sharad kelkar, Sanjay Khapre, Radhika Apte, Aditi Pohankar and others.
On this happy occasion, show anchor Abhijit Khandkekar who began the function almost 90 minutes behind schedule apologised for the delay and introduced initially all the three popular singers of the film, namely Kunal Ganjawala, Swapnil Bandodkar and Yogita Godbole. Then after showing the first look of the song on Lord Vitthal, he called Ajay- Atul, who were in a new get up. Then it was the turn of the producers, followed by director Nisjhikant kamat, who instead of speaking suggested to watch the promo of the film. As soon as the promo got over, the poster of the film opened like a door allowing the hero Riteish Deshmukh to present himself before the capacity packed invitees, who welcomed his entry with a loud applause.
Speaking on the occasion, Riteish thanked his friend Sajid Nadiadwala, who was present there and stated that Sajid was always lucky writer for him. He also thanked the producers for considering him suitable for the role of Mauli, in this film. “I am a new comer to this Marathi film industry and I hope you will all support me, with a good response to my film, as you have all done it by showing your presence at this function. It was a pleasure working with this team. Moreover, it’s the happiest day in my life, as the first look and music of my first Marathi film as an actor, is being released today.” he said.
Mr. Nitin Kini of Zee Talkies, who are presenting this film, said that he would be the happiest person, if this film breaks the record of their previous hit film ‘Timepass’. Many prominent personalities from Marathi film & television industry were present on the occasion. MNS chief Raj Thackeray arrived late with his wife, greeted Riteish and the unit of the film. Prominent among them were Sharad kelkar, Tanvi Azmi, Aditi Pohankar, Sandeep Kulkarni, Ajinkya Deo, Kavita Medhekar Lad, Sanjay Mone, Sukanya Mone, Swapnil Joshi, Ankush Choudhary, Sanjay Jadhav, Aditya Sarpotdar, Sai Tamhankar, Sonali Kulkarni (Jr), Sonali Kulkarni (Sr.) with husband, Shrirang Godbole, Siddharth Chandekar, Nanubhai & Suresh Jaisinghani, Shalini Thackeray, Ganesh Acharya, Mahesh Kothare with wife, Cinematograopher Sanjay Memane and many others.
From the first look of the film, there is a clear indication that it will be an action packed musical entertainer with Riteish playing modern day Robinhood and Sharad Kelkar playing Sangram- the villain. All set to release on 11th July, the film has raised lot of hopes.
‘Shree Yogi’ is a film on Tembye Swami Maharaj
Maharashtra is birthplace of many saints. Right from Sai Baba of Shirdi to Akalkot Swami Samarth, Saint Tukaram to Saint Pundalik, Saint Dnyaneshwar to Saint Eknath, Sant Sakubai to Sant Janabai and others. The people all over Maharashtra is well aware of their noble contributions thanks to films like ‘Shirdi Ke Saibabaa’, ‘Sant Eknath’, ‘Sant Tukaram’, ‘Sant Dnyaeshwar’, Sant Gore Kumbhar, Sant Sakubai, Sant Janabai, Bhakt Pundalik, ‘Bhakt Prahlad’, ‘Sant Saavta Mali’ and so on.
There have been several such saints, who have tried to win over the people with their miracles; but there have been very few who have won the hearts of the people with their teachings and Tembye Swami is one of them. Originally named Yaati Vasudevanand Saraswati Tembye, he is known among his disciples as Tembye Maharaj. The film ‘Shree Yogi’ sets out to show the life and times of Tembye Swami Maharaj who was born in Sawantwadi in Konkan at Mangaon. Tembye Swami has also written the popular hymn ‘Digambara Digambara Shripad Vallabh Digambara’.
Produced by the banner of ‘Maya Mauli Nirmitee’ by Mauli (Uttam) Mayekar. ‘Shree Yogi’ directed by Chandrakant Lata Gaekwad sets out to show the evolution of Tembye Swami from a poor family to the heights, which he reaches in his mission to spread spiritual awareness. Ananda Karekar has played the role of Tembye Swami Maharaj in the film alongwith Girish Pardesi, Arun Nalawade, Ravindra Mahajani, Yatin Karyekar, Uday Tikekar, Uma Sardeshmukh, Sharwari Lohkare, Abhijit Chauhan, Kishore Chowgule, Dr. Vilas Ujjwane, Amol Bawdekar, Narayan Jadhav, Asit Redij, Trupti Gaekwad and others.
Praveen Dhavane and Chandrakant Lata Gaekwad have written the screenplay and the dialogues for the film. Nandu Hanap has set to tune the lyrics’ written by Praveen Dhavane while Soham Patghak has scored the background music for the film. Suresh Wadkar, Ravindra Sathe, Ajitkyumar Kadkade and Vasihali Samant have crooned the soulful songs for the film. Sumeet Pathak is the art director and Dinesh Satankar is the cameraman. Editing is by Bhausaheb Lokhande .
Citylight Marathi Film Fest to offer variety
It is the first year of the forthcoming Citylight Marathi Film Festival, where seven vintage cult films as well as seven award winning new films will be shown for a week starting from June 12 to June 19 at Citylight, which has been equipped with the technology to show films in 4 K resolution. The festival is being organized by Kiran and Sai Thakur under the expert guidance of senior film critic and the brain behind International film festivals like MAMI and Third Eye- Mr. Sudhir Nandgaonkar. Every day there will be two film shows. One at 5.30 pm and the second at 8 pm.
At a press conference held at the venue to announce this festival, Sai Thakur felicitated senior journalists Kamleshwar Nadkarni and Sudhir Nandgaonkar, who have helped selecting the films for the festivals and the sponsors Makrand Vagasthal, General Manager of Kohinoor group of Hotels and Pankaj Kapoor, Marketing head of Reliance, besides Gajendra Ahire, director of ‘Anvatt’ and Shekhar Jyothi, producer.
The festival will be officially inaugurated on 12 June 2014 in the presence of various dignitaries from the film industry at Citylight, with the screening of filmmaker Gajendra Ahire’s latest film ‘Anvatt’, which will be the first film in India to be shown in the 4k resolution technology. The week long Marathi film festival will showcase films like ‘Asthu’, ‘Navri Mile Navryala’, ‘Tingya’, ‘Pinjra’, ‘Jogwa’, ‘Maherchi Sadi’, ‘Shaala’, ‘Umbartha’, ‘Khel Mandla’, ‘Maratha Tithuka Milvava’, ‘Pune 52′, ‘Jagachya Pathivar’ and ‘Rege’, besides a rare short film called ‘Pu La’ on the late Pu La Deshpande, directed by Devhare.
On this occasion, Sai Thakur of Citilight said that their theatre was also planning to have its own children’s film festival in December this year, as it has its own 4 k system installed. While Kiran Thakur said that his son Prasad Thakur had bought Citylight from its earlier owners with the idea of showing Marathi films in a big way and stated that he is proud that Maharashtrians have always created path breaking films at various stages like ‘Shyamchi Aai’, fifty years ago and ‘Shwaas’, which was shortlisted for the Oscars, ten years ago. He also expressed the hope that the first ever effort by Citylight to promote Marathi Cinema which has emerged as a big force to reckon, with all over the globe, will be warmly welcomed by not only Maharashtrians but also non- Maharashtrians, especially in the Dadar-Mahim area.
Sudhir Nandgaonlar applauded the efforts of Sai and Kiran Thakur, for mooting the idea of holding a Marathi film festival for the time and said that till date no theatre has hosted a film festival of Marathi films in Mumbai. He also thanked Gajendra Ahire, for having the confidence to show his film ‘Anvatt’ even before its official release on August 1 this year. Gajendra Ahire said, “With 12 Crore Maharashtrians all over the world today, Marathi cinema has grown not only quantitatively but also qualitatively and the day is not far, when the flag of Marathi Cinema will soar higher with pride.”
New Marathi film ‘Mhadu’ to release on June 6
Based on the short story of a legendary writer Mahasweta Devi, the new Marathi film ‘Mhadu’ is all set to release on 6th June, all over Maharashtra. The film highlights the fundamental aspects and impacts of development on the tribal community ‘Mhadu’ will also mark the debut of popular photographer Sandesh Bhandare, as director and Parimal Chaudhari as a producer.
The story focuses on the degradation of the ‘Korku’ tribe and fundamental changes in their lifestyle. Mhadu also sheds light on the malnutrition and hunger deaths suffered by them. The film enfolds the chain of incidences right from the introduction of railways in India and how it initiated the capitalistic point of view that lead to the exploitation of natural resources.
The cast of the film consists of Sarang Sathye, Amol Dhongde, Rajkumar Tangde, Veena Jamkar, Kailas Waghmare, Padmanabh Bind, Praveen Tarde, Shashank Shende, Devika Daftaradar, Vikas Patil, Ramchandra Dhumal and Atul Pethe. The dialogues of the film are written by Rajkumar Tangde and Pramid Kale. The screenplay has been written by director Sandesh Bhandare himself.
Ajay Kandar and Nitin Kulkarni have written the lyrics of the film while Swanand Rajaram have given the music. Shaunak Abhisheki, Kshitij Apte,Devki Pandit and Sambhaji Bhagar have sung the songs along with veteran singer Suresh Wadkar, who is singing in a Marathi film after a long time. The background score is created by Saket Kanetkar, whereas editing has been done by Apurv Sathe. Pintu Chaudhary and Dhanesh Potdar have done the cinematography of the film.
Animation has been used as a means of telling the story differently. The drawing animation has been executed by Vivek Karandikar. The VFX effects are given by Jitendra Addugula. Sanjay Shukla has performed the role of an Art director while the costumes are designed by Shraddha Kanetkar. Ramesh Bhole is the chief assistant director whereas Yashwant Khoje is the executive producer of the film.
“Marathi cinema has taken a different path. It’s subjects and content are novel and keen on exploring different aspects of life. Mhadu’s subject is very different. This film is not only about a specific tribe or community but also about all those section of the society that are left behind in the process of development.” says Parimal Chaudhari, producer of the film. She further said that ‘Mhadu’, will highlight, how greed for development has triggered the degradation of the environment.
According to Director Sandesh Bhandare, ‘Mhadu’ is not about the tribal and urban conflict. “The film shows how hunger and greed impact our life. In the process of development the gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have not’s’ is widening day by day, due to which many sections of the society are thrown out of the mainstream. We have tried to highlight outbursts of these sections of the society when they look at the people who have everything.”concludes Bhandare.