Are Marathi films facing competition among themselves?
The other day, we were talking to the team of forthcoming Marathi film ‘Zentleman’, during their first look. Replying to our question, whether their film would face competition from other Marathi films, when the film is released on 16th May ; veteran actress Usha Nadkarni, who is part of this film, spoke on behalf of their team. ” We are not concerned, whether there are three films or 10 films releasing along with our film. We are confident about our presentation,” she said. One could imagine the positive attitude of this popular actress; but, what if her two films were to be released simultaneously?
At the same function, we met Mr. Viju Khote, who was eager to know from media persons, about the response received for his film ‘Cappuccino ‘. He had already received the reactions from them for his film ‘Dhamak’, but not many had seen his other film ‘Cappuccino’. And, the reason given by some of those present that they could not attend the press show, due to other commitments that day. This is what happens when 3 or 4 Marathi are released simultaneously. The audience and the media persons have to make their own choice, which film to watch.
Now again, coming Friday, we are going to witness simultaneous releases of three Marathi films; namely ‘ Bhakarkhadi 7 km’, ‘Ek Hazarachi Note’ and Urmila Matondkar’s debut Marathi film ‘Aajoba’. Now, if we don’t call it a competition among themselves, then what is it ? And, we don’t think, it is a healthy competition. Right from acquiring theatres the competition begins. Then, it is marketing. Whichever film does the marketing well, succeeds in getting the audience at theatres. Those producers, who don’t have budget for marketing, suffer the most, in spite of making a better film. Today, even if they want to participate at international film festivals, there is a separate budget for that too.
Few years a ago, there was a time, when hardly 50 Marathi films were released during the year. But now, we find on an average 100 to 125 marathi films released during the year. Now, how many of them are actually able to find the audience at the theatre, is a big question? Also, when there are so many films released during the year, with more and more new producers; the state Government should seriously think about the granting subsidy only to those films, which are able to receive appreciation at film festivals and at the national and popular awards. It is not the competition from Hindi films; but Marathi films are facing competition among themselves; with such simultaneous releases.
‘Aandhali Koshimbir’ promises wholesome entertainment
Anuya Mhaiskar who produced films like ‘Sukhant’ and ‘Tendulkar Out’ and Aditya Ingale, who has assisted late Sanjay Surkar and independently directed his debut film ‘Paulvaat'; have come together to present a multi starrer entertainment through their forthcoming Marathi film ‘Aandhali Koshimbir’, which is due for release on 30th May 2014.
On Wednesday evening, the first look and music of this film was released in presence of media persons and cast and crew of the film. The so called Samrat of Marathi films-Mr. Ashok Saraf, who is playing an important role in this film, was present along with his wife Nivedita; besides Sunil Barve and Kavita Laad, who were invited as special guests, on this occasion. Since the event also coincided with the birthday of lead actor of this film-Aniket Vishwasrao, the hosts had also brought a big cake for Aniket, to celebrate the occasion, in a big way. After Aniket cut the cake, he did not forget to feed his beloved Pallavi Subhash, who was also present on the occasion. Another actress- Kshiti was also present on the occasion, to boost the morale of her husband Hemant Dhome.
While speaking on the occasion, Director Aditya Ingale promised that ‘Aandhali Koshimbir’ will offer wholesome entertainment for all age groups. After the Music of this film was released by actor Sunil Barve and Kavita Laad, the director said, “The film was launched on the birthday of Mr. Ashok Saraf and now the music and first look of the film is being released on Aniket’s birthday.” But, he forgot to mention that the film was being released on Mrunmayee’s birthday, who is playing one of the two leading ladies of this film. Mrunmayee was however absent on the occasion and so were Anand Ingale and Vandana Gupte, who are also part of this film.
Music also playing an important part of this film, the hosts had invited lyricist Vaibhav Joshi, Music director Narendra Bhide, title music/ background music providers Avinash – Vishwajeet and singer Janhavi Prabhu Arora and requested them to talk about their experience in the film. However, the discussion among the artistes of the film was filled with humour, with upcoming comedian Hemant Dhome and versatile actor Hrishikesh Joshi narrating some fun filled moments during the shooting schedule. While birthday boy Aniket Vishwasrao couldn’t control his laughter during his speech; popular star Ashok Saraf said that he had a great time, during the entire shooting schedule, in the company of the entire cast of the film. He was all praise of director Aditya and said that he would be soon counted as one of the top directors of Marathi film industry.
‘Aandhali Koshimbir’ will have representation of three generations, with the pairings of Ashok Saraf & Vandana Gupte, Anand Ingale & Hrishikesh Joshi and the youngsters comprising of Aniket Vishwasrao, Hemant Dhome, Priya Bapat Kamat, Mrunmayee Deshpande. Late Shrikant Moghe has a guest appearance in this film. With so many artistes in the team, it is certainly a big budget film; and while answering to a question raised by MarathiMovieWorld.com, the makers admitted that they made the film within their allocated budget, for which the credit goes to Nitin Vaidya and Satish Awasthi executive producer and co producer respectively.
Malyalam connection for new Marathi film ‘Chiranjeev’
After offering a sensible film like ‘Champions’ film maker Ramesh More has now found strong backing from Malyalam Film & TV producer Ramdas Menon, for his forthcoming Marathi film ‘Chiranjeev’.
The film is set on the backdrop of blind faith practiced in villages during 80s and is a fight against such practices. Starring Bharat Jadhav, Alka Kubal, Kishore kadam, Bhargavi Chirmule, Ravi kale, Suhasini Deshpande & Sandhya Kamble. The official announcement of this film was made recently. The shooting of this film begins shortly at different places in Konkan during 25 days non stop schedule, using latest technology.
New Marathi film ‘1234’ takes off at Ramoji film City
After offering few comedy subjects through films like ‘4 idiots’, ‘Yedyanchi Jatra’ and ‘Gammat’, film maker Milind Arun kavade will now be offering a suspense thriller ‘1234’ , which is being produced by Shailesh Pawar. Having himself written the story and screenplay of this film, director Milind has given importance to music of this film, which will be composed by Amitraj. Cinematography by Santoni Trazio, the film’s choreography will be by South film choreographer Bhanu.
‘1234’ has a big team of popular artistes comprising of Sanjay Narvekar, Vijay Patkar, Pradeep Patwardhan, Ganesh Yadav, Vijay Kadam, Arun kadam, Vijay Maurya, 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 Reware.
After the muhurat of this film recently at Ramoji Studios, Hyderabad, the film’s regular shooting has begun and will be completed by end of this month.
Malika Amar Sheikh releases music of ‘Zentleman’
Producer Rahul Gaware and director Asit Reddyz released the first look and music of their forthcoming Marathi film ‘Zentleman’ in Mumbai, on Saturday evening, in presence of Malika Amar Sheikh, who was invited as the chief guest. Malika wife of Late Poet and social activist Namdeo Dhasal and daughter of Shahir Amar Sheikh, spoke about the lyrics penned by her late husband, which are being used in this film.
‘Zentleman’ which will be released on 16th May all over Maharashtra, is a tale of two young friends, who wish to reform, after being jailed for a theft. In the process, they discover lot of irregularities and corruption, wherever they go. Finally, they become real heroes, when they save life of an innocent girl in a clinic. ‘Zentleman’ looks like a typical comedy film, on the lines of David Dhavan films, as observed through the first look. Now, it remains to be seen, how different treatment the director has given to this film.
Director Asit Reddyz is himself playing a parallel hero along with Sanjay Narvekar, who is playing the lead role. Sanjay was however absent on this occasion. The reason given by the host, was that he wasn’t well. The two heroines of the film – Tejaswini Patil and Sara Shravan were present along with two veteran artistes – Viju Khote and Usha Nadkarni.
Tejaswini is playing a simple village girl in this film, while Sara was seen performing an item number. But, during the question –answer session, Sara made it clear that she had an important role to play in this film. She plays the role of Rani, who is a sympathiser of the lead pair. This is the 45th year of non stop acting career for Viju Khote, while Usha Nadkarni is playing a kind hearted mother of the hero in this film.
The other artistes of the film are Deepak Shirke, Late Anand Abhyankar, Dr. Girish Oak, Suhas Paranjape, Arun kadam, Poonam Jadhav, Jayant Gadekar, Atul Mahajan, Manish Shinde, Pradeep karnik and many other new comers. Script by Anand Mhasvekar, Music by Satishchandra, Cinematography by Aniket K and choreography by Phulwa Khamkar are the other credits.
Renuka busy completing another Marathi film ‘Te Aath Diwas’
We have already heard that Surabhi fame Renuka Shahane has made a comeback to films, through a Marathi film ‘Bhakarkhadi 7 kms’ which is due for release soon. And now, we understand that she is busy completing another Marathi film ‘Te Aath Diwas’ (Those Eight Days), which is story of eight days; set on the backdrop of a woman who leaves her little daughter behind in India to leave for US to pursue her career. When her daughter’s marriage is due, she returns to India after two decades.
Renuka Shahane plays the central character of this woman, in this film which also has other artistes like Tushar Dalvi, Atul Todankar, Suhas Paranjape, Avinash Masurekar, Aaroh Velankar, Aashay Kulkarni and Deepali Murchikar. The film is directed by debutant Shyam Dhanorkar and written by Shashank Kevale.
Marathi film ‘Doosri Goshta’ released in 200 theatres across Maharashtra
Vikram Gokhale, Sandeep Mehta and Siddharth Chandekar starrer, political drama ‘Doosri Goshta’ released in 200 theatres across Maharashtra on this friday.
Story revolves around a young boy from lower caste who had no option but to resort to petty thefts to make both ends meet after he lost his father at the early age. But the boy did not look back once he realized the importance of the education. He kept climbing the higher steps of life ladder with enormous hard work. Portraying all the ups and downs in the life of the protagonist, the film, Doosari Goshta, captures all emotional values.
Well Known director for quality Marathi films, Chandrakant Kulkarni has directed the film. Ajit Dalvi and Prashant Dalvi, have shouldered the responsibility of the story, screenplay and dialogue. The movie has good star cast including Anand Ingle, Neha Pendse, Aditya Ganu, Bharati Patil, Smita Sarvade, Sunil Tawde, Girish Joshi and Mugdha Godbole.. Pratiksha Lonkar and Renuka Shahane will be seen in guest appearance.
F.M.Ilyas to present a biopic on Bhai Kotwal
‘Arjun ‘ fame director F.M. Ilyas is now making a Marathi film ‘Bhai Kotwal’, which is a well scripted biopic on Hutatma Bhai Kotwal, who was a lawyer by profession but a revolutionary; who fought against the British rule, during pre independence days. He was called the Robinhood by the poor farmers of Neral, Karjat and Matheran. Director F.M.Ilyas will be presenting the true facts of his life through this film, which has music by Amar Mohite and cinematography by Najeeb Khan.
According to the director, this biopic is an attempt to present Bhai Kotwal’s life in full glory. He has himself written the screenplay of this film along with Ibrahim Afghan with lot of research. The film is produced by Shashikant Chavan.
Four Marathi films for Friday release
There will be as many as four Marathi films to release simultaneously this Friday. This has obviously resulted in limited availability of screens for each one of them. With competition from three Hindi films also to be released this Friday, three Marathi films, namely ‘Yellow’, ‘Surajya’ and ‘Campus katta’ are still occupying about 50 screens in Mumbai. In spite of this problem, ‘Postcard’ has been able to manage at least 50 screens in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai areas. This being 45th film of film maker Gajendra Ahirey, it has also raised expectations, for being different from the traditional Marathi films, with well known artistes like Dilip Prabhavalkar, Girish Kulkarni, Sai Tamhankar, Subodh Bhave, Radhika Apte, Vibhavari Deshpande, kishore kadam and others.
Rajendra Bandivadekar’s ‘Dhamak’ which is claimed as a big budget Marathi film in a bollywood style, has also raised hopes for being an action packed film with popular artistes like Aniket Vishwasrao, Girija Joshi, Mohan Joshi, Vidyadhar Joshi, Ashok Samarth and two well known dancers from Bollywood. The third Marathi film ‘Cappuccino ‘ written & directed by Shiv kadam also has a good star cast, comprising of Varsha Usgaonkar, Mohan Joshi, Sanjay Narvekar, Jitendra Joshi, Manasi Naik, Anuja Sathe Gokhale, Viju Khote and Dr.Girish Oak. Form the name itself, it indicates comedy, but it remains to be seen, how it will manage to get crowds in cinema halls with limited screens available.
The fourth Marathi film also due for release this Friday, is Sushil Gajawani’s ‘Aditya V Aditya” , which has claimed to be a psychological thriller. With very few screens available, even this film poses competition from the three films, mentioned above.
‘Doosari Goshta’ first look out
Known for their quality work in Marathi films, the trio comprising of Chandrakant Kulkarni, Ajit Dalvi and Prashant Dalvi, is all set to hit the silver screen once again. ‘Doosari Goshta’, their second film, based on the political graph after block bluster ‘Aajacha Divas Majha (which won national award for best Marathi film this year) , is ready for release in 172 theatres across the State on May 01, 2014. The film is directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni, while Ajit and Prashant Dalvi have shouldered the responsibility of the story, screenplay and dialogue.
‘Doosari Goshta’ is presented by Jigisha Creations and has been produced by Dr Shailaja Gaikwad, Manjiri Hete and Prasad Mahadkar of Jeevangani, an organization known for its contribution to the musical field. The film’s first look was officially released yesterday evening at Citylight cinema, Mumbai.
Story of this film revolves around a young boy from lower caste, who had no option but to resort to petty thefts to make both ends meet after he lost his father at an early age. But the boy did not look back once he realized the importance of the education. He kept climbing higher steps of ladder of his life, with enormous hard work. Portraying all the ups and downs in the life of the protagonist, the film, ‘Doosari Goshta’, captures all emotional values. The story has many dramatic turns and twists and at the same time, focuses on the people who helped him reach his ultimate goal.
On one hand the where this protagonist is helped to do something for the country, on the other hand, the truth does not hide the fact that the progressive Maharashtra State had to wait for 50 years, to find a Dalit in CM’s chair. Hence the example carved by the protagonist of the story stands inspiring for the gen-next. Positive approach and uncompromised hard work helped this unparalleled personality to a height, which has been depicted in the film.
‘Doosari Goshta’ has the attractive and inspiring personality, Vikram Gokhale – the national award winner actor- is featuring a protagonist in the film. His younger version has been featured by Siddharth Chandekar, who is doing the most challenging role of his career. Anand Ingale will be a ‘Surprise Package’ for his fans. Sandeep Mehta is also doing a very important role. Neha Pendse is in the lead role and other actors include Aditya Ganu, Bharati Patil, Smita Sarvade, Sunil Tawde, Girish Joshi and Mugdha Godbole.. Pratiksha Lonkar and Renuka Shahane will be seen in guest appearance.