Very few Marathi artistes attend Balasaheb’s funeral
Last week, we saw many Bollywood stars right from Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Govinda, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Sursh Oberoi, Vivek Oberoi, Jitendra, Rakesh Roshan, Juhi Chawla, Urmila Matondkar, Madhur Bhandarkar and many others like industrialists Rahul Bajaj and Venugopal Dhoot visiting Matoshri, the official residence of Balasaheb Thackeray to inquire about his health. But, not many Marathi artistes were seen visiting Matoshree, at least on television news. Few exceptions were Aadesh Bandekar and Vinay Apte.
It may be recalled that Mr. Thackeray has strongly supported Marathi cinema from time to time. Even in the recent past, Shiv Sena’s Chitrapat Wing along with MNS Film Unit; came in support of Marathi film ‘Bharatiya’ when the film was denied screens to accommodate maximum screens in favour of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’. The Shiv Sena Chitrapat Shakha had also fought for the rights of Marathi film and serial makers, when it came to offering concessions for shootings at Government owned Film City.
When we saw renowned personalities like Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan & Anil Kapoor openly praising about his qualities; not many from the Marathi film industry gave any such spontaneous reactions on Marathi news channels. Few exceptions were Vikram Gokhale and Vandana Gupte, who recalled their memorable moments with the popular leader.Actor Madhav Abhyankar had displayed his photograph with Balasaheb, recalling his recent meeting with him. Otherwise, there was not much response coming from top Marathi artistes.
Did the Marathi news channels ignore Marathi artistes to seek their reactions ; or the Marathi artistes themselves avoided to offer their reaction ? Even during his funeral at Shivaji Park, except for Nana Patekar, Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Mahesh Manjrekar, Shreyas Talpade, Ramesh Bhatkar and Vinay Yedekar , none other Marathi artistes could be noticed.
One could understand the presence of Aadesh Bandekar, as he is one of the secretaries of the Mumbai Unit of Shiv Sena; but many Marathi artistes, who otherwise visited Matoshri to seek his blessings and performed in the productions of his daughter in law; those who always invited his son Udhhav or nephew Raj to launch their films; were not seen to bid adieu to the popular leader, who always fought for the rights of Marathi people. At a time, when all his political opponents were present in large number for his funeral, the absence of leading artistes from Marathi Entertainment field was clearly noticed.
by Team Magzmumbai
Ek Chaal Songatichi’- a special offering from Star Pravah
Star Pravah will present a first of its kind programme initiative for its audience. Under this series, fresh and original content will be brought to the viewers, conceptualized and created by their team. On Sunday 18th November at 7 pm Star Pravah will present ‘Ek Chaal Songatichi’ their first narrative which will explore the limits of political games and rivalry, as it will highlight the dedication of the Police force towards its duty.
It’s a story of two friends who grow to become political rivals and are set to meet each other after years, to discuss the State’s future plans. Star Pravah’s Lakshya famous Unit 8 team gets hint of a conspiracy in this meeting. When ACP Abhay Kirtikar reaches CM’s bungalow he hears a gunshot. Is there a murder plan hidden in the meeting? Who is trying to gain from the CM and Rasal rivalry ? Is a woman also the reason behind the CM & Rasal rivalry?
Starring favourite artists like Sharad Ponkshe, Satish Pulekar, Vidhyadhar Joshi & Madhura Velankar and Lakhya fame Abhay Kirtikar, Saloni Deshmukh & Unit 8 Team; ‘Ek Chaal Songtichi’ is a political thriller.
Music of ‘Chandi’ released with first look
The Music of forthcoming Marathi film ‘Chandi’ was released along with its first look, recently in Mumbai. Many well known personalities from Marathi literature and entertainment field were present on the occasion. Prominent among them were Mr. Shrikant Moghe, Shradhanand Thakur, Jayant Deshpande, Bharat Jadhav, Sameer Dharmadhikari, N. Chandra, Vijay kadam, Vijay Patkar, Harish Patel, Laxmikant Deshmukh,mandar Gupte & Rajan Prabhu.
‘Chandi’ which is based on late P. L. Deshpande’s novel ‘Mhais’ is produced by Dnyaneshwar Govekar and directed by Sameer Naik and Dnyaneshwar Govekar has a star cast comprising of Ramesh Deo, Deepak Shirke, Vaibhav Mangale, Santosh Pawar, Bhalachandra Kadam, Kishori Ambiye, Kishor Nadalskar, Sanjeevani Jadhav and others. Cinematography by Sameer Athlye and music by Praveen Kunvar are the other credits.
Sachin Khedekar, Amruta Khanvilkar are Maharashtra’s favorites
It was a grand show late evening on Friday, at Hotel Hyatt Regency Mumbai, when Zee Talkies presented the most prestigious awards ‘Maharashtracha Favourite Kon’ in various categories of Marathi Cinema. Anchored by actor – film maker Mahesh Manjrekar, the show presented skits, dances and Mimicry items performed by the popular artistes from Marathi stage, television and film industry. The organisers did not forget to pay tributes to late Bollywood film maker Yash Chopra, by presenting dances performed by Ankush Choudhary and Urmila Kanetkar on the romantic songs from his films.
The show began with ‘Fu Bai Fu’ Comedy TV show fame Nilesh Sable, Vaibhav Mangale & Bhahu Kadam performing skits , followed by a dance sequence by Manasi Naik in the company of Bhau kadam for the first time, beginning with ‘Chalao Na nainon Se Baan Re’. Manasi also went on to perform dances on some of the popular South Indian songs, displaying the actual glamour of south through her mini outfits. But, she did not forget to conclude with her favourite ‘Rikshawala’ song. There were mock items presented by Makarand Anaspure, Kranti Redkar and Hemangi kavi Dhumal , while Amruta Khanvilkar, Siddharth Jadhav, Mahesh Manjrekar and the team of young boys from forthcoming dance based film ‘Aaynaa Ka baayna’ performed, amid big applause from audience present on the occasion.
Urmila Dhangar & Avadhoot Gupte were adjudged as favoutrite singers of Maharashtra, while the favourite supporting artiste awards went to Jitendra Joshi(Jhakas) and Savita Malpekar (Kaksparsha). Vaibhav Mangale was awarded for playing best villain in Kaksparsha, while Lux Face of the year award went to Ketaki Mategaonkar. Ankush Choudhary, was declared the Style Icon for the third time this year, indicating that this year, there was no competition for him; having displayed his style outfits through ‘Jhakas’ and ‘No Entry PDA’. The best comedy film was ‘Jhakas’, while the best film’s award went to ‘Kaksparsha’. Mahesh Manjrekar was adjudged the best director, for the same film, in spite of tough competition from ‘Deool’, ‘Tukaram’ , ‘Shala’ and ‘Morya’.
The favourite actor and actress awards went to Sachin Khedekar( Kaksparsha) and Amruta Khanvilkar (Jhakas) and they received their awards from gorgeous Mrunal Kulkarni and evergreen Sunil Barve respectively. Besides the performing celebrity artistes and award winners mentioned above, other guests present were Sachin Pilgaonkar, Mrunal Kulkarni, Sunil Barve, Abhijit Gholap( producer of Deool and Bharatiya) , Ravi Jadhav, Medha Manjrekar, Kanchan Adhikari, Atisha Naik, Supriya Pathare, Sandeep Kulkarni, Sanjay Jadhav, Santosh Juvekar, Vijay Patkar, Deepa Parab, Sonali Kulkarni( Sr), Chandrakant kulkarni, Vidyadhar Joshi, Nagesh Bhosale, Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Manva Naik ( who welcomed the guests), Mr. Nikhil Sane, Business head of Zee Talkies along with other officials and Mr. Amey Khopkar, President of the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena Cine workers association.
This year’s show was a better presentation, compared to last year, with wonderful performances coming from Vaibhav Mangale, Bhau Kadam, Kranti Redkar and others. The absence of senior artistes like Ashok Saraf & Mahesh Kothare was felt. Moreover, there was no special guest from Bollywood this time, as one expected someone from ‘Jab Tak Hain Jaan’ as the film’s promo was played on the TV screens displayed on stage.
Ashutosh Rana celebrates birthday with ‘Yeda’ team
Ashutosh Rana who is making his debut in Marathi through a Psycho thriller ‘Yeda’ was in a jovial mood on Saturday afternoon, as he celebrated his birthday, in presence of his team comprising of Producers Satish More, Sneha Tambe, Girish Salvi, Laxman Salvi, Aditya Sharma, director- Kishore Belekar, co-stars Kishori Shahane Vij, Satish Pulekar, Pradnya Shastri. However, the others artistes of the film Reema Lagoo and Aniket Vishwasrao were not present to share the birthday cake.
While speaking on the occasion, director Kishore Belekar assured a gripping psycho thriller through the script, without any songs; details of which he refused to reveal. “The role of Appa Kulkarni an eccentric and somewhat horrid character played by Ashutosh, which is beyond his previous characters of Shankar Pande and Gokul Pandit,” he said.
Ashutosh himself, spoke very high about the film, praising technical support, besides gripping screenplay and well written dialogues penned by Girish Joshi. “I have enjoyed every moment in this film and I am sure the Marathi audience would appreciate my work. In this film, I have myself dubbed for all my dialogues and worked very hard while pronouncing every word. I will appreciate if any one tries to find fault in my dialogue delivery in Marathi. He however, refused to deliver one dialogue from the film, at the request of the scribes; stating that it will not carry the impact. I want all of you to enjoy every moment of my film in theatre.” he concluded. The film is due for release shortly.
Negative cutting of ‘Prem Mhanje prem Mhanje Prem Asata’
After launching her film with a grand muhurat few months ago, popular Marathi actress Mrunal Kulkarni, who makes her debut as a director; has completed the entire shooting of her film and was busy recently with post production work. She has now completed negative cutting of her film successfully.
The film has special significance, not only because it is directed by Mrunal; but it is also a comeback film for Pallavi Joshi in Marathi. Pallavi is also peforming with Sachin Khedekar for the first time. The film also brings Ingale father and son duo together, as Music directors. The title song lyrics of Mangesh Padgaonkar.
Produced by Sachin Parekar, script by Manish Korde; the film also stars Mrunal Kulkarni, Sunil Barve, Suhas Joshi, Mohan Agashe, Smita Talwalkar, Siddharth Chandekar & Neha Joshi.
Narayan Rane opens his heart for Sr. Thackeray in ‘Khute Tithe Gupte’
Narayan Rane opened his heart for his political mentor Balasaheb Thackeray on Zee Marathi’s talk show ‘Khupte Tithe Gupte’, which began on 7th November 2012. The programme ‘Khupte Tithe Gupte’ is back on this channel, with a new version of entertainment as Avadhoot Gupte in its very first episode invited Mr. Narayan Rane along with his wife, to express what hurts him the most.
The shrewd politician, who was former chief minister of Maharashtra during BJP-Shiv Sena rule, later left Shiv Sena and joined Congress. He has not been able to re capture the CM’s chair, but is holding post of important ministry in the current cabinet. During chitchat with the anchor, when asked about his reason behind leaving Shiv Sena, Mr. Narayan Rane openly expressed his respect towards the Shiv Sena supremo, Balasaheb Thackeray on the show. “I have utmost respect for Balasaheb Thackeray. I call him the king of Maharashtra and Marathi people. I had to leave Shiv Sena as my presence in the party was causing rifts between Balasaheb and his son. Being an honest party worker, I was ready to obey Balasaheb but I could not do the same for his son. So, I moved out in order to maintain peace between the father and son.” he said.
Pouring his heart on the issues close to his heart, Mr Rane further added, “One cannot express one’s desires by staying in the Congress party and at the same time one cannot even express one’s disappointment, in case wishes are not fulfilled by the party management. This is the way the Congress party works. This is one of the things I dislike about the party as it creates uncertainty.” Rane’s wife, Neelam Rane, who also featured on the show, spoke about her personal life . Talking about the same, Ms. Neelam said, “My husband might have changed the party but I still remain good friends with the women associated with Shiv Sena and he has never restricted me on that part. It’s been 40 years of our association, so the bonds are very strong .”
‘Khupte Tithe Gupte’ programme will be held on Zee Marathi every Wednesdays and Thursdays @9.30pm.
‘Singham Cha Baap’ launched with muhurat
Director Anil Muke seems to be inspired by some of the hit films. Last time, he made a film ‘Tatya Vinchu Lage Raho’. Now, inspired by the success of Hindi film ‘Singham’, he will be making a film titled ‘Singham Cha Baap’. Muhurat of this film was held in Sangamner, in presence of Maharastra Revenue Minister Mr. Balasaheb Throat.
The film, which revolves around a committed Police Officer, is being made under the banner New Maratha Entertainment and stars Abhijit Rahane, Bhoomi Ahire, Kishore Nandalskar, Viren Patil, Sanjay Dabholkar, Raj Bagulkar, Dinkar Gavande and Vishal Kulthe. Music by Radhachandra and cinematography by Atul Jagadale are other credits. The film’s shooting will trake place in Mumbai, Bhandardara, Sangamner and Malshej Ghat.
‘Vijayabai Aani Aapan’ fest in Mumbai and other places
Renowned actress and reputed director Vijaya Mehta is all set to release her autobiography ‘Jhimma’ on the occasion of her birthday on 4th November 2012. A special programme has been organized by Mr. Virendra Chitrav and Ajit Bhure at Yashwant Natya Mandir , Matunga, at 8 pm, where there will also be an exhibition of photos covering her journey in the entertainment industry.
Many prominent personalities like Anupam Kher, Nana Patekar, Bharati Achrekar, Reema, Swati Chitnis, Neena Kulkarni, Suhas Joshi, Ravindra Mankani, Pradeep Velankar, Madhura Velankar and others will be present. 300 seats will be reserved for invitees and for others, passes will be issued on first come first serve basis.
The fest will continue at Pune on 6th and 7th November at New English school and FTII respectively. On this occasion, there will be a short film and clippings from Vijayabai’s plays will be shown; besides interaction with her. Similar fests have been organized at Ratnagiri – 8th and 9th December 2012, Solapur ( 15th,16th and 17th December) and Dombivali ( 29th December) followed by other places in Maharashtra and places like Goa, Indore, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkatta, Delhi and few foreign countries.
Sandeep Kulkarni speaks about his latest film ‘Night School’
‘Night School’,” said renowned Marathi actor Sandeep Kulkarni, while addressing a press conference hosted by Producer Nitin Mawani at Hotel Midtown Pritam, Dadar on Friday evening. He further added that when the script was shown to him, he did not know some of the truths and felt that it was a challenge doing this role. The occasion was to release the First look of his forthcoming film ‘Night School’. Also present on the occasion were writer-director Mansingh Pawar, actress Deepa Chafekar, (who is also assistant director of this film), Shrikant Yadav and other members of the unit.
In this film, Sandeep accepts the challenge of a social activist running a Night School, to join his school and show 100% result, as he proved in his standard day school. But, after accepting this job, he has to face many problems, including the harassment from anti social elements in the locality and the builder, who eyes on the school plot for redevelopment. Deepa Chafekar plays Sandeep’s wife in this film, while Prasad Pandit plays the Night School operator and social worker. Others in the supporting roles are Shrikant Yadav, Raju Mawani, Raju Govilkar, Anvay bender, Shivraj Walvekar, Ashit Ambekar and about 40 others playing the students, out of which 25 are real life night school students.
Director Mansingh Pawar looked confident about his film and thanked the producer for coming forward to make this film. “We have shot the film at actual locations to present reality,” he said. While speaking to Marathi Movie World, he said that he was also trying to send his film at International Film festivals, for presenting a universal theme; i.e. importance of education to change the life of people, who do laborious jobs during daytime and yet would like to study after their work hours.
The film has two songs on the music of Babhu Bhosale. Editing by Paresh Manjrekar and photography by Prakash Shinde are other credits. The film is all set for release on 2nd November 2012.