Now, Champa to counter Munni & Sheela
It looks like that to compete with ‘Munni’ and ‘Sheela’, now ‘Champa’ is getting ready. In the forthcoming Marathi film ‘Varchadh’ there will be a song shot on dancer Sunita Tiwari, which will be an item number with the wordings “Munni Beimaan jhali…..Sheela Bekaar jhali…..” Sandeep Tadlapurkar has composed the lyrics of this song on the music of Manikdada.
With the picturisation of this song, the muhurat of this film took place recently. The film directed by Hriday Mishra is all about the united fight of the villagers,against the injustice. The film stars Ashok Shinde, Vijay Chavan, Hemalata Bane, Amruta Deshmukh, Deepak Shirke, Suresh Dale along with a new face Nikhil Tadlapurkar.
Sanjay Narvekar to play ‘Fakta Saatvi Pass’
Versatile actor Sanjay Narvekar is playing the character of Devidas Nigal, in the forthcoming Marathi film ‘Fakta Saatvi Pass’ based on a real life story of this character. The film talks about the struggle in the life of this character since his childhood. It is the tale of a person determined to achieve his goals inspite of studying only up to seventh standard in school.
Prakash Panchal is directing this film. He had earlier made two sensational films namely- ‘Ticha Chukla Tari Kaay ?’ and ‘Dnyaneshwari Express’ also based on real life stories. The film is produced by Devidas Nigal, who has also written the story and screenplay of this film. Raju Revankar has written the dialogues, while Sanjay Gite has composed the music on the lyrics of Vinayak Pathare. Vaishali Made is the playback singer. The camera is handled by Jitu Achrekar, while the art and editing is done by Arun Rahane and Dilip Darak respectively.
The film stars Sanjay Narvekar in the lead along with Sharad Ponkshe, Kuldeep Pawar, Vikas Samudre, Anukamal, Rafiq Sayyed, Arun Gite, Manisha Pawar, Neha More, Sujaay Jadhav, Rahul Pawar, Firoze Shaikh, Javed Shaikh & Chaitali Raje. The film has given scope to many local artistes from Nashik, where the shooting schedule of the film took place.
‘Adgula Madgula’ to offer a univrsal theme filled with humour
Marathi film makers have always been trying to offer something different to the audience. Shree Sankalp Film Productions’ new film ‘Adgula Madgula’ produced by Sharad Shelar and directed by Nagesh Bhosale has something special in its script. This became clear when the first look of this film was revealed before the media today late evening at Hotel Sea Princess, Juhu. The function, as expected was behind schedule by 90 minutes, as per the tradition observed by Marathi entertainment industry these days. But, it was the leading man Subodh Bhave, who came in time, suggesting clearly about his punctuality. The special invitees on the occasion – Mr. Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt, who also arrived in time, appreciated the arrangements made by the host for the first look of the film. They, however pleaded urgency and therefore the hosts released the first look alongwith promos of two songs in the film.
The film has a funny theme of a dark complexioned child born to the young fair couple played by leading pair Subodh Bhave and Girija Oak.It’s all about the humour arising out of this situation, where the people around start gossiping. From the first look it indicated that the film has been presented well, with superb photography by Suresh Suvarna and good music by Shailendra Barve.The chemistry between the lead pair seemed to be working well, as witnessed during some romantic and emotion filled scenes picturised on the pair. Director Nagesh Bhosale who is also a part of the film has directed this film.The film is all set for release on 14th October 2011.
While speaking on the ocasion Mr. Nagesh Bhosale thanked Bhatt brothers for their presence. Mr. Mahesh Bhatt priased the Marathi film industry for offering variety of subjects. He also recalled his days during making of ‘Saransh’ and said that the theme of the film was thought of, since they lived in Shivaji Park in their earlier days. “I am haapy with the theme of this new film, when I watched the first look and I wish the entire unit a grand success.” he added.
Mr. Nagesh Bhosale was all praise for the producer Sharad Shelar for his finest co-operation during the making of this film. “I am lucky to find a producer like him who is a quick thinker. His two more films are in the pipeline and that itself speaks about his dedication to this film industry. He also welcomed friends like Makarand Deshpande, Harsh Chaya, Anubhav Sinha, Deepak Shirke and other dignitories like Mr. Sunil Punjabi CEO of Cinemax and Mr. Girish Wankhede, DGM of Cinemax; who were present on the occasion. The artistes from the film – Girija Oak, Smita Talwalkar, Uday Tikekar, Yakub Syed and others were also present. Among other invitees were Sachin Khedekar, Mangesh Kulkarni, Kiran Karmarkar, besides friends and well wishers.
What happened to the film on Anna Hazare ?
Few days back, we had covered a news on a new film in Marathi, being made on the life of social activist Anna Hazare. It was also reported that the Marathi film industry was quick enough to react on the 74-year-old Gandhian’s inspiring life journey and his present fight against corruption, which had enthused many youths in this country.
The film ‘Mala Anna Vhaychay’ (I want to become Anna) scripted and directed by Ganesh Shinde was to go on floors with the announcement of noted actor Arun Nalavade to play the role of Anna Hazare. There were also many prominent Marathi artistes finalized, to perform different characters in this film. But now, it seems that the launch of the film has been stalled for the time being, for opposition from some people.
When Marathi Movie World congratulated Mr. Arun Nalawade, on his selection for the lead role and inquired about the further progress of this film, he stated that there was some problem faced by the film maker, as somebody had objected to making of the film on Anna Hazare. It is not known, as to who are the people opposing such a film, but one thing is sure that there is a lot of political interference in the film making process of Marathi film industry. The creativity of the film maker now days is being questioned, which is not good for the progress of Marathi film industry.
When Bollywood film makers are making films on the lives of murder convicts, underworld and dacoits, no one opposes them; but when a film is being made in Marathi on the life of a social activist, who fights against corruption in the country, why there should be any opposition? Even the US president has praised the social activist for his recent crusade against corruption. It will be a timely film that too in Marathi to invite the attention from all over the world. Hope, the supporters of Anna Hazare come forward in support of the film maker.
Adinath lived up to my expectations in ‘Dubhang’ – Mahesh Kothare
Mahesh Kothare is back with a bang. His directorial film ‘Dubhang’ is all set for Diwali release, almost taking on Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Ra One’. At a press conference held in Mumbai on Wednesday evening, the popular Marathi film maker made official announcement of his film’s release and offered a first look of ‘Dubhang’ to the media persons. “For a long time this theme was in my mind and I thought, it was a right time to launch Adinath in a big way. I am glad that he has lived up to my expectations,” said the confident looking director, in his short n sweet speech.
The film is produced by Shankar Mitkari and has received the sponsorship from Future Generally India Ltd. Mr. Arnab Malik, Chief Marketing Officer, Future Group; said that his company found the philosophy of this film matching with their way of communication. While Urmila thanked Mr. Mahesh Kothare for considering her for this role, Adinath Kothare called this film’s role as a great experience to remember lifelong. “It was a great time working with all these experienced people like Ajinkya Deo, Sonali Kulkarni, Ganesh Yadav and others besides my father,” he added.
Ganesh Yadav appealed to all to make it a habit to watch all Marathi films. “Marathi films need your valuable support and I am sure you will all watch this film at your nearest theatre with your entire family,” he added. It was very difficult to guess the theme of the film from few clippings shown on the occasion; but after the function, Adinath made it very clear that it was a different type of love story with the backdrop of boxing. “The hero of this film is very ambitious of representing India in the Olympics and win a Gold medal for his country. It is his journey to achieve his goal in life,” he clarified.
It was diector Mahesh Kothare, who after the function praised all his artistes for their individual performances. I am glad that Adinath and Urmila are working together. Their actual chemistry cooked during the shooting of ‘Shubhamangal’ when Adinath was assistant director. I was a witness to that. Now, you will find the results on screen,” he remarked while talking about their affinity towards each other. “This film is full of twists and turns and you will find the story completely different and new to the audience. At present, I don’t want to reveal the relationship between Adinath’s character and Ajinkya Deo’s character, as it will take away your interest before watching this film . But, I am sure, you will all enjoy every moment of this film,” he concluded.
The film’s story and screenplay is written by Shekhar Dhavlikar, while music is composed by Baapi Tutal. The film’s star cast comprises of Adinath Kothare, Ajinkya Deo, Urmila Kanetkar, Sonali Kulkarni, Seema Deo, Dr. Sharad Bhutadia, Nilesh Sable, Aarti Solanki, Sunil Tawde, Vijay Chavan, Ganesh Yadav and Bharat Dabholkar.
‘Deool’ inviting attention at International fests
Afrer having received recognition from Rotterdam Festival for its unusual script, Abhijit Gholap’s Marathi film ‘Deool’ is now all set to participate at various international festivals during the month of October 2011. The film has already received invitations from MAMI, Pusan, Abu Dhabi and The South East Asian International Film festivals.
The world premiere of this film will be held during Pusan film festival in South Korea on the 8th of October 2011, while the Indian Premiere will be held during the forthcoming MAMI film festival in Mumbai.
“We have not made this film keeping in mind the international audience, but the universal theme of this film has invited the attention of the people across the world,” says Umesh Kulkarni, the director of this film. The film has raised hopes because of the involvement of two big artistes like Nana Patekar and Dilip Prabhavalkar playing opposite each other. Sonali Kulkarni and Girish Kulkarni also play important roles in this film. It looks like that the film will be officially released only after the World Premiere and Indian premiere next month.
TV serial ‘Pinjara’ bags maximum Zee Family awards
Rakesh Sarang and his Cams Club artistes celebrated their happiest moment on Friday late night, as most of their family members in the ongoing Marathi TV serial ‘Pinjara’ bagged maximum, i.e. 7 out of 22 awards presented at Zee Marathi’s ‘Utsav Natyacha’ (Festival of Relations) popular Viewer’s choice awards at Bhaidas auditorium, Vile Parle, Mumbai. ‘Guntata Hriday Hey’ with five and ‘Kunku’ with three were close to follow in the fiction format. In the non fiction format of reality shows, ‘Marathi Paul Padate Pudhe’ bagged three, ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’ shared two while Aadesh Bandekar bagged two awards for his ‘Home Minister’, for being the best anchor and presenting the best Non Fiction show.
There weren’t many surprises in the best actor /actresses and other character’s category, as they were judged on Viewer’s choice. This year the best family was the Killedar family, while the best serial was ‘Pinjara’. Nayana (Mrunal Deshpande) received the best Heroine award for her performance in ‘Guntata Hriday Hey’, while Veer ( Bhushan Pradhan) bagged the best Hero award for the first time. Priya Bapat received the Popular female anchor’s award for her presentation in ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’ show. Others who received the awards were the popular characters Janaki (female) in ‘Kunku’, and Mayak (Male) in ‘Guntata Hriday Hey’.
Mrunal Kulkarni went on to bag a double with her character of Naina being declared the best mother’s character, while her daughter in the serial- Devi received Special Child artiste award. Mrunmayee Deshpande also bagged a double when Janaki – Ganesh were declared as Best Sibblings. Bhushan too won a double when the popular couple of Veer and Anandi played by Sanskriti Bargude were declared the award. The other winners were Best father – Macchindra (Pinjara), Best Villain – tatya (Pinjara) and Best Vamp – Akka ( Pinjara). The best Supporting character awards went to Vishwasrao ( Guntata Hriday Hey) and Shalini ( Pinjara) in the male and female categories respectively. Ajay-Atul and Shrirang Godbole received the awards for Best Judge (Sa Re Ga Ma) and Best Lyricist (Marathi Paul Padate Pudhe) category. The best fresh face of the year went to – Anjali ( played by Tejaswini Pandit) in the serial ‘Ekach Ya Janmi Janu’ . Was that a move to accommodate a talented actress like her, in the awards category? Perhaps it was a special award given by the Sponsors ‘Waman Hari Pethe Jewelers’ as the chief of the company – Mr. Ulhas Pethe presented a special trophy.
Pushkar Shroti and Jitendra Joshi played the role of programme anchors with their gimmicks on the programme concept designed by Sachin Mote and Sanjay Mone. In the variety entertauiment section all the popular female artistes like Suhas Joshi, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Sukanya Kulkarni, Mrunal Dusanis, Baby Shruti paid tributes to veteran Marathi film makers, by performing on the old popular songs like ‘Ghanashyam Sundara..’, ‘Gori Gori Paan..’, Bai bai mann ..’, ‘Arey sansar Ra Sansaar..’, and ‘Dev Jari Maj Kadhi Bhetala,’. They received a standing ovation from the crowd. Others to perform were Renuka Shahane gave a surprise through an event in the form of a dance number on ‘Hawa havai…’ . She was suitably dressed up in Red clothes with a specially designed Red feathers as head gear.
The event that was stretched too long for about 40 minutes was that of Mika Singh singing all the Bollywood dance numbers. But, some celebrities in the crowd welcomed the same. Kranti Redkar, who was present on the occasion, even went up on the stage and twisted her legs. In comparison, the orchestra and songs ‘Break up ke Baad’ perfromed by Dadar Youth Club lead by Sachin Pathak and group was short and well presented. Actor Sachin Pilgaonkar also performed a dance from his forthcoming film ‘Ticha Baap Tyacha Baap’. He was full of engery and also received a standing ovation from the audience. Vaibhav Mangale, Anand Ingale and Bhalchandra Kadam performed comedy skits to entertain the audience.
Other celebrities present on the occasion and subsequent party were Mahesh Manjrekar, Rajiv Patil, Sunil Barve, Girija Oak, Aniket Vishwasrao, Umesh Kamat, Aditi Saragdhar Smita Tambe, Ashutosh Rana, Sulekha Talwalkar, Mohan Agashe, Chandrakant Kulkarni, Bharat Jadhav ,Sanjay Jadhav, Vinay Apte, Bhargavi Chirmule, Shweta Mehendale and Poorva Gokhale, Ankush Choudhary and Abhijeet Khandekar.
Grand Finale of ‘Fu Bai Fu’ full of variety
Zee Marathi’s popular Comedy reality show ‘Fu Bai Fu’ concluded its 3rd Phase in a style; with live performances in presence of invitees yesterday late evening, at Y.B. Chavan Centre, Cuffe Parade Mumbai. The Brook Bond Red label sponsored Grand Finale presented the last four pairs comprising of Kushal Badrike-Hemangi Kavi, Santosh Pawar- Kishori Ambiye, Satish Tare-Bhalchandra Kadam & Mangesh Desai- Bhargavi Chirmule in this order with two rounds played during this final.
Kushal and Hemangi presented a skit based on the transfer of a Hawaldar to a remote place, where not many complaints received. But, when the Hawaldar encounters a woman entering with the complaint of her husband, the situation creates lot of humour. In the second round the couple played small kids in a maternity ward of a hospital having lost their badges and looking for their real parents. More than the performance, it was their costumes in the second round that received a big applause from the judges and audience.
Satish Tare and Bhalchandra kadam played a skit of the King and his deputy, where the the deputy suggests to the king to hunt tigers to impress upon the Queen. In the second round they posed as Love Guru and his disciple respectively. It was Bhalchandra Kadam, with his perfect timing and superb Body language entertained the guests, while Satish Tare had to use double meaning dialogues to entertain selected audience with a liking for such flavor. It was okay in the beginning, but the repeated utterances spoiled the presentation and chances of the pair.
Mangesh Desai and Bhargavi Chirmule initially presented a girl approaching the owner of a Marriage Beareau and proposing him in an inarticulate style. Their second round was a Saas -Bahu confrontation, where Mangesh was dressed up as an old lady. Both their presentations carried variety. Bhargavi in particular had really worked hard for this event.
However, the couple which entertained the most was Santosh Pawar and Kishori Ambiye. While Kishori played a singer on the lines of Usha Utthup, Santosh was in the get up of Balgandharva and they tested each other’s ability. But, it was their performance in the second round that witnessed non-stop laughter with Santosh playing a Nepali watchman guarding a small village and confronting with a Tamasha artiste on the charges of trespassing. Their chemistry worked very well, with Santosh managing a the perfect timing for comedy. But, it was the non stop enthusiasm and energy of Kishori that enabled them to walk away with the Winner’s trophy and cash award of Rs. 1 lakh each with a 5 day trip to Bangkok and Pataya, sponsored by S.K. Tours. The other three pairs won Rs. 75,000/- each, besides a trophy and certificate.
Nilesh Sable was no doubt at his best as an anchor of the show, but it was the guest anchor for the finals – Vaibhav Mangale who stole the show. During the special stage act for the occasion he was supported well by Anand Ingale and Pushkar Shroti. The later was dressed up as a lady, to give a look of a popular tarrot card reader. The musicians led by Tushar Deval played an important role in every performance. In the variety entertainment during this grand finale, the pairs comprising of Kranti Redkar and Abhijit Kelkar, Urmila Kanetkar – Ananda Kanekar performed group dances.
The overall show was well organized and was attended by many celebrities from the Marathi entertainment industry. Some of the past participants of Fu Bai Fu, like Anand Abhyankar, Aarti Solanki, Sunil Tawde and others were also present. The team of writers lead by Sachin Mote, the director Sachin Goswami, the producer Rakesh Sarang, dress designer- Sangeeta Sarang, Choreographer- Deepali Vichare were also introduced to the audience. The hosts also thanked the efforts taken by the team of technicians behind the success of this show, namely Santosh Shinde and his team of Cameramen and Abhijit Chaugule for his editing work. Mr. Salil karulkar of S.K. Tours, who was the special guest on the occasion, presented the trophy to the winners. The judges – Renuka shahane & Nirmiti Sawant played their roles well. The finals will be telecast after four more episodes of this show, announced Nilesh Sable- the anchor, at the end of the show.
Urmila Matondkar in a Marathi film
Popular Bollywood actress Urmila Matondkar who after creating sensation in Hindi for more than a decade, has now made her entry into Marathi films through Amar Gupte’s film ‘Hridaynath’.
Recently, Urmila picturised an item number for a song in the film, which was picturised at Dream Zone studios, Jogeshwari, Mumbai. Sunidhi Chouhan has rendered her voice for this song. The film also stars other Bollywood artistes like Jackie Shroff and Aditya Pancholi, besides Marathi artistes like Swarangi Marathe, Chinmayee Sumeet and Amey Husnawadkar.
The film has total six songs and its music has been composed by A.R. Rehman’s music arranger- Santosh Muley. Jaishrikant Sawant is the creative producer and the film will be released by the end of this year.
Gautam Rajadhyaksha passes away
Popular Film Photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha is no more. He passed away due to severe heart attack today morning at his Girgaon residence. He was 62. Gautam was instrumental in shaping the career of many film personalities. He began his career as a Fashion Photographer with Lintas and was later associated with Bollywood as a still photographer for many film magazines. He also did cinematography of few Bollywood films, besides writing scripts for two films.
Gautam was also involved in writing and published his own book ‘Faces’ comprising of photos of celebrities and information about them. He used to regularly write a column for Marathi film magazine ‘Chanderi’. Gautam had written the screenplay of Lata Narvekar’s film ‘Sakhee’ and had also done the still photography for publicity poster of Kedar Shinde’s film ‘Yanda Kartavya Aahe’ starring Ankush Choudhary and Smita Shewale.
Gautam was very encouraging to Marathi artistes and was a music lover. We have seen his presence in many Marathi awards function in the recent past. Last year, during the release of Song album of Rock star Mangesh Borgaonkar he was the chief guest, when he praised Marathi artistes for their talent in music field. Many prominent celebrities paid tributes to him after hearing his untimely death. Lata Mangeshkar called him a multitalented person while his sister Shoba Dey said that it was a big loss to her family as he was not only her beloved brother but a good friend to her children. Kedar Shinde recalled the moments while engaging him as a photographer for his publicity banners and called him as the most modest and talented person.