‘Geli Ekvis Varsha’ comes with a strong message
All eyes are set on 8th November, when Natak Company will present their timely sensational play , ‘Geli Ekvis Varsha…’ (In The Last 21 years…). The inaugural show is scheduled on this day in Pune’s Bharat Natya Mandir at 9.30 pm. The play with its stimulating theme talks about the thoughts occurring in the minds of today’s 21 year olds, who are subjected to various types of pressures and challenges, in the existing conditions in our so called independent India.
‘Geli Ekvis Varsha’ has presented the story of a youngster, who finally goes to a reality show which is there to create an extremist, terrorist young force… The play would make the audience think seriously about the prevailing situation and its impact on the young minds. It would raise the following issues:
What exactly happened to those young parents, involved in liberil, leitist, socialist movements during and after the 1975 Emergency? What happened to the concept of a free, secular, liberal and ideal nation ? Where are the values and ethics which are to be carried forward from previous generation of freedom fighters? What exactly went wrong during this period of 21 years ? This is what the play has to convey through its forceful theme.
‘Geli Ekvis Varsha’ is written by Dharmakirti Sumant and directed by Aalok Rajwade. The background music is provided by Gandhaar Sangoram, while the sets and lights are designed by Hrishikesh Nagaonkar and Suresh Bhadkamkar respectively. The cast of the film comprises of Amey Wagh, Siddharth Menon, Sayalee Phatak, Manali Bibikar, Vishwajeet Kadam, Ruturaj Shinde, Gautam Reddi, Vikram Sane, Amol Gokhale and Shardul Kadam. The production of this play is managed by Saurabh Daftardar.
Chhote Champions set to offer big Entertainment
Vodafone ‘Eka-peksha Ek – Chhote Champions’ are all set to entertain in a big way on Zee Marathi from 30 October 2009. This dance competition for children will be telecast every Friday and Saturday at 9.30 pm. You may call it a Dhamaka after Diwali. This is the fourth series of competition, which will have 25 children in the age group of 6-14 years presenting variety of dances ranging from classical to western. The best choreographers have been selected for the job to extract the best out of these talented children.
Popular actor- director Sachin Pilgaonkar will be judging their performances in the capacity of the Chief Judge, while every episode will have a guest judge to assess the performance of the participants. For the inaugural show, popular actor Mr. Ashok Saraf will be the special guest.
‘Zee Talkies’ ‘Natarang’ to be screened at MAMI.
It is a great news for ‘Zee Talkies’, as their most awaited film ‘Natarang’ will be screened at this year’s MAMI- International Film Festival. The 11th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF)begins today with 200 films from 56 countries, who have found their entry in this international film festival. This year five Marathi films will be screened at MAMI, and ‘Natarang’ is one of them.
‘Natarang’ is the story of GUNA, a farm worker from backward community, who is an amateur wrestler who dreams of playing the King in the traditional Marathi folk art- Tamasha. Atul Kulkarni -the national award winning actor, is portraying Guna in ‘Natarang’. This film is directed by debutant director Ravi Jadhav and music of this film is composed by Ajay- Atul, the top most musician duo from Marathi film industry.
Chittaranjan Kolhatkar passes away
Well known marathi Stage and film actor Chttranjan Kolhatkar pased away in Pune on Sunday 25th October 2009. He was 87.Mr. Kolhatkar is survived by his wife, son and three daughters. Born on 15th January 1923 in Amrawati, Mr.Chittaranjan, who was gifted with acting talent from his father Chintamanrao Kolhatkar, began his acting career with ‘Bhavbandhan’ in 1944. With his rich voice and perfect diction he soon became a popular stage actor. Mr. Chittaranjan was known for his comedy and negative roles and went on to bag various awards including the prestigious Maharashtra state award for his performance in ‘Hirva Chuda’. His dual performance in play ‘Bhavbandhan’ was highly praised by people. In this play he played the villain- Ghanashyam and also a comedian- Kamanna very efficiently .
It did not take much time for the Marathi film industry to recognize his talent. With a small role in Bhlaji Pendharkar’s ‘Garibanche Rajya’, he went on to play lead role opposite Shantabai Apte in ‘Kunkwacha Dhani’. Some of his popular films were : ‘Gyanba Tukaram’, ‘Shabbas Sunbai’, ‘Mohityanchi Manjula’, ‘Pedgaoche Shahane’, ‘Shevgyachya Shenga’. As an actor, his performances in stage plays like ‘Ekach Pyala’ and Vijaya Mehta’s ‘Mudrarakshas’ were most memorable. Mr. Kolhatkar tried his best to promote theatre groups in Pune and worked hard especially during vacation time, setting up temporary structures for open theatres. He has also served his term as a President of All India Dramatics Federation.
With his sad demise, Marathi film and theatre industry has lost a great actor. Marathi Movie world pays sincere tributes to this thespian with a prayer that his soul rest in peace.
Gracy Sing in Marathi film!
Actors Milind Gawli and Neelam Shirke launched their first production ‘Model! Pan Vaknar Nahi’ at Kohinoor Hotel, Prabhadevi recently. The film made under the banner of ‘Mithaswami Creations’ and ‘Siddhi Film Creations’. The mahurat was performed at the hands of veteran artiste Sulochanadidi at the Siddhivinayak Mandir. The film is directed by actor Milind Gawli and stars Milind Gawli, Neelam Shirke, Mohan Joshi, Anand Abhyankar, Savita Malpekar, Chetan Dalvi, Suhas Bhalekar, etc and Hindi Heroine Gracy Singh in an important role. The film is produced by Sunil Atkari, Haresh Mehta, Sanjay Date, Dr. Mahendra Shinde,. The film is written by Raghunandan Barve.
At the glittering function eminent guests like choreographer Subal Sarkar who “praised the hardworking Milind and the pains he took to learn dance from Subalda’. Sulochanadidi blessed the entire cast and crew of the film . Suhas Bhalekar warned ‘Milind and Neelam’ to be careful of unwarranted problems during the making of the film”. Milind Gawli said that “It was the dream of his mother to make a film but she was not here to witness her dream coming true”.
Neelam thanked all those present and her friends like Sulekha Talwalkar, Charusheela Sable, Meena Naik, for gracing the event. Actor Sameera Gurjar anchored the event. The film goes on the floor in November and will be shot in Mumbai, Sholapur, Kolhapur, etc.
‘Canvas’ offers a thriller filled with suspense.
After the success of ‘Dombivali Fast’ producers Sameer Gaikwad and Ramakant Gaikwad are now getting ready with their new suspense filled thriller ‘Canvas’. Made under the banner of ‘Swadeshi Entertainment’, ‘Canvas’ will be officially released in Mumbai and Pune on 30th October 2009. On Tuesday 20th October the makers of ‘Canvas’ officially announced the release date of their film in the presence of the entire film unit, at Kohinoor Hotel , Prabhadevi, Mumbai.
The function began with a promo followed by questions posed by Smita Gawankar the host of the show, to the main artistes and directors of the film. Though Abhijit Satam was willing to talk about the plot, his co-artiste Madhura Velankar suggested him not to reveal much about the film. “ We want you all to come and enjoy the film and suspense in the theatres,” she appealed to the audience mainly comprising of media persons present there. Producer Sameer stated that he liked the script presented to him by director duo- Shivadarshan Sable and Amit Surve and later decided to go ahead with the project.
All the artistes who spoke on the occasion seemed to be very confident about the success of the film. When asked whether the film’s script writers was inspired by popular TV serial ‘CID’ and the hit action film ‘Bindhast’, the writer- director duo stated that it was not so. Every film and popular serial is having its own success formula. Our film is not inspired by any of them. We have offered something different.” One of the lead actors Sameer Dharmadhikari was not present but all others shared their views about the film.
The film has dealt with a theme of a serial killer who begins with a brutal murder of a respectable citizen followed by series of unsolved murders creating panic in the city. The murderer is an extremely intelligent person, who leaves no proof behind, except for a ‘Canvas’ that is found near the corpse. ‘Canvas’ is the story of a duty bound Police officer, his wife Dr. Anjali. The makers are confident that the film will hold the audience to their seats from start to finish.
The film’s star cast comprises of Sameer Dharmadhikari, Madhura Velankar, Vijay Kenkre, Abhijit satam, Sunil Deo, Pratap Phad, Sulekha Talwalkar, Shrirang Deshmukh & Aklshay Pendse. With cinematography by Raja Phadtare, the background music of the suspense filled thriller is provided by Rohan Pradhan & Shivadarshan.
Kishori Shahane-Vij’s New Film Launched
Eminent heroine Kishori Shahane-Vij launched her new film ‘Aikaa Dajiba’ at Ajivasan Recording Studio with a song recording in the voice of Vaishali Samant composed by Avdhoot Gupte. The film marks the Marathi directorial debut of Hindi film director Deepak Balraj Vij who has hits like ‘Jaan Tere Naam’, ‘Stuntman’, ‘Saibaba’ etc. Deepak is Kishori’s husband and has a forthcoming film on ‘Sai Baba’ with Jackie Shroff playing the lead role.
The film is a romantic comedy made under the banner of ‘OM THE MANTRA PRODUCTIONS’ and stars Ashok Saraf, Kishori Shahane-Vij, Mukta Barve, Prasad Oak, Priya Bapat, Rupesh Patole, Vinay Yedekar, Ravindra Berde, Kishori Ambiye, Narendra Bedi, Anand Balraj, and Shakti Kapoor in a Marathi film for the first time. The film is written by Ashok Patole, cinematography by Manish Bhatt, editing by Deepak Kotalgi, art by Ramesh Surve.
The film is presented by Kiah Jewellery. The film is set for an early release next year.
Veteran actor Mukesh Khanna to produce a Marathi film!
Veteran actor Mukesh Khanna who is known for his portrayals like ‘Shaktimaan’ and ‘Bheeshma Pitamaah’ is venturing into Marathi film production .The film titled ‘Ardha Gangu Ardha Gondya’ produced by Ved Khanna under their banner of ‘Rishi Raj’ Productions.The film is directed by former childstar Junior Mehmood who has earlier directed films like ‘Maskari’, etc .
The film is about Dada Kondke lookalike who wants to be a star like Govinda. The rest of the cast includes Dev Anand lookalike Kishore B hanushali, Anil Kapoor’s duplicate, Vijoo Khote, Ravindra Berde, Jayshree T etc.The film is being shot in Mumbai and Kolhapur.The music is by Ram Laxman an d Lyrics by Anant Jadhav.The story screenplay is by Pravin Bhagat.
Mukesh Khanna says, “I want to give back something to the Maharashtrian soil which has given me name and fame. That’s the reason why I am producing this Marathi movie”. Mukesh also plays a leading role in the film. A schedule was recently completed at a bungalow in Madh.
Action- Thriller ‘Gaiir’ set to hit theaters after Diwali
Marathi cinema which is growing day by day with improved technology almost at par with Hindi Cinema, is now coming up with a new thriller with the name of ‘Gaiir’. This Movie is well equipped with modern technology and latest methodology of picturisation. Sanjay Godwat group under Kruti picture banner is presenting this movie. ‘Gaiir’ is produced by Santosh Navale , Hashmukh Hirani and G .Prashant and is directed by Satish Rajwade.
To update the net savvy viewers, the website of this movie was launched by renowned director S. Ramanathan who has been the director for hindi cinemas and offered good movies like ‘Bombay to Goa’, ‘Sabse Bada Rupaiya’ and ‘Mahan’. ‘Gaiir’ stars Sandeep Kulkarni , Ankush Chawdary and Amrita Khanwilkar in key roles , while Tejaswini Pandit, Uday Tikekar, Vidhyadhar Joshi, Ela Bhate, Amita Kopkar, Mahesh Joshi and Sandeep Pathak are in the supporting cast of the movie.
This movie stands in competition with any action packed Hindi movie for having a good action and thriller part. required to attract the audience. The story of this film is written by Parag Kulkarni and Shirish Rajwade while dialogue are written by Parag Kulkarni. Songs are penned by Shriran Godbole while music is composed by Vishwajeet- Avinash. Cinematography of ‘Gaiir’ is handled by Suresh Deshmane and choreography by Umesh Jadhav and Rajesh Bidhave, while Mahesh Salgaonkar is the art director of the film.
‘Gaiir’ is set to hit theaters soon after Diwali.
MMW wishes the whole team of ‘Gaiir’ a grand success
Lata Mangeshkar & Padmabhushan Pandit Jasraj together
Producer Sarang Deo & Jeet Singh, under the banner of ‘Legend Movies International’ producing the film ‘Aai Tuza Ashirwad’ to be directed by Madhura Pandit Jasraj. This maiden project’s launch was done by song recording of the film at Swarlata Studios. The songs were sung by Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar & Padmabhushan Pandit Jasraj.
For the first time Lata Mangeshkar & Padmabhushan Pandit Jasraj have come together on this maiden project. The other songs are sung by famous singers like Suresh Wadkar, Ishawari Pandit & Jitendra Joshi. Music Director Mayuresh Pai has composed music for all the songs in the film. The melodious Aarti in the film ‘Om Nam o Sukhdayani’ is sung by Lata Mangeshkar – Pandit Jasraj & Suresh Wadkar. Another folk song ‘Surya Dev Jaga zalla’ is sung & composed by Jitendra Joshi himself. Famous lavani singer Shakuntala Jadhav has lend her voice for the lavani ‘tumcha manta tasli’ in the film. Ishwari Pandit & Mekhala Khadilkar have sung a wedding song ‘Dada Maaza’. There is a Bhajan & Kawali also in the film.
Top of the line, star cast includes Arunn Nalawade, Milind Gavli, Durga Pandit Jasraj, Sharad Ponshe, Dilip Pansare, Vimal Mahatre, Vidya Patwardhan, Rekha Bade, Kamalaknat Surve, Prasad Dani, and with almost every known face in this film. The Mahurat shot of the film is scheduled for on 4th sept 09 at the famous Mahalakshmi Temple in Kolhapur at 7 am in the morning, Pandit Jasraj, Madhura Jasraj, Sarand Deo, Jeet Singh and other star cast will be present at the Mahurat.