‘प्रेम कहानी’ मराठी कि हिंदी … हीच लपलेली गोष्ट
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रेटिंग: ★★ ½
स्टुडीओ: एस. एन मुव्हीज निर्माता: लालचंद शर्मा दिग्दर्शक: सतीश रणदिवे कथा: सतीश रणदिवे छायांकन: विजय देशमुख संकलन: विजय खोचीकर संगीतकार: प्रविण कुवर गीते: योगेश, राजेश बामुगडे, प्रवीण कुवर संवाद: राज काजी, अभिजीत पेंढारकर कलाकार: काजल शर्मा, फैजल खान, उदय टिकेकर, किशोरी शहाणे-वीज, मिलिंद गुणाजी, निशिगंधा वाड, समीरा गुजर, डॉ. विलास उजवणे समीक्षा: उल्हास शिर्के |
सध्या मराठी चित्रपटांची ओळख उत्तम दर्जेदार चित्रपट म्हणून जगभर होत आहे. विविध आंतरराष्ट्रीय चित्रपट महोत्सवांमध्ये, मराठी चित्रपटांकडे सकारात्मक दृष्टीने पहिले जाते. त्यामुळे, हल्ली मराठी चित्रपटांच्या निर्मिती मध्ये बरेच नवीन निर्माते पुढे येत आहेत. मग त्यांना मराठी भाषा समजत असो वा नसो. कारण, सिनेमाला कोणतीही भाषा नसते. आणि याच कारणामुळे, काही अमराठी कलाकार देखील मराठी चित्रपटांकडे ओढले जाउ लागले आहेत. त्यापैकी काही जण मराठी भाषा शिकतात, तर काहीजणांना असे रोल दिले जातात,की त्यांनी तोडके- मोडके मराठी किंवा हिंदी किंवा इंग्रजी भाषेत बोलले, तरी चालते. कारण मराठी चित्रपट रसिकांचे मन खूप मोठे आहे. त्यांचा, फक्त चांगल्या कथेशी संबंध असतो.
तसेही, मराठी मध्ये प्रेम आणि त्याच्याशी निगडीत पुनर्जन्माशी निगडीत कथा, फारच कमी. त्यामुळे, लालचंद शर्मा नामक निर्माते अनुभवी सतीश रणदिवे या दिग्दर्शकांना सोबत घेऊन, अश्या विषयावरील ‘प्रेम कहानी.. एक लपलेली गोष्ट’ हा मराठी चित्रपट घेऊन आले आहेत. म्हणायला, हा मराठी चित्रपट म्हणून प्रदर्शित होत असला तरी, या चित्रपटाचा उत्तरार्ध जवळ जवळ ९०% हिंदी भाषेत आहे. त्यामुळे, हा चित्रपट, द्विभाषिक असणे, हीच ‘प्रेम कहानी’ ची लपलेली गोष्ट असल्याचे जाणवते.
एकंदरीत, हा चित्रपट तांत्रिक दृष्ट्या उत्तम जमला आहे आणि त्यात राजस्थानात व इतर लोकेशन्स वर चित्रित केलेली विजय देशमुख यांची सुंदर फोटोग्राफी, प्रवीण कुंवर याचे चित्रपटाच्या कथेला साजेसे संगीत, या चित्रपटाच्या जमेच्या बाजू म्हणाव्या लागतील.
हा चित्रपट पुनर्जन्माशी संबंधित असल्यामुळे, चित्रपटाची कथा सांगणे योग्य ठरणार नाही. पण, एका श्रीमंत घरात लाडाने वाढलेली एक कॉंलेज तरुणी सोनल ( काजल शर्मा) , राजस्थानशी निगडीत कुठल्याही चित्राकडे किंवा हस्तकलेकडे पाहून, हरवून जाते. आणि तिचे आई वडील (उदय टिकेकर व किशोरी शहाणे विज) यांना काळजी वाटते. म्हणून ते त्यांच्या खास ओळखीच्या डॉक्टरांना( डॉ.विलास उजवणे) तिची तपासणी करण्यास सांगतात. जरी स्कॅन मध्ये काही आढळले नसले, तरी डॉक्टर आपल्या मुलाच्या (कौस्तुभ दिवाण) मदतीने, सोनल ला इतर मित्र मंडळीं सोबत राजस्थान येथे सहलीला जाण्यास सांगतात .
तेथे गेल्यावार राजस्थान येथील पर्यटनाचा आनंद घेत असता, सोनल ला जैसलमेर येथे एके ठिकाणी, आपल्या पूर्वीच्या जन्मातील सर्व घटना आठवतात. आणि रहस्याचा उलगडा होतो. चित्रपटातील बऱ्याच घटना अपेक्षित वाटतात. त्यामुळे हा चित्रपट हिंदीमधील अश्या विषयावरील ‘कर्ज’, कुदरत’ यांच्यासारखा चांगला सूडपट किंवा उत्कंठावर्धक चित्रपट वाटत नाही.
या चित्रपटातील मुख्य जोडी काजल शर्मा आणि फैसल खान अशी आहे. काजल ने जरी मराठी बोलण्याचा चांगला प्रयत्न केला असला, तरी तिने उच्चारलेले काही शब्द, ती अमराठी असल्याची जाणीव करून देतात. पण, तिने आपला अभिनय उत्तम साकारला आहे. चित्रपटाच्या उत्तरार्धात चित्रपट जवळ जवळ हिंदीत असल्यामुळे, फैसल खान याची एन्ट्री तेंव्हाच आहे. पण त्याने प्रियकराचे आपले काम उत्तमरीत्या केले आहे. उदय टिकेकर, किशोरी शहाणे विज, डॉ.विलास उजवणे, कौस्तुभ दिवाण आणि काजल च्या काही मित्र मंडळींच्या व्यक्तिरेखा सोडल्या, तर फैसल खान, काजल शर्मा( पूर्व जन्मीच्या रुपात) , मिलिंद गुणाजी, निशिगंधा वाड, समीरा गुजर, वैष्णवी रणदिवे पूर्णपणे हिंदी भाषेतच आपले संवाद बोलतात.
ज्यांना पुनर्जन्मावर आधारित प्रेम कथा आवडतात, त्यांनी जास्त अपेक्षा न ठेवता, हा चित्रपट पाहण्यास हरकत नाही. पण मराठी भाषा प्रेमी चित्रपट रसिकांना, हा चित्रपट कितपत आवडेल, हे सांगणे कठीण आहे.
‘Guru’ projects Ankush Choudhari as the new Superman of Marathi films
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Rating: ★★★ ½
Genres: Action, Romantic Censor: U Duration: 142 Min. Studio/presenter: Eros International, Bagpiper Soda, Dreaming 24×7 Entertainment Producer(s): Deepak Pandurang Rane Director: Sanjay Jadhav Writer: Aashish Pathre Music: Amitraj, Pankaj Padghan, Praful Karlekar Cinematographer (DOP): Vijay Soni Cast: Ankush Chaudhary, Urmila Kanitkar Kothare, Murli Sharma, Avinash Narkar, Sneha Raikar, Ravindra Mankani Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
In Bollywood and South Indian action films, we have seen many stories of Superman, who fights against the evil doers to give justice to the people, suffering from harassment. Eros International and director Sanjay Jadhav have presented one such Superman, in the form of ‘Guru’, played by Ankush Choudhari. So, in this film, the character of Guru is not a very clean and principled youth; but he is into all wrong illegal business of thefts and targeting all those, who are also into wrong business. But, he is kind hearted and serves food to all those, in need of it.
One day, Guru, becomes witness to a murder, when he hides in an under construction building, to give a slip to police. But, he lands into trouble as the CID officer , who is close to a big builder ( Ravindra Mankani) , who commits this murder; wants to trap Guru in this case. So, Guru leaves the city and takes shelter at his brother’s ( Avinash Narkar) place in his village. But, here, he discovers atrocities on the villagers and his brother, by a local MLA Mansing ( Murli Sharma) , who has made their lives miserable, using his muscle power. At this stage Guru turns a Superman for the villagers, lifting and tossing dozens of Mansing’s fighters in the air and bashing them against the walls. At the same time, he doesn’t forget to carry forward his love story with charming young Ovi ( Urmila kanitkar Kothare), daughter of temple priest, who lives in the same village.
When Mansing plays his dirty game of cheating the villagers, by asking them to surrender their lands, for the development of village, into a mega City, Guru thwarts his plans , with the help of Ovi, by uniting the villagers .Finally, when he stages an agitation, by blocking the road, the media comes into picture, exposing the plan of Mansing, thus showing victory of truth over evil. Sanjay Jadhav as the director of this film, has done a lot of hard work, to keep the tempo of the film, going with some interesting happenings till interval. But, in the post interval session, which is a revenge story, slows down a bit and becomes predictable with the villain striking again and again, even after Guru teaches him a lesson. He even manages the protest sequences of the villagers , very well; but he has stretched the concluding scene, in a typical 60s and 70s style of Hindi films.
However, the film scores on account of good performances by stylish Ankush Choudhari, lively Urmila Kanitkar Kothare, witty but cruel Murli Sharma, principled Avinash Narkar, caring Sneha Raikar , dangerous Ravindra Mankani and few others. Moreover, instead of presenting a passtime story for such a masala film with action and entertainment , director Sanjay Jadhav has taken up a timely issue, faced by many villages in Maharashtra; very skilfully through this film, which is also to be appreciated. Good music by Amitraj & Pankaj Padgham , excellent choreography of Umesh Jadhav , suitable costume designs by Harshada Khanvilkar, artistic art design by Satish Chipkar, Ashwini Kocharekar and appropriate use of visual effects by Prasad Sutar are also the plus points of this so called masala film.
‘Guru‘ may appeal to all those, who enjoyed watching the films like, ‘Lai Bhari’, ‘Singham’ and ‘Dabangg’. In short, it has offered a complete recipe of entertainment, in a South Indian and Bollywood film style. Last but not the least, Ankush Choudhari will be called the new superman of Marathi films, after release of this film.
‘702 Dixits’ – A realistic mystery filled suspense thriller
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Rating: ★★★
Studio/presenter: A Shankh Rajyadhyaksha Motion Picture Producers: Rohit Jail, Prashant Umbrani Director: Shankh Rajyadhyaksha Writer: Rohit Jail Screenplay: Ruturaj Dhalgade Cinematographer (DOP): Suresh Beesaveni Genres: Suspense, Thriller Censor: U Duration: 130 Min. Cast: Gauri Nigudkar, Pallavi Patil, Vijay Aandalkar, Shrirang Deshmukh, Ruchi Jail, Jaywant Wadkar, Vikram Gokhale Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Man by nature is sensible. But, his life is variable. Therefore, he is required to live his life with irrational certainty . He never knows, whatever is happening around with others, could happen with him too . We have been hearing about the cases of accidents and crimes happening in the neighbourhood. But, what if, the same case happens in your house with the person hired by you ? Produced by Rohit Jail & Prashant Umbarani and directed by Shankh Rajadhyaksha, new Marathi film ‘702 Dixits’ presents one such story, based on a real incidence, which took place in Pune, few years ago. Though, this film is not a ditto version of this real story, they have developed it, so as take the cinematic liberties.
In the beginning of the film, we notice an unfortunate death of a house maid, working in the house of Dixits, living on the 7th floor of a housing society in Pune. Actually, this maid has fallen from the 7th floor of the balcony and dies on the spot. Not suspecting an accidental death, the witty Police officer (Jaywant Wadkar) , who comes to investigate the case, with a packet of biscuits in his hand, takes along with him Mr. Yash Dixit (Vijay Andalkar)for investigation, suspecting him as a murderer and keeps him in the police lock up. When Yash’s wife Kavya (Gauri Nigudkar) rushes home from office, she doesn’t know, how to react to this situation. So she seeks help from Yash’s friend Riya Pandit( Pallavi Patil) and both together try their level best to get bail for Yash. As there is no lawyer coming forward to take this case, Riya herself, being a lawyer, decides to fight the case.
Riya plays the dual role of defence lawyer and also an investigation officer, as she does not get help from Senior Police officer investigating the case. And, we notice, unfolding of mystery, after suspecting even Yash, Riya and few other suspects.
Actually, the plot of this film is good. But, director Shankh Rajadhyaksha could have developed it further, to make it more interesting than what he has presented. There is no doubt that he has used his editing skills, to use some twists in the screenplay with the help of interesting flashbacks; but few of the happenings are not very convincing, like the Police officer asking the same question repeatedly to Yash, to admit that he has committed a crime and the large number of witnesses produced in the court, to endorse the credibility of Yash.
Nevertheless , the performances of the main three characters played by Gauri Nigudkar, Pallavi Patil and Vijay Andalkar are very convincing. Especially, Pallavi, who has performed in her second film, after Classmates, looks very confident. The selection of supporting cast is perfect, as we notice some good looking youngsters, resembling IT people. Vikram Gokhale is just namesake in this film, playing the boss at Yash’s IT company; but Jaywant Wadkar is impressive in the role of senior police officer.
The film scores on account of excellent camera work and apt background music , most suited for this mystery filled suspense thriller. Moreover, the selection of locations has given a realistic look, to this technically well presented film. Shankh Rajadhyaksha has made a good attempt on his debut, as a director; as, it is not an easy job to present a mystery filled film. But, he has managed well, to hold the suspense, till the climax. Last, but not the least, the film also delivers an important message, of verifying all the details of house maid, employed by people in their houses. You never know, what has been shown in the film, could happen with you.
‘Lord of Shingnapur’ – Just another film based on mythology
 Rating: ★★ ½
Studio/presenter: Rathod Films Producer:Raj Rathod Director: Raj Rathod Writer: Raj Rathod Music: Farhan Shaikh Editor: Ajit Devle Cinematographer (DOP): Prashant Jadhav Genres: Devotional Censor: U Duration: 130 Min. Cast: Milind Gunaji, Sudhir Dalvi, Ashutosh Kullkarni, Vaibhavi, Manoj Joshi, Varsha Usgaonkar, Rahul Mahajan, Yashodhan Rana, Aniket Kelkar, Pankaj Vishnu Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Films based on mythology are very common in Hindi. In Marathi too, such films are released periodically. About 20 years ago, there was a film on Lord Shanidev, titled ‘Suryaputra Shanidev’ produced by Gulshan Kumar. Now, Raj Rathod has offered a film in Marathi ‘Lord of Shingnapur’, which is a tribute to Lord Shanidev and his power .
‘Lord of Shingnapur’ is not much different from ‘Suryaputra Shanidev’, as in this film too, the director has presented a story of young lovers Rohit ( Ashutosh Kulkarni) and Neha (Vaibhavi Shandilya) . But, in this film the young couple get married, against the wish of Rohit’s father ( Manoj Joshi). When his father refuses to take the couple in his house, Rohit and Neha leave the house to an unknown destination and meet with a serious car accident. While Rohit gets drowned into a river, Neha lies unconscious in an injured state.
Rohit later finds himself in an ashram, but loses his memory; while Neha wandering in jungles, comes across Lord Shanidev in the guise of a saint, who suggests her to visit Shani Shingnapur. At the Ashram, another Saint, who heads the ashram, also suggests Rohit to proceed to Shani Shingnapur, after narrating him various tales of Lord Shanidev. Rohit’s parents, who are also in a disturbed state, move to Shani Shingnapur, where the film concludes with happy ending, with the reunion of Rohit, Neha and Rohit’s parents.
Film’s screenplay begins with not so interesting happenings, except for a song picturised on Rohit and Neha, to show their romance. The character of Rahul Mahajan is just to represent Rohit’s good friend, in few scenes. Even Manoj Joshi as Rohit’s father, has been used only to oppose Rohit’s marriage, in those few scenes, except for the last climax scene. However, Varsha Usgaonkar tries to impress through her small role of Rohit’s sympathetic mother. The film’s screenplay presents some interesting stories to show the power and strength of Lord Shanidev , when he in the form of Saturn, enters the zodiac sign of individuals, including Lord Shankara & Lord Bramhadev. Narration of these stories by a saint, shown in the film’s cinematic form, are the only interesting happenings in the film, as not many people are aware of the stories of Lord Shanidev.
However, in the process of giving importance to these stories, the main story of Rohit and Neha takes a back seat and remains just a predictable version .
Through this film, Ashutosh Kulkarni has finally found his entry into Marathi films as a lead actor. This is Vaibhavi’s second film after ‘Janiva’ and she shows promise, through her performance. Milind Gunaji, who plays Lord Shanidev in this film, taking different forms, is good and so is Sudhir Dalvi, through his small but favourite role of Sai Baba of Shirdi. The film could have been more appealing, if it had more special effects and a gripping love story, to show their struggle for reunion. All in all, ‘Lord of Shinganapur’ has turned out to be just another mythology based film , which is a tribute to Lord Shanidev. Therefore, it may appeal to regular viewers of such films. And, if it does so, ‘Shingnapur’ will turn another famous religious place, inviting more and more devotees. Others may prefer to watch this film on television, in due course of time.
‘Natasamrat’ brings the best out of Nana Patekar
 Rating: ★★★ ½
Studio/presenter: Zee Studios, Great Maratha Entertainment Producer: Vishwas Joshi, Nana Patekar Director: Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar Original Playwright: V. V. Shirwadkar Writer: Kiran Yadnyopavit, Abhijeet Deshpande Lyrics: Kusumagraj, Guru Thakur Music: Ajit Parab Cinematographer (DOP): Ajith Reddy Genres: Drama Censor: U Duration: 130 Min. Cast: Nana Patekar, Vikram Gokhale, Jitendra Joshi, Sandeep Pathak, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Sunil Barve, Medha Manjrekar, Ajit Parab, Neha Pendse, Jayant WadkarMovie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
V. V. Shirwadkar alias Kusumagraj was a well known Marathi Poet and writer, who was influenced by Shakespeare, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Tolstoy in his writings. So, when he wrote his Marathi play ‘Natsamrat’‘, it was based on Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘King Lear’. ‘Natasamraat’ was staged for many years with record number of shows and well known actors like Dr. Shreeram Lagoo, Yashwant Dutt, Datta Bhat and others, have performed the central character of Ganpatrao Belvalkar successfully. But, the one performed by Dr. Shreeram Lagoo, is still fresh in the memory of those, who saw his great performance.
Now, director Mahesh Manjrekar has presented the cinematic version of this popular play, in his own way, with Nana Patekar playing the central character of Ganpatrao alias Appasaheb Belvalkar . And, in addition to his family members comprising of wife kaveri (Medha Manjrekar), Son (Ajit Parab), daughter in law (Neha Pendse), grand daughter ( Pranjal Parab), daughter ( Mrunmayee Deshpande), son in law ( Sunil Barve), he has introduced a new character of Rambhau, played by versatile actor Vikram Gokhale, as his close friend. In the process, he has extended his screenplay, with some witty conversations, taking place between the two friends, whenever they meet, over the session of drinks.
In this film, the director has paid more attention on the home affairs of Ganpatrao, after his retirement, on receiving the highest honour of ‘NatSamrat’. In the process, the film has turned more into a family melodrama rather than a monologue, reminding you of some happenings from bollywood films like ‘Baghban’, ‘jaisi karni Vaisi Bharni’, ‘Avtaar’ and few others. In ‘Natasamrat’, Ganpatrao played by Nana Patekar faces insults, first from his daughter in law, which forces him to leave his own house, along with his wife Kaveri. But, before that Ganpatrao has committed a biggest mistake in his life, i.e. by transferring all his assets in the name of his son and daughter. Ganpatrao being close to his daughter, is offered shelter by her and his son in law, in their house.
But, when the daughter alleges her own father for stealing her money, Ganpatrao and his wife quietly leave their house during the midnight hours of heavy rains, for onward journey to their native place. But, on the way, during a halt, Kaveri , who is already suffering from fever, passes away during her sleep. This brings Ganpatrao literally on the roads, as the person, who steals his bag, later offers him shelter under the bridge along with his small family. Though he is traced by his son and daughter, in an old drama theatre which is gutted in fire; Ganpatrao refuses to go with them and performs one last scene from his play , to conclude this film with its tragic end.
This film entirely belongs to actor Nana Patekar , who has played his role with total conviction. This is a lifetime role for a complete actor in him. In short, ‘Natasamraat’ has brought out the best out of Nana Patekar . But, this would not have been possible for him , without the support of Medha Manjrekar, who has given a wonderful performance as his co star Kaveri in this film. Medha has performed a role, which is more than her age; but, with her expressive face and good make up by Vikram Gaikwad, she was able to give her best. Another good performance, comes from young Mrunmayee Deshpande, who has done those two big emotion filled scenes, opposite senior experienced actor like Nana Patekar, exceptionally well. There was no doubt about the ability of Vikram Gokhale, as he perfectly fitted into the witty character of Rambhau. The director has rightly taken close up scenes on him, to exploit his spontaneous facial expressions. Among others in the supporting cast, good performances also come from Sunil Barve, Ajit Parab, Neha Pendse, Nilesh Divekar, Sarang Sathe , Jaywant Wadkar, little Pranjal Parab and others. But, Savita Malpekar and Vidyatai Patwardhan are just namesake in this film. On location sound used by by Srikant kamble, art direction by Eknath kadam, cinematography by Ajith Reddy and background score by Ajit Parab are the other plus points of this film.
This film, which presents the story of 70s era, does not actually relate to the changing lifestyle of today’s nuclear family system. So, it remains to be seen, how it appeals to today’s new generation. Moreover, today’s senior citizens have many other options after retirement. But, the central character of this film, being an actor, certainly sends a strong message to all those , for not committing the mistake done by Ganpatrao in this film. The film is technically very well presented and hence stands a chance of inviting the attention of maximum film lovers. A worth watch, for the entire family together.
‘Carry On Deshpande’ follows the traditional formula of Comedy
 Rating: ★★ ½
Studio/presenter: Atharv 4 U Producer: Ganesh Ramdas Hajare Director: Vijay Patkar Writer: Hemant Edalabadkar Lyrics: Mangesh Kangane Music: Chinar – Mahesh, Nikhil Thakkar Cinematographer (DOP): Shabbir Naik Genres: Comedy Censor: A Duration: 130 Min. Cast: Pushkar Shrotri, Hemlata Bane, Sagar Karande, Sanjay Khapre, Manasi Naik, Seema kadam, Snehal Gore, Jaywant Wadkar, Savita Malpekar, Vijay Kadam, Jayraj Nair Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
At a time when our Marathi cinema is presenting ‘out of the box’ themes and inviting the attention of the audience all over the world, some Marathi film makers still believe in offering the traditional comedy formula, with the sole intention of entertaining the audience. If you look at Chiranjeevi’s Telugu comedy films, Prashant Damle‘s popular Marathi play ‘Gela Madhav Kunikade‘, Makarand Anaspure‘s film ‘Teen Baika Fajiti Aika’ or recently released Kapil Sharma’s film ‘Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon’, there was one thing very common. The comedy of errors, arising out of a situation, where a man having two wives and misunderstandings created through the screenplay, with the progress of the story. So, what’s new director Vijay Patkar , writer Hemant Edlabadkar and producer Ganesh Hazare have offered through their latest Marathi film ‘Carry On Deshpande’?
The story of ‘Carry on Deshpande’ revolves around Mr. Deshpande (Pushkar Shrotri) a wealthy man living in a huge bungalow, with his two wives, Prathama (Seema Kadam) and Dwitiya (Hemlata Bane) . Surprisingly, these two wives have no issues between them; but they are suspicious about their husband flirting with other girls. So, we see the arrival of a detective (Sagar Karande) , who tries to help Mr. Deshpande as well as his two wives. So, after the arrival of another young woman (Manasi Naik) in the bungalow, we see all such happenings, we noticed in many films of the past, on this subject. If this is not enough, the story of this film, also find place for two more characters, Sunny, the brother in law of Deshpande, who lives with him and his niece , who are already in love with each other.
The film’s length is about one hour forty five minutes; but due to lack of proper presentation of screenplay, even this is felt too long. Only good things about the film are the performances of Pushkar Shrotri and Sanjay Khapre, who have tried their best to entertain the audience, with their spontaneity , at different situations. The females namely Seema Kadam, Hemlata bane & Sneha Gore don’t have to do much with the acting, except for looking glamorous; but Manasi Naik certainly invites all the attention, displaying her acting skills, in all those comedy sequences to her share. She almost poses the leading lady of this film.
Talking about the other areas, music of the film is not at all impressive; but, Shabir Naik’s cinematography is good. Though there are very few locations, besides the bungalow, used for shooting, he has tried to capture the expressions of the artistes very well. The film was shown to the media people, without censor certification; but now it is understood that it has been allotted ‘A’ certificate.
Anyway, ‘Carry On Deshpande’ is just a traditional formula type of comedy film, which can be enjoyed by those, who love to watch such subjects especially, ‘How a man handles his two wives and a girlfriend’. Isn’t that an outdated subject now ? There is nothing wrong in presenting a traditional comedy for a change, as one can understand the hard work put in by the makers, in making of such films; but, the screenplay and dialogues should appeal to all, besides good performances.
‘Partu’ binds Maharashtra and Rajasthan in an emotive cord
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Rating: ★★★ ½
Studio/presenter:East West Films Producers:Nitin Adsul, Sachin Adsul , Rupesh Mahajan, Darrel Cox, Clark McMillian Director: Nitin Adsul Writer: Nitin Adsul, Clark McMillian, Darrel Cox Dialogues: Mayur Deval Music: Shashank Powar, Greg Sims Cinematographer (DOP): Sanjay Khanjode Genres: Drama Censor: U/A Duration: 130 Min. Cast:Kishor Kadam, Smita Tambe, Saurabh Gokhale, Gayatri Deshmukh, Anshuman Vichare, Navani Parihar, Raja Bundela, Ravi Bhartiya, Yash Pande Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
It is not an easy job to bind the people from different states and culture together, through an emotion filled film’s story. But, US based Marathi filmmaker Nitin Adsul has succeeded in doing so. Through his latest Marathi film ‘Partu’, made under the banner of his US based East West Films, Nitin has presented a true story of his father’s uncle, a farmer, by profession and living in Nagar district of Maharashtra. The period of this story has been set on the backdrop of rural areas of both in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, during the period 1968 to 1985.
Laxman (Kishore Kadam) a farmer just managing to provide enough food to his family, with farming, finds a little boy on the streets of a village in Nagar district. He provides shelter to this boy, along with his two children, much against the wish of his wife ( Smita Tambe) . The boy is actually from a village in Rajasthan ,who is lost at Ahmednagar Railway station missing his uncle in the crowd. But, the name of the village pronounced by the boy, is not properly understood by Laxman and he calls it some other place. Even his name Prithvi, is understood by the farmer as Partu. Laxman tries to locate the village with the help of village postman, but is unable to locate it.
So, Partu becomes a close member of the farmer’s family, having lived with them for 17 long years. Laxman also gets him married to his friend’s daughter ( Gayatri Soham). Later, when it’s time to go on a pilgrimage, the family happens to travel to Rajasthan also. It is here that Lakxman gets a message through a messenger of almighty, to move to a particular village in Rajasthan, to fulfill his wish of returning Partu, to his biological parents. With lots of hurdles, he finally reaches the destination, in the film’s climax. But, it is Partu, who takes his own decision in the end.
The film has been very well presented with proper planning, being a true story. At the end of the film, the director has not forgotten to show the audience, the real life people, on whom the film has been made. And, that is the best part of this film. There are very few flaws noticed in the film’s story; but this being a true story, they can be ignored. There are many emotion filled scenes in the film and the versatile artistes like Kishore Kadam, Smita Tambe, Saurabh Gokhale and Gayatri Soham Deshmukh have given full justice to their respective roles in this film. For Saurbh Gokhale this is a good debut in films. He has done one face to face scene of confrontation with versatile actor Kishore Kadam very well. Anshuman Vichare in the role of a private vehicle driver, has generated some humour, in post interval session, in this otherwise touching emotion filled film.
Music is just apt for the film’s story and two songs have been picturised very well. One of them is picturised on the young couple and the other towards the end, depicting the Rajasthani culture. Good photography, excellent background music and perfect sound design are other plus points of this brilliant film.
The overall film is very appealing and touches the heart of the audience, because of its emotion filled screenplay. It also binds Maharashtra and Rajasthan in an emotive cord .
‘Shinma’ creates awareness about water conservation, besides offering entertainment
 Rating: ★★★
Producer: Aanil Joshi Director: Milind Kawade Writer: Milind Kavade, Ashok Jhagde and Prakash Bhagwat Dialogues: Sagar Wankhede and Deepak Thube Director of Photography: Santonio Terzio Music: Varun Likhate, Rohan-Rohan Genres: Comedy, Drama Censor: U/A Duration: 129 Min. Cast: Ajinkya Deo, Kishori Shahane, Gurleen Chopra, Yatin Karyekar, Vijay Patkar, Sanskruti Balgude, Ananda Karekar, Anshuman Vichare, Ganesh Yadav, Saurabh Gokhale, Arun Kadam, Abhijeet Chauhan, Digambar Naik, Ashish Pawar, Jaywant Wadkar, Nisha Parulekar Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Shooting of a film, in a film, is not new to Marathi cinema. In the past we have seen this happen in the film ‘Pipani’ and very recently, we saw it happen in the film ‘Mungala‘. Now, film maker Milind Arun Kavade has presented one such theme, through his latest released Marathi film ‘Shinma’. Produced by Aanil Joshi, the film presents the shooting of a film, at a village in Maharashtra in drought affected district.
Director K.Vasu( Ajinkya Deo) , whose real name is Keshav Vasudev Bhosale, takes up a commercial project, with the help of his production manager( Vijay Patkar) , only to raise money for his wife’s ( Nisha Parulekar) operation; who is in coma, after meeting with a road accident. To please the producer couple Mr. & Mrs. Ganda ( Yatin Karyekar and Kishori Shahane), they plan to make a remake of ‘Sholay’ in Marathi. Accordingly, they move to a village location, which is already facing water scarcity problem, due to drought in that region. But, with the support of a social worker Navin( Ganesh Yadav) and Sarpanch of the village (Digambar Naik) they begin the shooting of their film, with all their important characters played by Jai(Ashish Pawar), Veeru(Arun kadam), Basanti(Gurleen Chopra) and others.
But, soon at the request of social activist Navin and his sister ( Sanskruti Balgude)they agree to‘In-film branding’ into their film, to highlight the water scarcity problem in the village, in spite of the help assured by the Government. So, besides the humor filled happenings noticed during the shooting, we also find K.Vasu’s assistant director ( Saurabh Gokhale) and Navin Sister’s (Sanskruti Balgude) love affair progressing side by side, on the outskirts of the village. After watching all the incidents, that we see happen in the film industry, over the issues arising out of delay in shooting and threats issued by artistes , finally we see a surprise in the climax.
The film has a very big team of artistes, including film artistes and the villagers and therefore, except for the character of film director played by Ajinkya Deo, there is limited scope to all others. In the film, we notice two lengthy scenes of Ajinkya Deo, trying to converse with his wife lying in Coma in the hospital, over phone. But, they have not even shown the ailing mother of actress Gurleen Chopra, whose is also undergoing treatment in hospital. More than the film artistes Gurleen Chopra, Ashish Pawar & Arun kadam shown in this film, there is more scope given to the so called production manager played by Vijay Patkar and the so called producer Ganda, played by Yatin karyekar. The latter has also been given scenes, flirting with the actress Gurleen in swimming pool, perhaps to highlight the casting couch mentality in the film industry.
All the artistes selected in the film, have given their best. But, there is very less scope for Sanskruti Balgude in the film. In comparison, Gurleen Chopra finds better scope and she has played her character very well. In short, her debut in Marathi films, has been good. What is worth praising is that, she has tried to speak most of her dialogues in Marathi, unlike other non Marathi actresses noticed in Marathi films, in the recent past. It is understood that she has herself dubbed for her own dialogues in Marathi. With her fit and slim looks, this beautiful Punjabi actress has also performed the dance very well, in the company of choreographer Ganesh Acharya. Music does not appeal much, except for one song; but, Santanio Terezio has impressed with his beautiful cinematography, most of which has been shot in the outdoors.
All in all, Director Milind Kavade has tried to create awareness about wastage of water by people living in city and Government’s apathy to provide relief to drought affected villages, in spite of sanctioning huge amount for water conservation schemes. In short, he has used this medium of entertainment well, to pass on this social message skillfully , through this film.
‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai-2′ offers emotion filled entertainment
 Rating: ★★★ ½
Studio/presenter: Mirah entertainment , Everest Entertainment Producer: Yashila Enterprises Ptv. Ltd. Director: Satish Rajwade Writer: Satish Rajwade Screenplay, Dialogues: Ashwini Shende Director of Photography: Suhas Gujrathi Music: Avinash – Vishwajeet Genres: Family Drama Censor: U/A Duration: 129 Min. Cast: Swapnil Joshi, Mukta Barve, Prashant Damle, Savita Prabhune, Mangal Kenkre, Vijay Kenkre, Suhas Joshi, Aasavari Joshi Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Somebody has rightly said, “A successful marriage requires ‘falling in love repeatedly’ with the same person.” But, what if it takes time, to understand such a person , before marriage. Every, woman therefore thinks carefully, before marrying a man, be it love marriage or arranged marriage; because, she has to live with that person, in the rest of her life. Latest Marathi film ‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai-2′ talks about the wavering mind of one such young woman, whose marriage has been fixed, with a youngster, whom she approves, in an arranged marriage.
In part 1 of ‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai’, we saw Gauri (Mukta Barve) meeting Gautam (Swapnil Joshi) , when she visits Pune to approve him and finally, after spending the whole day with him, likes him to be her husband . Now, in part 2 of this film, when the marriage has been fixed, we find Gauri feeling uncomfortable at one point of time, as her previous boy friend Arnav( Angad Mhaskar) , steps in once again into her life, after their break up. Gautam being broad minded, doesn’t mind giving space to his ‘would be’ wife.
But, as the marriage between Gauri and Gautam is just few days away, their family members start meeting each other , Gautam comes to know, about Gauri’s confusion. He thoughtfully suggests her to withdraw . But, the strong bonding already developed between two families, keeps them together. The film has tried to highlight the confusion in every girls’ mind, while selecting their suitable marriage partner . As we all know, the chemistry between Swapnil and Mukta works very well, both of them have given wonderful performances, with good support coming from other versatile artistes like Angad Mhaskar, Prashant Damle, Shruti Marathe, Savita Prabhune, Vijay & Mangal kenkre .
The film’s plus point is its screenplay and well suited dialogues for every occasion. And, the credit for the same should go to Ashwini Shende. She deserves a special mention, for scripting those lovely Jingles, uttered by Swapnil Joshi, during family get together. DOP Suhas Gujarathi has also done a good job, capturing all those emotion filled and romantic moments , very well into his camera. Music by Avinash – Vishwajeet is just fine, to keep the audience engaged.
Director Satish Rajwade has shown his skills, while mixing emotions with entertainment very well; but, he has stretched the climax little longer, than required. very cleverly, he has endorsed number of consumer products through deliberately created scenes. Overall effort of the film maker has been good, to target the family audience.
So, ‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai-2′ is the perfect entertainment for the entire family, during Diwali.
‘Katyar…’ takes you into mesmerizing world of Indian classical music
 Rating: ★★★★
Studio/presenter: Zee Studios Producers: Nitin Keni, Nikhil Sane Director: Subodh Bhave Writer: Purushottam Darwhekar Screenplay, Dialogues: Prakash Kapadia Music: Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Shankar Ehsaan Loy Genres: Drama Censor: U/A Duration: 124 Min. Cast: Shankar mahadevan, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Subodh Bhave, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Amruta Khanvilkar, Sakshi Tanwar, Pushkar Shrotri, Swapnil Rajshekhar, Asmita Chinchalkar, Chinmay Pataskar Chinmay Shintre Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Giving a cinematic look to a popular Marathi play is not new to Marathi cinema. But, it is not an easy job, to do so. Much depends on the skillful presentation of the screenplay, taking maximum cinematic liberties. However, actor turned director Subodh Bhave has managed to do it, with the help of an expert Bollywood screenplay writer Prakash Kapadia. And, when you see his film ‘Katyar Kaljat Ghusali’ , you realize, how the screenplay writer has developed this original story of Purushottam Darvhekar into a wonderful film, without disturbing its original essence.
‘Katyar Kaljat Ghusali’ focuses more on recreating the period of the story, with well researched set designs and realistic outdoor locations. Rest is left to the director, to accommodate the Indian classical music, by retaining some original songs from the historical play and adding some meaningful, well suited songs for the right occasions in the film. The beauty of this film, is its mesmerizing music of Jitendra Abhisheki & Shankar Ehsaan Loy with superb cinematography by Sudhir Palsane. Be it indoor court of the King, the old haveli or picturesque outdoor locations, the camera has captured them all, very skillfully.
As the film has emphasized more on the different attitudes of the characters in this film, the selection of actors has been perfect. Shankar Mahadevan seems to be the right choice, to play Kind hearted Pandit Bhanushankar, while the most experienced Sachin Pilgaonkar has found a lifetime role, to portray a negative character. He has been given ample scope for displaying the selfish and cunning attitude of Khan Saab, through his body language, facial expressions and with his proficiency in Urdu language. Subodh Bhave finds an equally good role of Sadashiv, the disciple of Panditji and he has given full justice to his character.
In the roles of Uma and Zarina, Mrunmayee Deshpande and Amruta Khanvilkar, have also justified their selection, with good performances. Pushkar Shrotri and Swapnil Rajshekhar have limited scope, while playing the Poet and King respectively, but their performances are convincing. Sakshi Tanvar has very little to do; but she too has played her part well. Best designing of costumes and perfect make up, also help to make this film more realistic. But, as said before, this film is for all those lovers of Indian classical music. For others, this film is likely to create a liking for Indian classical music. After all, it is a treasure of our Indian culture. So, don’t miss it.