‘Aapla Manus’ presents complex relationship using Right angled triangle
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Movie: Aapla Manus
Rating: ★★★ Genres: Drama Censor: UA Duration: 138 min. Studio / Presenter: Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Ajay Devgn Producer: Watergate Marathi Motion Pictures DOP: Suhas Gujarathi Director: Satish Rajwade Cast: Nana Patekar, Irawati Harshe, Sumeet Raghavan Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Marathi experimental plays have always attempted ‘out of the box’ scripts and one of them has been playwright Vivek Bele’s Marathi play ‘Katkone Trikon‘, which won many popular awards in the past. Now, producer Ajay Devgn and director Satish Rajwade have given cinematic form to this play offering a mediocre title ‘Aapla Manus‘ to their latest released film. So, we can say that ‘Aapla Manus‘ presents complex relationship using Right angled triangle.
‘Aapla Manus‘ is a story of a young couple Rahul ( Sumeet Raghavan) and Bhakti ( Irawati Harshe) and their intricate relationship with Rahul’s father Aaba ( Nana Patekar) who lives with the couple. The couple has already kept their only little child in a Boarding school, since both of them are working. While Sumeet is a practicing lawyer, Bhakti is a maths teacher. The busy lifestyle of the couple and his grandson kept away from him, makes Aaba feel cut off from the family, though he lives with them. Aaba who is in a habit of communicating most of the time, is often worried over small happenings. And, this gives scope to the daughter in law to enter into frequent arguments. The son tries to keep himself away from these arguments, though his father expects his support.
One day, on returning from a short vacation spent by the couple along with Aaba, an unexpected incident takes place, which is shown in the initial scene of the film. Aaba is shown fallen from the balcony of the house, during the night hour, when it is raining heavily. The building watchman seeks help and we see the arrival of a Police Investigating Officer Mr. Nagargoje ( Nana Patekar playing one more character) . He makes all efforts to detect whether it was a suicide case or an attempt to murder.
Thereafter, we find the Police officer finding enough scope to detect the crime using his own methods to prove his target guilty. But, the well written script and screenplay of the film, keep the audience guessing with twists in the script and good direction coming from Satish Rajwade. However, when the film nears conclusion, it leaves enough scope for the audience to react with their quick analysis. Nevertheless, the good dialogues and wonderful performances of all the lead characters helps to keep the audience engaged most of the time in this 138 minute long film, without song breaks. Nana Patekar steals the show with his superb performance through two different characters, but not much attention has been paid to make him look different , except for wearing a sweater and modulating his voice for the older character. Even while performing two different characters on stage, an artiste needs different looks, so why not on screen, where there was enough scope to take cinematic liberties ?
It is not only Nana, even Sumeet and Irawati have given their best through their respective roles to display their acting skills in their own style. In the concluding part of the film, we see the arrival of Nagargoje’s son , played by Ajay Devgn. By the way, Inspector’s tragic story has also some relevance with the main theme of the film. All in all ‘Aapla Manus‘ is a good film and can be enjoyed by those who love to watch mystery based films, with good background music .
‘Hostel days’ recalls memories of hostel life of students
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Movie: Hostel Days
Rating: ★★★ Genres: Drama Censor: U Duration: 120 min. Studio / Presenter: Shree Parshwa Productions, Twenty Four Studios Producer: Subhash Bora, Chandan Gehlot, Ajay Naik Productions DOP: Mayur Hardas Director: Ajay Naik Cast: Prarthana Behere, Aroh Welankar, Virajas Kulkarni, Akshay Tanksale, Chinmay Patwardhan, Sanjay Jadhav, Sagarika Rukari, Purva Shinde, Ankita Lande, Aishwarya Kapare Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
However old one may become, the memories of college life never fade away. In the past we have seen films on classroom gimmicks while in school or college and love stories of youngsters on the backdrop of college life. Even otherwise, Marathi films made on the subject of youngsters have received good response from the audience during this decade. Best examples are films like ‘Time Pass‘, ‘Sairat‘, ‘Boyz‘ and so on. But, the music has played a very important role behind the success of these films.
Music director turned Presenter and writer -director Ajay Kishore Naik who presented a film ‘Satarangee Re‘ and directed a film ‘Lagna Pahave Karun‘ in the past, has now tried a new experiment through his latest released film ‘Hostel Days‘, which is set on the backdrop of student’s hostel at a district place off Satara, Maharashtra. But, while presenting his subject, Ajay has tried to mix love stories of other students, besides presenting the love triangle of the lead characters comprising of Shiva Mohite ( Aroh Welankar), Ishani ( Prarthana Behere) & Jai Dharmadhikari( Virajas Kulkarni). And, that’s not enough. As, he has shown the conflict between two groups, i.e. local students belonging to lower and middle class groups and so called rich students coming from metro cities, who acquire admissions on huge donations.
As the love stories and their gimmicks in hostel continue to happen in this film, we find a sudden twist with one student suddenly getting exposed with his hand in glove dealings with new trustee of the group of educational institution Mr. Babasaheb Buchkule( Vidyadhar Joshi). This maligns his character in his group, with his girlfriend also misunderstanding him. But, as we have seen it happen in many Bollywood love stories, his friends and well wishers, including the audience get convinced with the reasons behind his act later. All is well at the end, but not before another twist in the climax.
Looking at the screenplay, it is felt that writer director Ajay has consumed a lot of time to cover all the 17 or 18 important characters in this film, while offering them scope on the screen. As a result, the film has been stretched longer with almost 150 minutes length. This could have been avoided by editing long conversations within the group. He could have paid more attention on either the love story or the conflict between rich and poor. But, since he wanted to make it a musical love story, being a music director himself ; he had to accommodate 7 to 8 songs in the film. However, only two songs are well presented. Instead, he could have presented only three songs, with more attention on highlighting the conflict between the two groups and making the film’s screenplay more gripping. Many scenes in the film have been shot during night hours, thus depriving the DOP to capture natural outdoor beauty. But, in spite of that DOP Mayur Hardas with the help of art director Siddharth Tatuskar has captured some good locations very well through his camera.
Though there are three young artistes namely Aroh, Prarthana & Virajas in prominent lead roles, Akshay Tanksale through the character of Buchchan steals the show. He had done this before while playing the role of Battees in the film ‘YZ‘. In short, his character is well developed to exploit his potential. No wonder, he also plays the narrator in this film. Among the three lead artistes, Aroh does well as the leader of the group. He has shown that quick change in him in every situation. Prarthana is good , in the role of Ishani . But, the character of Virajas hasn’t been developed properly. If he was to be shown in negative role, there are not enough scenes to his share, except for his entry. Nevertheless, being his first film, he does well.
Director turned actor Sanjay Jadhav impresses in a different look, while playing the Rector of the college , who lives in the hostel campus. Among the six new female faces, Sagarika Rukri as Sonia and Sonia Patwardhan as Madhura find better scope. Good support comes from other co artistes in the hostel group. The film’s story has been set during the period of 1994, when there were no mobile phones and social media networking. The film is targeted at young audience and therefore, it remains to be seen whether it will attract youngsters at cinema halls? But, surely those who have experienced hostel life during their college days, especially during early 90s, will be tempted to watch ‘Hostel Days‘ film. Overall, it has turned out to be little above average entertaining film.
‘Ye Re Ye Re Paisa’ is another name for ‘Time pass’
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Genres: Drama Duration: 120 min. Studio / Presenter: zee Studio Producer(s): Om Prakash Bhatt, Ameya Khopkar, Sujay Shankarwar DOP: Pushpank Gawade Writer, Director: Sanjay Jadhav Cast: Siddharth Jadhav, Tejaswini Pandit, Umesh Kamat, Sanjay Narvekar, Mrinal Kulkarni, Vishakha Subhedar, Anand Ingale Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Over the years, we have been watching Bollywood films based on themes like robbery of diamonds, and currency notes amounting Crores of rupees. But now, our Marathi film makers have borrowed this formula and the best example is latest released Marathi film ‘Ye Re Ye Re Paisa‘, which has turned out to be a ‘Time Pass’ action comedy. With so many popular artistes from Marathi films like Mrinal Kulkarni, Sanjay Narvekar, Umesh Kamat, Tejaswini Pandit, Siddharth Jadhav , Vishakha Subhedar, Anand Ingle & Kishore Pradhan, one expected it to offer something extra ordinary, as indicated through its first look. Bur, never mind, the film has turned out to be a time pass film for Marathi film lovers, who enjoy action filled comedy films.
There is no point in discussing the plot in detail, as the story of this film written by director Sanjay Jadhav himself, is a situation based comedy film involving five different characters namely Janhavi, Anna, Aditya, Bubbly & Sunny played by Mrinal Kulkarni, Sanjay Narvekar, Umesh Kamat, Tejaswini Pandit, Siddharth Jadhav respectively. But, director Sanjay Jadhav with the help of Arwind Jagtap has developed every situation skillfully to offer entertainment through the screenplay of the film. The director himself plays the narrator in the beginning and towards the end to explain the audience what exactly was in his mind, for handling this subject.
The performances of all the lead artistes mentioned above are brilliant. Each one of them have tried to generate humour in every scene to their share with perfect understanding of the situation. They find good support from dialogues penned by Arwind Jagtap , good camera work by Pushpak Gawde and apt background music by Pankaj Padghan. A lot of attention has been p[aid on costume designing of every important character. However, music provided for the two songs, including the title song isn’t very impressive. It was also played with full volume during these two songs. Tushar Dalvi and Kishore Pradhan are just namesake in this film, but artistes like Vishakha Subhedar, Anand Ingle find better scope. Former Bollywood actor Bijay Anand finds a prominent role in this film, but he speaks in Hindi in most of the scenes. All in all, ‘Ye Re Ye Re Paisa‘ is another name for ‘Time pass’ .
‘Charandas Chor’ takes you on a roller coaster ride
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Movie: Charandas Chor
Rating:  Genres: Drama Censor: U Duration: 120 min. Studio / Presenter: Uknit Productions Producer: Sanju Holmukhe DOP: Sumit Suryawanshi Director: Shyam Maheshwari Cast: Abhay Chavan, Sonam Pawar, Adesh Aware, Milind Oak, Mukund Wasule, Anuya Baiche, Ravindra Gurjar, Indubai Tambe Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Only last week, we saw a simple story developed into an interesting screenplay in the film ‘Gachchi‘. And now, this Friday we have another such film written and directed by Shyam Maheshwari , which takes you on a roller coaster ride, through its interesting humour filled screenplay. Having gained a lot of experience of small screen in Hindi with his popular ‘k’ series offerings of Balaji telefilms, this is Shyam’s debut Marathi film. So, proper care has been taken by him to entertain the Marathi audience.
Through ‘Charandas Chor‘ film the writer-director presents a journey of a thief Charan( Abhay Chavan) , who works as an assistant in production department of a Film company. In turn of events, Charan gets the possession of a colourful trunk containing Rs. 2 crore original cash and he decides to run away with it to his native place in Chiplun. On his journey, he encounters those people, who rob some money from this trunk. On reaching his hometown, Charan encounters few more people who are curious to know the contents in the trunk in his possession, but his innocent but intelligent nephew Vishnu( Aadesh Avare) along with his pet dog Moti protect his possession with new ideas. Vishnu also names the trunk as ‘Shyamrao bank’.
Soon Charan comes across a young girl Saloni (Sonam Pawar) from the village, who is from a business family. She involves Charan into some social work undertaken by her in the village, which brings two youngsters closer. On the advice of little Vishnu, Charan takes Saloni into confidence and tells her the truth about the trunk in his possession. What transpires in the concluding part of the film, is a surprise to the audience. From start till end, writer-director Shyam Maheshwari has succeeded in keeping the audience involved into the journey of Charan and the trunk in his possession, which is just like another character in the film called Shyamrao.
The selection of characters have been perfect, especially the lead hero played by Abhay Chavan and his nephew played by Aadesh Aware. Both together have generated lots of humour through all the scenes to their share. The young leading lady of the film arrives on screen after interval , but she too has impressed with her character of Saloni. Creative director Sanju Holmukhe makes his presence through the wonderful development of a simple story. Sumeet Suryavanshi’s cinematography has captured the picturesque Chiplun brilliantly. Good support comes from Sound designers and music team. All in all, ‘Charandas Chor‘ is certainly a worth watch, as it offers good entertainment.
‘Gachchi’ presents an unusual plot in a creative manner
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Movie: Gachchi
Rating: ★★★ Genres: Drama Censor: U Duration: 120 min. Studio / Presenter: Landmarc Films, Nitin Vaidya Productions Producer: Nitin Prakash Vaidya, Vidhi Kasliwal DOP: Riju Das Director: Nachiket Samant Cast: Priya Bapat, Abhay Mahajan, Anant Jog, Asha Shelar, Mayureshwar Kale, Saiddhant Samant, Swapnaneel Jaykar, Tushar Tengale Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
‘Gachchi‘ which actually means terrace is defined in different ways in English language. Some call it a patio, while others call it an open area in front of the house. It could also be a sitting area next to the building. But, in Mumbai, where there is shortage of space in front of the house or in the backyard, it indicates open space on top of the building or bungalow. Now, this so called ‘Gachchi‘ could be used for various purpose. Though students living in crowded chawls, have used this place to prepare for their exams, some love stories have also taken birth at this place. For others, it is a place for breathing fresh air. At the same time, there are cases of suicides noticed at this place.
Perhaps, based on such happenings, Producer Nitin Vaidya and director Nachiket Samant thought of making a film on the backdrop of this place, which is presented by Vidhi Kasliwal. The story of this film ‘Gachchi‘ takes off, when we see young Shreeram(Abhay Mahajan) desperately trying to repay the debt to a money lender Jagtap( Anant Jog) who is trying to take charge of his small house in South Mumbai, mortgaged to him. With the help of his friend and a well wisher, who agrees to market the home products prepared by his mother ( Asha Shelar), he manages to repay part payment to Jagtap. But Jagtap puts a deadline till evening only to repay the entire amount.
In a disturbed condition he walks out of Jagtap’s building to sip a cup of tea without sugar( as he is diabetic),when he notices a young woman standing at the edge of the terrace of that building. Suspecting a suicide attempt he goes to the terrace top and finds Keerti Sharda( Priya Bapat) a classical singer by profession, also in a disturbed mood. Initially, both of them don’t like each other; but as the time progresses, these two strangers start understanding each other. Writer Yogesh Vinayak Joshi and director Nachiket Samant have very creatively developed the an unusual happening during that particular day, into an interesting feature film of about two hours. The writer & director have also tried to show the connect between two elements of nature- Earth and Aakash through Gachchi ( terrace) the backdrop of this film.
There are not too many main characters except the few mentioned above, but still you don’t feel the monotony while watching the screenplay of this film on the screen, with the lead pair wearing the same clothes from morning till evening. Almost 90% of the film has been shot on the terrace of a multi storey building in Lalbaug area, which has now grown into a posh township with high rise residential towers and office premises. But still, DOP Riju Das, has made good use of his camera to capture every corner of the terrace and surroundings skillfully. There is not much scope for music by Murugan Mohan in this film, except for one song played in the background. Good support comes from technical team. There are very few errors noticed in this film, but looking at the ability of the writer director to make a film, arising out of such a situation, these few errors can be ignored.
Priya Bapat has played the lead role of Keerti very convincingly to display her disturbed state of mind, while Abhay Mahajan who after doing a successful web series, makes a confident looking debut in the lead role of Shreeram. There is not much scope for Asha Shelar, except for performing in few scenes, as a kind hearted mother of Shreeram. Similarly Anant Jog does well in hardly two scenes to his share. All in all, ‘Gachchi‘ is good film to watch.
‘Ghaat’ focuses on the plight of a Mother and son at a place of pilgrimage
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Movie: Ghaat
Rating: ★★★ Genres: Drama Censor: UA Duration: 90 min. Studio / Presenter: Jare Entertainment Producer: Sachin Jare DOP: Amol Gole Writer, Director: Raj Gorde Editor: Sagar Vanjari Cast: Yash Kulkarni, Dattatray Dharme, Umesh Jagtap, Mitali Jagtap, Riya Gavli Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Alandi is a popular town in Maharashtra , known as a place of pilgrimage for being the resting place of the 13th century Saint, Sant Dnyaneshwar. With its population around 30,000 the town has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. But, still some people in this town are homeless and live on the banks of river Indrayani, which passes through this holy town. Latest released Marathi film ‘Ghat’ is set on the backdrop of this town and shows the plight of a mother and son, living on the banks of the river and dependent on the pilgrims, who come here to perform some rituals, as per their religion.
The story of this film revolves around the character of a little boy Manya(Yash Kulkarni), who with the help of his friend Papya( Dattatray Dharma) take a dip into the river to search for the coins thrown by pilgrims as an offering. He tries to help his mother Vimal ( Mitali Jagtap) with some earnings, as she is sick with liver disorder. Manya also has a little sister, whom he has to support, as his father Jaggu( Umesh jagtap) is an alcoholic and is in relationship with another woman. Whatever little the mother and son earn during the day, the father takes away the money forcibly, by beating them up.
Manya does find some well wishers around, who help him in the time of need. But, that’s not enough to meet the medical expenses of his ailing mother. So, he works harder to find his way out. But, every time, his selfish father comes in his way. Director Raj Gorde, who also plays one important character of a tea stall owner in this film, has tried to present the reality in the lives of such poor people. He has cleverly shown how Manya is forced to leave his school, to establish his own identity and also highlights the plight of a poor woman, who is exploited by her husband, who has no self respect and doesn’t want to earn for his family.
The entire film focuses on Manya and his efforts to earn money using his skills genuinely, instead of begging. He is also shown kind hearted, when he shares his food with his friend Pappya, who is an orphan. Besides Manya’s family members, there are few other characters in this film, but they don’t find much scope in the screenplay. The first half of the film, goes to show the real face of this place of pilgrimage. But, in the second half the director takes a firm grip on the main characters of Mother , father and their hard working son. It is a depressing story of a family, which has been presented realistically at the banks of river. So, there is no scope for entertainment in this film. The director, who is also a writer of this film could have created some humour to make this film more interesting, kike the way another film ‘Elizabeth Ekadashi’ had done in the past. Incidentally, ‘Elizabeth Ekadashi’ was also set on the backdrop of one such pilgrimage centre Pandharpur. However, ‘Ghat’ has been presented well .
In the lead role of Manya, Yash Kulkarni is highly impressive through his expressions and body language. Mitali Jagtap plays the role of his ailing mother very well. She doesn’t find too many scenes to her share, but in all those scenes, she has proved that she is an actress to be reckoned for awards. After all she is a national award winner actress. In the role of Manya’s father Umesh Jagtap has played an impressive negative character. Good support comes from few others around them in the film. Amol Gole’s cinematography is good and so is sound designing of Mahavir Sabbanwar. Perfect costumes have been designed to suit every character. All in all, ‘Ghaat’ presents a real picture of poverty, which still exists at such places of pilgrimage in Maharashtra.
‘Hampi’ shows the natural remedy for depression
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Movie: Hampi
Rating: ★★★1/2 Genres: Romantic travelogue Censor: U Duration: 130 min. Studio / Presenter: Amol Joshi Productions, Swaroop Recreation & Media Pvt. Ltd Producer(s): Yogesh Bhalerao Director: Prakash Kunte Cast: Sonalee Kulkarni, Lalit Prabhakar, Prajakta Mali, Priyadarshan Jadhav, Chhaya Kadam Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Two years ago the writer and director combo of Aditi Moghe and Prakash Kunte through their film ‘Coffee Aani Barach Kahi‘ offered a very sensible story of a young working IT woman, who takes her own time to choose her life partner. Now, both of them have returned with another Marathi film ‘Hampi‘ to show, how the environment and people around help a young girl discover herself, after visiting a beautiful tourist place ‘Hampi‘.
The film presents Isha( Sonalee Kulkarni ) who is undergoing depression, due to the divorce taking place between her parents, after 28 years of their marriage. So, she visits a place called Hampi in Karnataka, in search of happiness. On her arrival, she first interacts with an auto rickshaw driver R.Ranjit ( Priyadarshan Jadhav ), followed by a Young bachelor in the neighborhood of her hotel room, Kabir ( Lalit Prabhakar ) who after his break up, has fallen in love with this place and the people around. Kabir tries to come closer to Isha, by understanding her problem and suggesting her to change her attitude towards life. Isha also comes across two more people, Ashabai ( Chhaya Kadam ) who sells handicraft items and a Sadhu, who also understand the reason behind her loneliness.
Though Isha doesn’t respond to Kabir’s approach, she starts liking him, after the arrival of her friend Girija ( Prajakta Mali ) who comes all the way from Delhi, to join her for few days. Fun loving Girija openly admires Kabir. But, being her good friend, she wants Isha to choose Kabir as her life partner. One evening, we find a sudden twist in this film. What happens in the climax is anybody’s guess.
But, the film does leave an impact, with the superb handling of the screenplay. ‘Hampi‘ has many plus points. The characters penned by the writer, are developed very well by director Prakash Kunte, paying full attention on their point of view and more importantly their thinking process, which have been shown through their communication process with well written dialogues by Aditi Moghe the writer of this film. Be it, the communication between Kabir & Isha, Isha and Girija, Isha & R.Ranjit, Isha & Ashabai, Isha & Sadhu, they have turned out to be very natural , generating humor at almost every important sequence.
The cinematography of this film is another plus point with Amlendu Choudhari making all efforts to capture the picturesque beauty of this place in all those outdoor scenes. He gives glimpse of his creativity in the very first frame of the film, giving you a hint that this place called Hampi can be counted as one of the lively characters in the film. He finds good support from Poorva Pandit’s art work and Sayali Soman’s dress designs. Film’s background music is also very effective at every situation . Above all, the performances of all the artistes are impressive. Sonali and Lalit display a good chemistry between them. Prajakta Mali finds her entry in this film at the stroke of interval, but she does extremely well to invite the audience attention with her bubbly character for almost next half an hour. This role will surely help her to find better roles in Marathi films. Good support comes from other artistes.
All in all, though ‘Hampi‘ is targeted at youngsters , showing the natural remedy for depression, it also offers good entertainment with its good presentation. You get the feeling that you are on a sight seeing for 95 minutes,to this beautiful place called Hampi .
‘Chhand Priticha’ restores traditional Tamasha art in Marathi films
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Movie: Chhand Priticha
Rating: ★★★ Genres: Drama Censor: UA Duration: 130 min. Studio / Presenter: Premla Pictures Producer(s): Chandrakant Jadhav Director: N. Relekar Cast: Subodh Bhave, Harsh Kulkarni, Suvarna Kale, Sharad Ponkshe, Vikas Samudre Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Tamasha art has always been the traditional form of Marathi theatre in the state of Maharashtra. It has also been the subject of several Marathi films, since 50s. There were many films based on tamasha art, offering plenty of scope for lavani dance and music. In 1972 Late V. Shantaram presented a Tamasha based film ‘Pinjra‘, which turned out to be a super hit film, as it had a very good story. But, after that no tamasha based film could achieve that success till 2010, when ‘Natarang‘ created new records, because of its script and popular dances based on Tamasha art . Later, there was a film ‘Bugadi Majhi Sandali Ga‘ in 2014, which was Miss Universe Manasi Moghe’s debut film, also based on tamasha, but it failed to appeal.
Now, Producer Chandrakant Jadhav and director N.Relekar have dared to present one such film ‘Chhand Priticha‘ based on tamasha art. The film is based on the Marathi play with the same name by the same writer and director, who has succeeded in presenting a different love story, starring a triangle of Subodh Bhave, Harsh Kulkarni & Suvarna Kale in the lead. The film is set on a village backdrop and during the era of 70s , where we find Shahir ( Harsh Kulkarni) from a well to do family and with a big heart, in love with Chandrika Chemburkar ( Suvarna Kale) who is known to her since his childhood. Chandrika is an orphan and daughter of a Tamasha artiste doing domestic work out of compulsion for her living.
When both grow up, Shahir’s Uncle ( Sharad Ponkshe) is opposed to his meeting Chandrika and therefore Shahir leaves the house and decides to start his own tamasha group by borrowing a loan. , He combines his lyrics with Chandrika’s performance. But, the group lacks good music, especially the Dholki, which forms the main instrument of tamasha. So, he goes in search of an artiste. After a long search, he finds a dholki player Rajaram( Subodh Bhave) and his handicapped partner who plays harmonium, who perform on the street corner and beg for their daily earnings. Both of them agree to work with Shahir’s group.They achieve big success. However, watching the talent of Rajaram, Chandrika falls in love with him and is willing to spend all her savings for his eye operation, which is possible only through a donor. Watching his beloved moving towards Rajaram, Shahir feels dejected and when he is insulted by Chandrika, he closes his group and walks away from her life.
The film concludes with an unusual climax. Director Relekar has presented his screenplay well, with very good support coming from all the artistes. Besides Subodh Bhave, who is in parallel hero’s role, the lead pair of Harsh Kulkarni and Suvarna kale have performed very well. Since the film covers the period film of 60s or 70s, Kolhapur boy Harsh Kulkarni has been given a look of former Marathi film hero Suryakant and the Pune girl Suvarna known for her Lavani shows ‘Shukrachi Chandani‘ has proved that she was the best choice for this role. Subodh Bhave does extremely well through his body language, as he plays a blind dholki performer in the film. Good support comes from Vikas Samudre, who has better scope in this film. Sharad Ponkshe is just namesake in this film.
The film does have few flaws. It begins with a flashback from the point, where one jailer notices a doctor in the jail. But, fails to return to that scene. Even, Chandrika’s sudden shift of love from her beloved Shahir to Rajaram, looks somewhat unrealistic. But overall, the film has been well presented, with good technical support such as Jitendra Achrekar’s superb camera work, Santosh Phutane’s remarkable art work and above all Pravin Kunvar‘s wonderful music and background music. Two songs in ‘Chhand Priticha‘ film are picturised very well. The film is targeted at small towns in Maharashtra, but for tamasha music lovers it is a good treat.
‘Thank U Vitthala’ talks about self realisation
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Movie: Thank U Vitthala
Rating: ★★★ Genres: Drama Censor: UA Duration: 130 min. Studio / Presenter: M G K Productions Producer(s): Govardhan Narayan Kale, Gaurav Govardhan Kale, Anjali Singh Director: Devendra Shivaji Jadhav Cast: Mahesh Manjrekar, Makarand Anaspure, Deepak Shirke, Kamalesh Sawant, Smita Shewale, Sunil Godbole, Pradeep Patwardhan, Kishore Chougule, Jaywant Wadkar Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
In our day to day life we come across some people, who are not satisfied with their lives and they envy those, who possess money and power. Latest released Marathi film ‘Thank U Vitthala‘ presents one such character Haribhau Waghmare( Makarand Anaspure ) , who works as a Tiffin Carrier in the city of Mumbai . While delivering the Tiffins, Haribhau comes across many such people and feels that he should live like them. With the blessings of Lord Vithhala ( Mahesh Manjrekar) he gets three chances to experience the lives of three different characters. Not happy with any of them, finally he realises his mistake and decides to live as Haribhau . So, it’s all about self realisation.
This simple story of Haribhau is well presented by writer – director Devendra Jadhav with the help of M.Salim’s humour filled screenplay. There are many scenes which make audience think seriously about the happenings in our society, besides generating humour. At some places, the makers of this film have used the typical masala required for entertainment of masses, like the two item numbers inserted into the screenplay, which were not required for such type of theme in the film. But then, we have borrowed this style from Bollywood films. Few scenes in the film have been extended more than required communication between Haribhau and Vitthal. However, the overall film offers light entertainment with a timely message of ‘self realisation’.
Both Makarand Anaspure and Mahesh Manjrekar are the best choice for their respective roles in ‘Thank U Vitthala‘ film. Makarand in particular has excelled , while portraying variety of characters. Good support also comes from Mausami Tondwalkar, Abhijit Desai, Smita Shewale, Kamlesh Sawant, Purvi Bhave and many others. Music by Rohan Rohan is just fine. The film does offer light entertainment. In short, the theme of this film is good for a change.
‘Faster Fene’ takes you on a fast track
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Movie: Faster Fene
Rating: ★★★1/2 Genres: Drama Censor: UA Duration: 130 min. Studio / Presenter: Mumbai film Company, Zee Studios Producer(s): Genelia Deshmukh, Mangesh Kulkarni Director: Aditya Sarpotdar Cast: Amey Wagh, Parna Pethe, Girish Kulkarni, Dilip Prabhavalkar Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Detective stories are not new to Hindi Films or television. Even in Marathi few years ago, we saw a film like ‘Pune 52‘, which was based on a detective. Latest released Marathi film ‘Faster Fene‘ inspired by Late B.R.Bhagwat’s short stories and developed by Kshitij Patwardhan and directed by Aditya Sarpotdar is a detective story with a difference. It literally takes the audience on a fast track, while uncovering a biggest education scam.
In this film Banesh Fene( Amey Wagh) a youngster who comes to Pune to appear for Medical Entrance Exam, takes halt at Old Writer Bhagwat ‘s ( Dilip Prabhavalkar) house known to his family and is required to extend his stay there to detect a biggest education scam. Actually, at the exam centre Fene comes across another student Dhanesh Lanjekar , who seems to be all prepared for the exams. But, next day, when Fene is about to leave for his home town, he reads a newspaper story about the sad news of Dhanesh committing suicide. Out of curiosity, he decides to stay back and with his hobby of detecting the strange happenings, starts investigating the cause of Dhanesh’s death.
In his endeavor he finds support from his childhood friend turned trainee journalist Aboli( Parna Pethe), an auto rickshaw driver Ambadas ( Siddharth Jadhav ) and a street child Bhu Bhu ( Shubham More )who is offered shelter by Mr. Bhagwat. There are many interesting happenings in this film, while Fene encounters the most dangerous middle man involved in the biggest education scam Appa ( Girish Kulkarni ) . Screenplay and dialogue writer Kshitij Patweardhan and director Aditya Sarpotdar have very cleverly succeeded in uncovering the scam with the help of their main character of Fene. What is more appreciating is the subject dealt in this film, which is very timely.
There is no doubt that Amey Wagh who has all round experience of stage, television and films has given his best in the lead role, but Girish Kulkarni as a villain in this film is highly impressive. But, his role has been extended more than required in the second half of the film, especially in the scene while travelling in a PMT bus. Good support comes from artistes Dilip Prabhavalkar, Siddharth Jadhav, Parna Pethe, Shubham More, Shrikant Yadav and others. This film does not have a single song, but the background music by Troy Arif is remarkable and so is the sound design by Pramod Chandorkar and Pranay Pansare. Art Director Nikhil Kovale and photographer Milind Jog have also helped to make this film more presentable. Certainly a worth watch film. Don’t miss it.