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Genres: Action,Drama Censor: U Duration: 120 min. Studio / Presenter: Swami Samarth Movies Creation Producer: Anirban Sarkar DOP: Kedar Gaikwad Director: Digpal Lanjekar Cast:  Mrunmayee Deshpande, Prasad Oak, Chinmay Mandlekar, Mrinal Kulkarni, Ajay Purkar, Ankit Mohan, Neha Joshi, Harish Dudhade, Aastad Kale, Nikhil Raut, Rahul Mehendale, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Pravin Tarde, Anshuman Vichare Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

There have been many feature films made in Marathi on popular rulers of India who fought against the invasion by outsiders. And one of them was Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. But, behind every successful King there are many unsung heroes, whose bravery acts are not known to all, especially the new generation. There is enough scope to make films on their lives and latest released Marathi film ‘Farzand’ is the best example.

Being a period film, the story of this film revolves around one such brave Soldier from Chhhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s army. Little before his official crowning ceremony , Shivaji Maharaj feels that his main wish hasn’t been fulfilled yet and hence insists that his crowning ceremony will be held only after capturing the historical Panhala Fort, Off. Kolhapur. So, he selects a brave young fighter Kondaji Farzand trained by his ex commander Late Tanaji Malusare, to lead the attack.

Being the most difficult task, the Kind asks Farzand how many soldiers in thousands he would need, but the brave hero opts for only 60 best soldiers to be part of his team. With his Special 60, Farzand plans his  tricky attack, which has been skilfully pictured by director Digpal Lanjekar with the help of action director Prashant Naik and expert cinematographer Kedar Gaikwad.

However, this 155 minute length film has wasted a lot of time in unwanted conversations and  few action scenes, especially in post interval and climax part, which is the only drawback of this film. Also there is lot of bloodshed with continuous stabbing  during the actual battle, in the climax, which could have been avoided with the help of special effects.   Otherwise, the director has succeeded in offering the best talent from among the Marathi artistes, including the hero Ankit Mohan playing the title role, who is a non Maharashtrian. In the role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj , Chinmay Mandlekar is very convincing. In the role of Jijamata, Mrinal Kulkarni has given her best by modulating her voice very well to suit her older character. Prasad Oak has found a good role of Bahirji Naik and he succeeds in bringing some humour into this war film. Good support comes from other artistes like Mrunmayee Deshpande, Harish Dudhade, Astaad Kale, Neha Joshi, Nikhil Raut and above all Sameer Dharmadhikari, who has portrayed the cruel Moghul King Beshak Khan effectively.

Overall, it is a good effort from film maker Digpal Lanjekar. Those who like to watch war films based on Maratha history, would certainly love to watch this film.