Rating: na Producer: Poonam Shende Director: Satish Motling Story: Atmaram Dharne Screenplay: Atmaram Dharne Cinematographer: Satish Motling Music: Abhijeet Rameshrao Kawthalkar Cast: Jitendra Joshi, Santosh Juvekar, Sushant Shelar, Rajesh Shringarpure, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Usha Nadkarni, Minal Ghorpade, Surekha Kudachi, Megha Dhade, Yogini Cho Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

Well, we all know that there was a time when Underworld almost ruled Mumbai and that enabled the terrorists to strike the dream city during early 1993. But, after that many underworld dons have gone underground, some of them killed in rival gang firing, while others were killed in Police encounters. New Marathi film ‘Matter’ throws light on such underworld operations in Mumbai during that period and how they influenced the unemployed youth, who were either in remand homes or jail.

Director Satish Motling presents four young friends Pakya, Babya, Raja and Rony ( played by Santosh Juvekar, Jitendra Joshi, Sushant Shelar and Rajesh Shringarpure) and the happenings in their individual life, through his film ‘Matter’, which is an action packed drama on the backdrop of corrupt politicians and their nexus with the underworld. The image of Police is however shown clean, but it is shown that even they play their tricks when the time comes to eliminate the most corrupt politician and the underworld dons, with a slogan ‘Mumbai Saaf toh Sau Gunhe Maaf’.

So, you find a ATS Chief Vikramm Pradhan (Sameer Dharmadhikari) doing this thankless job to achieve his motto. Sulbhatai (Usha Nadkarni) who is in power in the state uses both the underworld gangs for her own benefit. So, the ATS chief implements his plans after the death of his superior. But, even if you cut the roots, there is no complete end to crime. The operators, who are lucky to escape, take shelter in some other country to operate their business in Mumbai. There is a character of Maxi (Minal Ghorpade), a girl living in a chawl, in silent love with Babya. In most of the scenes, she keeps on giving the same smile and looks to her favorite boy and suddenly reacts, when he admits his love. Having known his background, she finally marries Babya, much against the wish of her parents.

Pakya (Santiosh Juvekar), falls in love with ATS chief’s sister (Yogini Chouk), when he saves her life from the custody of his Don, as she is picked up on mistaken identity. Rony (Rajesh Shrigarpure) is in love with a bar dancer (Megha Dhade) and Raja (Sushant
Shelar) who is offered shelter by a woman, active in gambling business (Surekha Kudachi) is shown more focused on his work and is self centred. He is shown as the most shrewd gangster, who gets his reward at the end.

Sushant Shelar for the first time has a prominent role. Till now, in spite of being a talented actor, he never had an opportunity to prove his mettle. But, this film would certainly fetch him better roles in films. The other three heroes – Rajesh Shrigarpure, Jitendra Joshi and Santosh Juvekar are at their best, but there are no suitable dialogues offered to them to create greater impact. Pakya utters the same slang on more than a dozen occasions. The villain Bala instead of uttering much, keeps on tilting his neck to make the cracking sound repeatedly. The conversation among the four friends does not create the desired effect, as it should have been otherwise. However, Usha Nadkarni in her own style has tried to make her presence felt, as a selfish politician. Sameer Dharmadhikari is good, but he doesn’t have much scope.

In the film, the female characters do not have much of importance, being a male dominated film. However, Yogini Chouk and Megha Dhade have tried to give their best through those few scenes to their credit. There are few other artistes like Javed Hyder, Anita Vishwasrao, Digvijay Rohidas, Ashok Kulkarni, Mahesh Kokate, Narayan Jadhav, Deepak Vetkar and Jitendra Awhad playing different characters. There is no doubt about the excellent cinematography by the director himself; but, the more than required songs on the same item style, diverts the attention of the audience from the ongoing screenplay. Some of the scenes have been unnecessarily extended, like the gang wars, the wedding scene of Maxi, the police torture and those slow motion effects used on few occasions.

‘Matter’ is otherwise a true presentation of facts about the happenings in the lives of people associated with the underworld and corrupt practices. At the end of the film, the sensible audience is convinced that the director hasn’t glorified the underworld, like the way Bollywood films do. He has been realistic in his approach, barring few scenes. ‘Matter’ can be called an action film, filled with violence and rough language; and those who love to watch such films, shouldn’t miss it. For others, it is just another film on gangsters in Mumbai and their lifestyle.