Rating: ★★★ ½ Studio/presenter: Caffe Kameras Producer: Y. M. Deosthalee Writer, Director: Sachin Kundalkar Dialogues: Sachin Kundalkar Music: Debarpito, Adrian D’suza, Tejas Modak Director of Photography: Arjun Sorte Editor: Abhijeet Deshpande Genres: Drama Censor: U/A Duration: 135 Min. Cast: Atul Kulkarni, Sachin Khedekar, Mrinal Kulkarni, Satish Alekar, Jyoti Subash, Siddharth Menon, Alok Rajwade, Mrinmayee Godbole, Krutika Deo,Pournima Manohar, Rahul Mehendale, Amitriyan Patil, Suhani Dhadphale Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

Western culture has a lot of influence on our today’s youngsters. And, film maker & writer Sachin Kundalkar has lot to say on this, through his latest released Marathi film ‘Rajwade & Sons’, which presents three generations of a high profile joint business family, from Pune. Set on the backdrop of this historical city, which is known for preserving the traditional Maharashtrian culture, we find Ramesh Rajwade( Satish Alekar) , managing his family’s customary Goldsmith business very well, with the help of his two sons( Vidyadhar( Sachin Khedekar), Shubhankar ( Atul Kulkarni) and son in law Vaibhav( Rahul Mehendale). Vaibhav ,who is married to Rajwade’s daughter Laxmi ( Mrunal Kulkarni) , lives with the Rajwade family.

Ramesh Rajwade is a disciplined man and wants every member of the family to follow the set of rules. Now, let’s introduce other members of the family. Sushila Rajwade ( Jyoti Subhash) is the wife of this head of the family. Sarita( Purnima Manohar) is the wife of Vidyadhar and the couple has two children, Anay ( Alok Rajwade) and Shweta( Krutika Deo). Laxmi & Vaibhav also have two children, Virajas( Siddharth Menon) & Ananya( Mrunmayee Godbole), while Shubhankar, who is a widower, has only a teenager daughter  Tanmaya(Suhani Dhadphale), the youngest member of the family. And, how can we forget to introduce the pet dog Bubble Gum?

So, with this big team of a joint family, we see the happening of a big drama, after the sudden arrival of  the missing member of the family- handsome Vikram (Amitriyan Patil) . And, it is Vikram who brings in the desired change, required in the family, playing a perfect balance, between the older  and younger generation.

The film actually talks about the mind set  of each member of the family. And, therefore it may relate to ,many such people from the well to do joint families. All that the film maker has to convey through his film, is a message for all those parents, not to block their children’s wish, if they want to  pursue a particular career. But, All said and done through the film’s screenplay, it certainly makes you think, as to how the film would relate to middle class and lower middle class families? Anyway, the intention of the film maker being good, it is to be appreciated that he has attempted something different in Marathi films. He has certainly created that atmosphere of a rich family, clearly showing, how the young generation thinks differently, unlike their parents and grandparents, when it comes to fulfilling their dreams. The makers of this film, have cleverly endorsed many products through this film.

Director Sachin Kundalkar has lot more to convey, through some interesting happenings in the lives of almost all the family members, excluding the grandparents and Vidyadhar, who is the most obedient elder son of Rajwade family. There are lot many references to different places in Pune and hence Punekars may relate more closely with this film. Wonderful performances of all the artistes, makes this film more effective. In the role of Vikram, Amitriyan Patil adds that special flavour to this film. One fails to understand, as to why he was not used in the publicity campaign of the film? Perhaps, they wanted to surprise all.

The film has very good music and background music to suit the requirement of the subject. Arjun Sorte’s cinematography, wonderful art direction and effective sound designing, are the other assets of the film.