‘Ashach Eka Betavar’ takes you on a mystery filled journey
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Rating: na
Banner: Srushti Films Producers: Leena Bala Nandgaonkar, Divakar Sawant, Javed Pathan Director: Sanju Hinge Music: Milind Joshi Cinematography: Raju K. G. Cast: Sanjay Narvekar, Ankush Chaudhari, Madhura Velankar-Satam, Sai Tamhankar, Sanjay Mone, Yatin Karyekar, Mangesh Desai, Sharad Ponkshe, Kamalesh Sawant, Punam Jadhav, Sharad Gadgil, Shreya Kadam, Dinesh Salvi, Vaishnavi Naik, Suresh Dol, Ram Budke, Archana Tendulkar, Sangeeta Sane, Hrishikesh Shastri, Sumit Mane, Vedang Patkar Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
So many films have been made in the past, which were inspired by Agatha Christie’s best selling world famous novel- ‘And Then There Were None’, which had sold over 100 million copies. A film was also made with the same name, which was an adaptation of the novel. But, when a stage play was attempted in UK, with the name ‘Ten Little Niggers’; few changes were made in the script. The stage play continued in USA, thereafter, with the title ‘Ten Little Indians’.
In 1965, Raja Nawathe directed a Hindi film ‘Gumnam’, which was also inspired by this English stage play and not the original novel, as in the original novel, all the guests in the bungalow get killed and the man behind the killings, finally ends his life. Now, we find a new Marathi film, also inspired by the English play ‘Ten Little Indians’, which was also based on Agatha Christie’s creation. So, we find eight strangers coming together on an island to find their accommodation in a bungalow, surrounded by dense forest. They are welcomed by a Butler ( Sanjay Narvekar) and his wife ( Poonam Jadhav) who attend to them.
Ankush Choudhari, Ashach Eka BetawarDuring their first dinner itself, a recorded message accuses each one of them of the crimes committed by them. They all question the butler, asking him about the man behind the scene. When all of them are convinced that like them, even the Butler has been invited to serve them; they start suspecting each other. As the mystery remains, two of them are found murdered, one after the other, little before interval. Before that, the director takes time to narrate in brief the lifestyle of Mumbai through the voice of Nana Patekar, since all these people belong to Mumbai. He also takes you quickly into the flashback, showing the background of six of the guests, while they are travelling in an imported motor boat, on their way to the island.
At the stroke of interval, there are six guests left, besides the Butler and his wife. Aakash( Ankush Choudhary) and Ameeta (Madhura Velankar ) being treated as lead pair, come closer during this period; while the bar dancer Shabana( Sai Tamhankar) becomes the favourite of DD (Yatin karyekar). A doctor (Sanjay Mone) and a professional criminal ( Kamlesh Sawant) are looked upon as suspects, in this mysterious drama. As the screenplay progresses, you find at least two twists in the screenplay of this film; only to surprise you in the climax about the man behind the killings.
Chintan Mokashi’s screenplay possesses the required strength, to create the desired impact in this captivating murder mystery, which is new to Marathi cinema. His dialogues with Sanjay Pawar also create the combined effect of fear and humour, according to the changing situation. The character of Sanjay Narvekar has been cleverly used to nullify the continuous effect of terror. Director Sanju Hinge has done a brilliant job in generating anxiety after each murder sequence, for which he deserves compliments.
The background music and sound effects have been well paced in this film to generate curiosity at every stage, especially after interval. The film has only three songs composed by Milind Joshi, out of which two songs in Hindi are picturised on Shabana, during pre interval stage .The third one is played in the background, immediately after interval. Editing work by Kshitij Pavaskar and Abhijit Girulkar is good, compared to the Hindi version ‘Gumnam’ based on the adaptation of same play. The cinematography by Raju K.G. is very effective to create that desired impact, at every moment in the film.
Among the artistes, Ankush Choudhary, Madhura Velankar, Sai Tamhankar , Yatin karyekar, Sanjay Mone and Sanjay Narvekar find better scope to display their acting skills, at different situations. Kamlesh Sawant finds some scope in three scenes; but talented actors like Sharad Ponkshe and Mangesh Desai are treated like guest artistes in this film. The same is the case with Ponam Jadhav .
The plot in the film is gripping, though it has some resemblance to 1965 Bollywood film ‘Gumnam’; which is also inspired by Agatha Christie’s creation. The reason for the assembly of guests is different. By the way, the Bikini scene of Sai hasn’t been there in ‘Gumnam’, as the Bollywood actress Helen was shown in Mini skirt at the beach. One good thing is that, the makers of this film have admitted that they were inspired by Agatha Christie’s work. Now, how you give treatment to this subject in cinematic format, is all that important and makers of ‘Ashach Eka Betavar’ have succeeded in offering their best to Marathi film lovers. It’s a well presented murder mystery. Finally, what Agatha Christie had said, has a point here. “Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend.”
‘Target’ designed for youth audience
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Rating: na
Producer: Jagdish Unecha, Rakesh Unech Presenter: J. K. Movies Director: Vivek Gore,. Rajesh Kolam Camera: Sandeep Patil Choreographer: Umesh Jadhav Music: Abhijeet Kawthalkar, Jeetendra Kulkarni Cast: Sanjay Narvekar, Ankush Chaudhari, Siddharth Jadhav, Swapnil Joshi, Kranti Deddkar,Tejaswini Pandit, Smita Gondkar, Vinay Apate, Sanjay More Movie Review by: Sandeep |
J. K. Movies new marathi film ‘Target’ is an action filled political thriller with a dose of youth angst. The story is about five idle friends Sanjubhai (Sanjay Narvekar) who thinks he is a ‘bhai’, Anky(Ankush Chowdhary) a builder’s son, who is a skirt chaser, Swapnil(Swapnil Joshi) -politician Vishwasrao’s (Vinay Apte’s) son, who is disillusioned with his father, the Home Minister of the state finding no time for his family,Sattar( Siddharth Jadhav)- a meat shop owner’s son with a penchant for the handycam and Paddy (Bhushan Kadu) -a pizza delivery boy.
These boys become friends with three girls played by Kranti Redkar, Tejaswini Pandit and Smita Gondkar after a lot of minor tiffs. Once, they attend a rave party in a farmhouse in a jungle, where a cop (Vivekanand Gore) tries to arrest Swapnil for drugs possession but then all the friends run helter shelter in the jungle and then they see a child sacrifice being performed in the jungle and then chance upon another boy who is kidnapped.
They rescue him but the bad guys are after them and whether they survive in the jungle and get the villains into jail and solve the ‘sacrifice’ mystery is the plot of the film.
The film moves at a brisk speed once the characters are established and the adventures captured in the jungle are really thrilling. Director duo Vivekanand Gore and Rajesh Kolan give the film a kind of ‘LOST’ series look and those umpteen teen campus drive-in movies that were a rage in the US in the 80’S. The political angle is a much repeated track.
The performances by the artistes are good, especially Kranti Redkar and Sanjay Narvekar. Swapnil Joshi plays a serious type of role with conviction. The cinematography by Sandeep Patil is slick, especially the jungle sequences. Cameos by Vinay Apte and Sanjay Mone are impressive. The item number by Manasi Naik was unnecessary.The music by Jeetendra Kulkarni and Abhijeet Kavthalkar is not up-to the mark.
The editor Sarvesh Parab could have used more pace in the first half. In all, the film will appeal to the youth and is good for a lazy evening hangout, when you need the air-conditioned ambience of a multiplex.
‘Ringa Ringa’ nearing completion
Nishad Audio Visual Pvt Ltd are almost on the verge of completion of the shooting of their new film ‘Ringa Ringa’, which is an action packed thriller. After the success of ‘Chekmate‘ and ‘Bokya Satbande‘, producer Kanchan Satpute has paid more attention on making this film more entertaining suited to today’s audience. She has made a right choice in Sanjay Jadhav, who will be directing this film based on his own script. Sanjay, a talented cinematographer, who has recently won V. Shantaram Award for best Cinematography for ‘Jogwa’.
‘Ringa Ringa’ has been shot on the backdrop of picturesque Goa, where the film’s script revolves around a character Rangrao, with criminal background who turns a politician. The film picturises the ups and downs in his journey to politics. With Ajinkya deo playing a totally different role in this film, the other popular star cast comprise of Sonali Kulkarni, Bharat Jadhav, Ankush Choudhary, Santosh Juvekar, Sanjay Mone, Udhay Sabnis, Jayant Savarkar, Kamlesh Sawant and Aditi Govitrikar. Art direction by Mahesh Salgaonkar, Sound by Mandar Kulkarni, Choreography by Umesh Jadhav & Rajesh Bidwe, Editing by Amit Pawar, Screenplay-dialogues by Amol Shetge, co-producers Shvababa Naik and Suresh Pai , Lyrics by Guru Thakur and music by Ajay-Atul are the other credits of the film. The film will be ready for release during next two months time.
‘ULADHAAL’ REVIEW
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Rating: ★★1/2
Producer: Vishwas Films Director: Aditya Sarpotdar Script, Screenplay, Dialogues: Rajesh Kolan,Vijay Patwardhan, Aditya Sarpotdar Camera: Sanjay Nair Music: Ajay-Atul Cast: Makarand Anaspure, Bharat Jadhav, Ankush Chaudhari, Siddharth Jadhav, Lokesh Gupte, Subodh Bhave, Madhura Movie Review by: Jitendra More |
Have you ever watched a Marathi movie with a perfect blend of all the genres of cinema? Well, veteran actors and directors concerned with the future of the industry do not have to worry anymore when there are directors like Aditya Sarpotdar coming up with debut movies like Ulaadhal.
The plot might look simple on paper but the way in which Sarpotdar connects the actors with the storyline is something that shapes up the movie.
Sayajirao’s (Makarand Anaspure) 250-year-old dhaal (shield), which has been safeguarded by generations is stolen by Guru (Subodh Bhave). Guru is helped by Sayajirao’s men after they are promised a share in the money that would come after selling off the dhaal. Guru, however, has other plans. He kills Sayajirao’s men but Baban (Lokesh Gupte) manages to save himself. He chases Guru, who is on his way to Goa to sell the dhaal.
When Sayajirao finds out the betrayal by his men, he determines to kill those who have been disloyal to him.
In Goa, Baban hires small thieves Vickey (Ankush Chaudhary), Bharat Jadhav and their partners in crime, Neha and Preeti (Aditi Sarangdhar and Madhura Velankar) to steal the dhal from Guru. While Sayajirao and his men get hold of Baban, Vickey and his partners fight out their nerves against the brutal Guru. Unable to find Baban, they decide to sell the dhal themselves. They ask Sikandar (Siddharth Jadhav), a dealer in selling stolen items to find a prospect buyer for the dhal. Sikandar ends up narrowing down on Guru. This is where the entire Ulaadhal or commotion begins.
The elements of a commercial cinema like the designer clothes and exotic locations of Goa and Mauritius take the movie a step ahead of the everyday movies. Scriptwriter Rajesh Kolan has maintained the seriousness, humour, and thrill that keep the logical element of the movie in place.
The lead actors Makarand Anaspure, Subodh Bhave, Bharat Jadhav and Ankush Chaudhary have given strong performances. Anaspure has moved nicely from his usual comic roles to a serious man-of-honour, who is proud of his family heritage and is ready to give his life to save the dhal. Bharat Jadhav and Siddharth Jadhav, as a Hydrabadi Kabadiwala add to the comedy element in the story. The appearances of Mahesh Manjrekar as an ‘item number’ and Nirmal Pandey as Tony are unnecessary but add to the glamour. What scores is the music by Ajay- Atul, the lyrics that have a fusion of Marathi, Hindi, and English words and the direction of Sarpotdar. All kudos to the Ulaadhal team.
latest marathi film review: CHECKMATE
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Rating: na
Company: Nishad Audio Visuals Producer: Kanchan Satpute & Chandrashekhar Mahamuni Story, Screenplay, Cinematography & Direction: Sanjay Jadhav Dialogues: Vivek Apte Music: Sunil Kaushik Cast: Ankush Chaudhari, Swapnil Joshi, Sanjay Narvekar, Rahul Mehandale, Vinay Apte, Anand Abhyankar and Sonali khare Movie Review by: Saurabh Karnik |
Amazing cinematography. Awesome editing. Stunning special effects. Hey, I am not stating here specialties of Hollywood, nor I am talking about any latest Bollywood movie! These are major characteristics of our own Marathi movie ‘Checkmate’. Thanks to Sanjay Jadhav and his all team, who gifted such a beautiful movie to audiences.
It is a challenge for any writer to describe the story on paper. The story develops in front of audiences through various small pieces, which are the part of a puzzle. When all the pieces fix at appropriate position, puzzle gets solved and audiences understand complete story with a sudden shock. The story moves around three young guys who were cheated through fake financial scheme. Unfortunately all of them lost all their precious money that they had collected by cheated somebody. Now they come together and make a plan to recover their money.
So the story is all about implementation of the plan and troubles that had been faced while implementation. Everyone treat himself, as the master of the game and thus everyone became just a pawn for other character. But actual master of the game comes forward only at the end of the movie. Of course the remaining story has to be seen on screen itself and I promise all the readers that it is just a thrilling experience to watch it on a big screen. Sanjay Jadhav- one of the best cameraman in the industry has taken a huge risk in his directorial debut to come up with such kind of risky story. One small mistake in presentation could have been destroyed the whole film. But he trusted his own abilities and as a result Marathi Film Industry got such a wonderful movie.
Ankush Chaudhari, Swapnil Joshi, Sanjay Narvekar, Rahul Mehandale, Vinay Apte, Anand Abhyankar and Sonali khare are the main star-cast of the movie. None of them our new to us, and everybody has acted impressively. But Swpanil Joshi is the real surprising package for viewers. We have seen him in many hindi and Marathi serials, but none of those gave him a chance to show his real skills. This was his first opportunity had made no mistake. His ‘bolbacchangiri’, facial expressions and even dialog delivery is extremely good. Ankush, Vinay and Sanjay are as good as expected. Sonali doesn’t have much scope in the film.
As I stated earlier, technical side is the real strength of the movie. Sanjay Jadhav himself handled camera, cinematography, and direction and he did every job perfectly. Sunil Kaushik’s background music adds good essence in the story.
Marthi Film Industry had never faced shortage of good stories or actors. It was the technical part, where it was lacking. With this movie we can surely say that the industry has came over this aspect also. We can surely consider it as a new beginning and if others will also follow Sanjay, golden days of Marathi Film Industry are not long away.
‘SADE MAADE TEEN’ REVIEW
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Rating: na
Presenter: Zee Talkies Producers: Anubhuti Art Director: Ankush Chaudhari – Sachit Patil Music: Ajit Parabh – Hrishikesh Kamerkar Cast: Ashok Saraf, Makarand Anaspure, Bharat Jadhav, Siddharth Jadhav, Amruta Khanvilkar, Sujata Joshi… Movie Review by: Nayana |
What do u get when you put together 3 brilliant marathi actors and give a Desi Tadka of oldie Chalti ka naam gaadi? Simple…! This makes a new massala movie in marathi. A few years back Mahesh Kothare tried such a Tadka in his “Dhumdhadaka’ which was based on ‘Pyar Kiye jaa’, and marathi movie industry rejuvenated. Else marathi film was stucked in a wicked savkar(money lander)/ jamindar(landowner) and sasurvashin/ saas bahu type, so called ‘bechari bahu’ , and overflowing buckets of tears with sobbing women coming out of the cinema halls. It was Mahesh Kothare (Dhumdhadaka) and Sachin Pilgaonkar’s (Navari mile navryala) efforts, which really dragged marathi film out of such stuff.
When one started speaking about marathi films 2types of reflex actions suddenly blown on – one is with twisting faces ‘We don’t like to watch marathi films’, and another one with a deep sigh ‘Gone those golden days of marathi films’!!
History repeated and aapale Sachit Patil and Ankush Chaudhary along with Zee talkies and Anubhuti Arts entered in film production with ‘Saade Maade Teen’. Na!! It’s not a remake or replica, but it’s a metamorphosis of the same theme bloomed in the marathi mati. Ofcourse, inspired from ‘Chalti ka nam Gadi’ one of Kishor Kumar’s debut film, the film is a rib-tickling comedy set against the backdrop of Garage, filled with ‘Ek ladki bhigi…’ type ‘barasat’ ka gana or may be ‘panch rupaiyya’ type, leading to hilarious situations!
While this film promises to be potential blockbuster this year, it also makes the launch of Zee Talkies brand.
The story is of 3 brothers- the family head ‘Dada’ (Ashok Saraf) and his 2 brothers Madan (Makarand Anaspure) and Chandan (Bharat Jadhav), running their Kurale garage. The younger duo never dares to go against dada’s wish. Dada is a character who hates female because of his first crush. A gal (Sukanya Kulkarni) betrayed him after a marriage proposal.
Obviously, when 2 gals enters in the life of the younger ones, the chaos evoked, and both caught in dilemma of the threat of Dada and emotional attachments. Here enters the Villain to create obstacle between the life of our dupe Chandan, and opulent Madhura. Now guess who help this couple? So after removing all the barricades, the smashing end of the film…
Sachit and Ankush played a safe game. Well, half battle was already won by casting these trios, and afterwards director didn’t allow Makarand and Bharat to rove from the basic storyline. Even they haven’t added their famous accent shown in other films and used them tactfully as never seen before.
A little but most important thing, if they could use the Ashok saraf’s caliber more effectively, as the role offered to him is less challengeable as compare to his capacity, the film would be definitely full 2 dhamal!!!
Else nothing to say about their fantastic tuning, understanding, and coordination. Instead our wise audience won’t accept such a dupe characters. Needless to say Minor mistake like winning applause by repeating same dialogue excusable!!
Dialogues by Sanjay Mone satisfy you. Well, its not a burst of laughter in fact the film doesn’t need it, but more sharp dialogues would keep the film at great height surely.
The directors have taken some kind of support of farcical comedy. The climax fighting comes in the form of farce. Of course no one expects smashing de danadan fighting as it is not an action film, but still…..missing something in this shot only. Otherwise the film takes you from smiling to chuckling and then giggling. Overall a fresh comedy!!!
Ankush Chaudhari, Actor
