Rating: na Presenter: Uttara Food and Feeds Pvt. Ltd. Producer: Bala Entertainments Story, Screenplay, Lyrics, Direction: Mahesh Tilekar Camera: Debu Deodhar Dialogues: Mukund Taksaale Music: Kamlesh Bhadkamkar Cast: Tushar Dalvi, Varsha Usgaonkar, Bharat jadhav, Dipali Sayyed, Aniket Vishwasrao, Smita Shewale, Subodh Bhave, Resham Tipnis, Sanjay Narvekar, Krani Redkar…. Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

It looks like that our Marathi film makers are devoid of good scripts. In the name of comedy, today they are offering anything that is available ready made. As it is, over the years our Bollywood has offered them so much to imitate in Marathi that the search becomes much easier. Director Mahesh Tilekar’s latest film ‘Laadi Godi’ is one such experiment where you will find lots of popular Marathi artistes together to mock the styles of Bollywood personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra,Jitendra, Hema Malini, Sridevi, Rekha, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri, Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. Oh, sorry! The list is not over. There is Govinda and Karishma too.

So, using the names of these stars in the respective characters in this film, our Marathi stars comprising of Tushar Dalvi, Sanjay Narvekar, Subodh Bhave, Kranti Redkar, Resham Tipnis, Varsha Usgaonkar, Aniket Vishwasrao, Smita Shewale, Bharat Jadhav, Deepali Syed , Vijay Chavan and Kishori Ambiye have tried their best to mock them. In addition to that Shweta Shinde plays an abrupt role of an auto rickshaw driver just for two scenes. Now, if you try to measure the length of their roles, it will be noticed that they are all on a picnic at a guest house.

Now, to say something about the film’s story, Just as our three heroines – Rekha, Hema and Sridevi hate men the three heroes played by Amit, Daharmendra and Jitendra hate women. The main hero of the film Rajesh keeps on making frequent appearances in between the screenplay in different forms, begging before the three women to vacate his bunglow, as his newly wedded wife Sharmila would only then agree to celebrate their honeymoon there. One wonders, as to why he couldn’t celebrate his honeymoon elsewhere? But, then how would the film progress further? So, Rajesh seeks help from the trio comprising of Amit, Dharmendra and Jitendra to drive away these three women from his bungalow. He accommodates them on the Ground floor.

In comes Anil( Aniket) , who has been brought up by the three men in absence of his father and also Madhuri ( Smita Shewale) who has grown up in the shelter of the three women in absence of her mother. While Anil- Madhuri fall in love with each other, in spite of the opposition of their uncles and aunties; the two attendants of the bungalow- Govinda and karishma also fall for each other in a filmi style . Obviously, watching these two couples, the tenants find each other’s match. And with that we see happy ending of the film.
Such a kind of comedy, where every star tries to mock a bollywood personality suits well in a mimicry item on the stage in a reality show or even to that extent in a stage play, where they are provided the liberty to perform the way they want. But, the same experiment may not necessarily work in a cinema. In Maharashtra, we have different type of audience for drama and movie. The taste differs, as the presentation forms are different. There are few exceptions, where the scripts of both a drama or a movie are based on a real story or suspense filled fiction. However, in the case of ‘Laadi Godi’ it is only mockery of Bollywood, without any specific purpose. So, just by naming the characters with these popular Bollywood personalities, failed to invite the attention of all. The presentation has to be very perfect to create that spontaneous laughter. And frankly speaking, that does not happen in ‘Laadi Godi’.

The biggest flaw in the screenplay is that the sequences haven’t been properly placed in the order. When Anil walks in the house with gifts for his uncles, he presents Jitendra a pair of white shoes, which he is shown wearing in a previous scene. Sanjay Narvekar plays the scene of ‘Sholay’ in a typical Dharmendra style climbing on the top of the water tank, addressing the villagers; but there are no villagers around. There is only Hema. One can understand that while watching such films in a theatre , you have to leave your logical thinking process behind; but, that does not mean that the film maker should taste the patience of the audience. ‘Laadi Godi’ has thus turned out to be just another ordinary marathi film, certainly not for multiplex audience. Late Debu Deodhar, however leaves his mark as a cinematographer; as this is the last film he did before his untimely death. So, is the case with Nilu Phule, who makes a guest appearance in this film.