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‘Dhag’ is a path breaking Marathi film
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Rating: ★★★ ½
Studio / Presenter: Jayashree Motion Picture Producer: Vishal Pandit Gaware Director: Shivaji Lotan Patil Screenplay: Nitin Dixit Cinematographer: Naagraj Editor: Nilesh Gavand, Cast: Upendra Limye, Usha Jadhav, Hansraj Jagtap, Nagesh Bhosale, Suhasini Deshpande, Neha Dakhinkar Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
There have It is very difficult to know the reason for delay in releasing this path breaking Marathi film ‘Dhag’ during the year 2013, when the film had won National award for best direction and in best actress category, besides receiving special mention of the Jury for the child artiste, in March 2013. But, if this film was released last year, it would have made a big difference. However, it is always ‘better late than never’.
‘Dhag’ is now finally released this week. Produced by Vishal Pandit Gavare and directed by Shivaji Lotan Patil, the film was also highly appreciated by the critics at 2012 PIFF and Goa Int Film Fest. It also received the appreciation of Jury, including Academy awards winner Resul Pookutty. The film had also received appreciation from dignitaries like Saie Paranjape & Shabana Azmi. Last year, the film had won 6 awards in Ma Ta Sanman
Needless to say that ‘Dhag’ is an off beat Marathi film, which revolves around a teenager Krishna (Hansraj Jagtap), living in a village with his father Shripati (Upendra Limaye), who operates at the only crematorium in that village. Mother Yashoda (Usha Jadhav) a housewife, an old Grandmother and a younger sister are his other family members. Krishna doesn’t seem to be interested in carrying forward the family tradition of managing a crematorium and hence prefers to study at a village school. He even does a part time job at a juice centre, besides attending school, when he finds that his family is facing financial crisis. However, the harsh comments from his teacher about his family’s profession, forces him to drop out of the school.
The film goes on to show how Krishna’s family is solely dependent on the money earned during the last rites performed and hence, when there are no deaths in the village, Shripati has to find some temporary work at his friend- Mangya’s workshop. Still, he doesn’t get paid for his services, as his friend’s wife is ill and bed ridden. One day, Shripati dies of snake bite and the whole family is traumatized. Mangya takes care of the family; but, Krishna and his mother are hesitant to approve his help. Krishna’s grandmother also warns her daughter-in-law about Mangya’s intentions of being so generous. When Krishna hears their discussion, he realizes his duty at that time. So, he steps into his father’s shoes; and also starts attending school for a better future.
‘Dhag’ is a very realistic and thought provoking film. Director Shivaji Lotan Patil, who had earlier directed a sensational film ‘Vaavtal’, offers this sensible subject . The film has one national award winning actor Upendra Limaye and with Usha Jadhav also winning the national award for best actress, for her performance in this film; whatever praise about their performances will be less. Usha has already received compliments from Bollywood, with her selection in ‘Bhootnath 2′ in presence of Amitabh Bachchan. Upendra has limited scope; but, he has impressed through his role. Moreover the director also having won the National award for best direction, goes on to say everything about his excellent work. But, the talented child actor Hansraj, who also received special mention from the Jury at the last national awards, deserves all the praise.
The performance of this child artiste, is more appealing in the film. Good support also comes from supporting artistes Nagesh Bhosle, Suhasini Deshpande, and Neha Dakhinkar . Excellent presentation of Screenplay by Nitin Dixit, good cinematography by Naagraj, perfect editing by Nilesh Gavand, suitable music composition by Aadi Ramchandran and Amit Gupta’s sound design have added value to this thought provoking film, which is a ‘must see’ for all.
Hansraj Jagtap – the talented teenager from Beed
13 year old Hansraj Jagtap, a student of Champavati Vidyalaya, Beed was picked up during the auditions from among hundreds of children for the most important role of Krishna, in the award winning film ‘Dhag‘ directed by Shivaji Lotan Patil. The film also stars Usha Jadhav, who has bagged national award for best actress. She plays the mother of Hansraj in this film; while Upendra Limaye plays his poor father, whose house runs on the earnings of the last rites at the only crematorium in the small village of Maharashtra.
Even before the official release of his film ‘Dhag‘, Hansraj has bagged the Best child actor award at the recent ‘Ma Ta Sanman awards'; besides the film bagging six awards in different categories, including best film. Hansraj came into limelight, when his name was specially mentioned by the Jury while announcing the National awards. His performance has already been acclaimed by critics, while the film was screened at three different festivals during the past few months. The official release of his film will take place during the month of may 2013. Marathi Movie World spoke to Hansraj to congratulate him on his achievements. And the talented actor did speak at length about his experience after winning the award.
“I had just returned from Mumbai, after receiving the Ma Ta Sanman for best child actor in the film ‘Dhag’. The celebrations at home and school were going on; when I received another good news. I was at the school writing my exams . and when I returned home, my mother served me sweet dish ( Sheera) while father came home from his office with a box of Sweets (Pedhas). On TV news channels, they were talking only about the film ‘Dhag’ and other achievers at the national level. Finding my name in the ‘Special mention’ announced by Jury; was itself a big honour for me.” he reacted.
What next? And, he quickly responds, stating that he had just finished his 9th standard exams and was preparing himself to proceed to Kolhapur and Solapur during vacation, for the shooting of a new Marathi film ‘Kartavya‘. Hansraj has just been signed for this film, based on his performance in ‘Dhag’. It may be mentioned that the entire story of ‘Dhag’ revolves around his character of Krishna, who doesn’t want to carry forward his traditional family work at the crematorium. But, circumstances force him to do that work, during teenage. Luckily for Hansraj, he could find such a strong role on his debut in films.
If ‘Dhag‘ finds its entry for Oscars, being a path breaking film, with universal theme; Hansraj will go a long way. When Hansraj was asked about this possibility, he just wished for the same. Last year , after completing the shooting of ‘Dhag’, Hansraj was back to his routine at his native town, attending school and playing his favourite game of cricket with his friends. But, for the past one month; he is seriously thinking about his acting career. Now, next academic year being most crucial for him; accepting new roles in films simultaneously, will be like walking a tightrope. But, Hansraj likes to take up challenges. With his outstanding performance in film ‘Dhag’, he certainly stands tall in the field of acting.
Finally, when asked about the best Marathi film he watched in the recent past, he mentioned about ‘Jogwa’. His favourite cricketer is Sachin Tendulkar. The day is not far, when Sachin will sit next to him to watch his film. “I am grateful to the makers of this film, the director, assistant directors and all the artistes, for their motivation during the shooting of this film.” he concludes.
Marathi Movie World extends best wishes to Hansraj and sincerely hopes that he and ‘Dhag‘ both get nominations for Oscars.
All you wanted to know about award winning film ‘Dhag’.
Not all the films become the topic of discussion among the film lovers, before its theatre release. Latest Marathi film ‘Dhag’ prior to its official release, not only received critical acclaims at few International film festivals held during past few months; but, has also bagged prestigious awards, including the Natinal award for Best actress( Usha Jadhav) , best director(Shivaji Lotan Patil), and special Jury mention for child actor Hansraj Jagtap. Incidentally, the film has bagged 6 awards at the Ma Ta Sanman, including the best Marathi film award.
‘Dhag’ is a path breaking Marathi film, which revolves around a 13 year old boy Krishna, living in a village with his father Shripati( who runs a crematorium),mother Yashoda, a housewife, old Grandmother and a younger sister. Krishna is not interested to continue the family tradition of managing a crematorium and hence studies at a village school. He does a part time job at a juice centre, besides studying in school. But, the remarks from his teacher about his family’s profession, forces him to drop out of the school.
The family is solely dependent on the money earned during the last rites performed and hence, when there are no deaths in village, Shripati has to find some work at his friend- Mangya’s workshop. But, his dues are pending as his friend’s wife is also ill and bed ridden. One day, Shripati dies of snake bite and the whole family is shattered. Mangya takes care of the family; but, Krishna and his mother are hesitant to accept his help Krishna’s grandmother also warns her daughter in law about Mangya’s intentions of being generous. Krishna listens to their discussion and he realizes that without joining the same old traditional job, he can not help his family. So, he steps into his father’s shoes; and also continues attending school for a better future.
The film is very realistic and thought provoking. Marathi Movie World spoke to the producer and director to congratulate them and to know more about making of this film. Producer Vishal Pandit Gavare was more than happy to talk about making of this film. “When I heard the story of this from Shivaji Lotan Patil, I was very happy, as the kind of subject I always wanted to make a film, was there in this story. So, we decided to go ahead with selection of artistes. Since in this film the story revolves around a teenager, we took auditions in Mumbai. Finally, we were very much impressed with this boy from Beed, who had some local acting background at his native town. This is his debut film.” he said.
Mr. Shivaji Lotan Patil, was all praise for the producer, who he felt understood what he wanted to make. “It was my luck that I found the right person in him. Thereafter we worked on screenplay with the help of Nitin Dixit and managed to present what exactly I wanted. Today, I am glad that the film has been receiving compliments from well known personalities besides winning awards, before its official release. I am also glad that the boy has performed exceptionally well, besides good performances from other artistes.” said Mr. Patil.
Having already spoken to the award winning actress of this film and having carried her exclusive interview, we just congratulated her, as we had anticipated her to win many awards for her outstanding performance. But, we could not resist the temptation of speaking to the teenager Hansraj, who has played the central role of Krishna in this film. It was his last day of the school, when we first called him over phone. But, the hard working boy from Beed, told us that he was thankful to the director, assistant director and all the artistes for encouraging him. Hansraj has won the Ma Ta Sanman for Best child actor and has also received Sp. Jury mention at the National awards.
Now, the film is expected to be released in theatres in May 2013, according to the producer of this film. So, don’t miss it. Even children should watch this film, to understand the living conditions of the poor, living in villages.
Usha Jadhav invites all the attention at SKD Film Fest
For the past three days there has been a feast of selected Marathi films at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi. The occasion is Film Festival organised by ‘Sanskriti kala Darpan’ to shortlist the nominees for the best film and other individual awards for the year 2013. The Organisers had invited entries from the film makers, who released their films during the year 2012 in theatres or at the International Film festivals.
There are films like ‘Tukaram’, ‘Touring Talkies’, ‘Aayna Ka Bayna’, ‘Mokala Shwas’, ‘Balak Palak’, ‘Investment’, ’35 Minutes’, ‘Masala’ ‘Ajintha’ and ‘Dhag'( Blaze) which are being screened . But, the topic of discussion on Saturday evening was Usha Jadhav, the dusky complexioned girl, who invited all the attention after the screening of her film ‘Dhag( Blaze)’ made by Jayashree Motion Pictures and directed by Shivaji Loten Patil. Though the film revolves around a small boy played by Hansraj Jagtap; it is Usha Jadhav who has displayed her potential as an actress in that most difficult emotion filled role of his mother. The film also has Upendra Limaye playing her husband; but it is Yashoda played by Usha, who shoulders all the responsibility to carry the film forward in post interval session; till the end.
It would not be proper to disclose much about this film; as it is yet to be released. But, the film has received critical acclaim at Pune and Goa international film festivals. The best appreciation comes from ‘Kohinoor Ma Ta Sanman’, as the film has received 7 nominations in different categories, such as Best film, best direction, best actress, best supporting actor, best child actor, best screenplay and best editing. And, Usha finds herself eligible among the three actresses for the prestigious honour.
The girl originally from Kolhapur is not new to this entertainment field; as she began her career as a stage artist, while she was doing her job in Pune. Being passionate about films since her childhood; Usha shifted to Mumbai with a new job at Mahalaxmi and kept trying her luck giving auditions at UTV and other production houses.. She had already bagged prominent ad films like ‘Tata Docomo, Fevicol Muchwali, Head N Shoulders with Prieta Zinta, ICICI Bank with Sujit Sarkar, Idea with Abhishek Bachchan and so on. On the recommendation of a friend, she gave her audition for Madhur Bhandarkar’s film ‘Traffic Signal’ and bagged an important role of a young girl selling goods at the traffic signal. It was a good opening for her; as by that time, she had also bagged an ad with Amitabh Bachchan for the promotion of KBC.
Usha Jadhav, Actress
Usha has also worked under Deepti Naval’s direction for the film ‘Do Paise ki Dhoop char Aane ki Baarish’, with Chandan Arora in ‘Striker’ and her forthcoming Hindi film is ‘Cinema Ki Aankh’ where she plays lead opposite Prashant Narayanan (Murder- 2 fame) . But, at present, all eyes on the official release of her Marathi film ‘Dhag’, where her performance will appreciated by one and all. Usha has already received appreciation from people like Saie Paranjape, Shabana Azmi and Academy awards winner Resul Pookutty, who have seen her film during Goa and Pune festivals. Some have compared her with Smita Patil.
When we asked Usha about this comparison, she just smiled and said that she was a great admirer of late Smita Patil. She appreciated her performances in films like ‘Mirch Masala’ and ‘Arth’ but refused to admit that she had emulated Smita in ‘Dhag’. “I have just tried to be natural in my own way and would love to play such characters. I am just passionate about acting in films,” she concluded. Marathi Movie World wished this talented actress all the best and hoped that she walks away with ‘best actress award’ in forthcoming award functions.