Except for Good music, ‘Ek Taraa’ disappoints
 Rating: ★★★
Genres: Drama Censor: U/A Duration: 130 min Studio/presenter: Raiees Lashkaria Productions Producer: Raiees Lashkaria Productions Director: Avadhoot Gupte Writer: Avadhoot Gupte, Sachin Darekar Lyrics: Guru Thakur, Avadhoot Gupte Music: Avadhoot Gupte Cinematographer (DOP): Amalendu Chauhdari Cast: Santosh Juvekar, Mangesh Desai, Urmila Nimbalkar, Sagar Karande, Tejaswini Pandit, Abhedya Gupte Movie Review by: Jitendra R More |
Known for his films on social issues like, Politicians exploiting their party workers, the politics behind community festivals and inspiring Marathi youth to start business in other states; Avadhoot Gupte hasn’t offered much , through his latest film ‘Ek Taraa’. As a story writer, lyricist, singer and above all, the director of this film, Avadhoot dosen’t seem to have paid attention on restricting the length of the film. The only plus point of the film is its music, which offers variety.
Alandi seems to be the new destination for the lead characters of our Marathi films. So, in ‘Ek Taara’ we find another ‘Mauli’, who is not a protagonist, but a singer. The story of ‘Ek Taraa’ revolves around this local singer Dnyaneshwar Lokhande , who is popularly known as ‘Mauli'( Santosh Juvekar). Mauli sings devotional songs in his village, to carry forward the legacy of his father ( Mangesh Desai).
The film begins with an All India Music contest, with Mauli as one of the finalists. From there, the film goes into flashback, where we see Mauli preparing himself to take part in a reality singing contest in Mumbai. During the final round, we find his fiancée Chatura( Urmila Nimbalkar) and close friend Vithu( Sagar Karande) also joining him, to boost his morale. Undoubtedly, Mauli wins this contest and carries home a big booty .
Mauli marries Chatura and comes back to Mumbai. He signs a big contract with a channel, through a foreign returned E.P. of that channel Urja( Tejaswini Pandit). The business tactics of this channel are exposed in the film. Mauli also slips and falls into the trap of ‘wine and woman’. He frequently insults his wife and close friend and dares to share the bed with Urja in his own house. Both Chatura and Vithu after facing humiliation, return to their village.
In the post interval session, we see the film trailing , with Mauli falling into the trap of underworld. The director has not justified the behavior of two important characters of Mauli and Urja. How can a person with proper upbringing, change all of a sudden, to sleep with another woman, by asking his wife to sleep in a guest room ? How can he join the underworld group ? Also, how can a well educated big executive stoop so low, as noticed through some of her acts ? The concluding scenes in the film, are done hurriedly , i.e. to conclude with Mauli’s reunion with his family, after few years and his little son Omkar (Abhedya Gupte ) also acquiring singing talent. At the end of the film, we even see a complete devotional song picturised on him.
Santosh Juvekar has done a good job playing different shades, through his character. He finds good support coming from his co star Tejaswini, but, their chemistry doesn’t work well, as throughout the film, the audience develop a soft corner towards Chatura, who finds a better role this time in Marathi, after her debut through a cameo ‘Dum Dum Diga ..’. few years ago. Popular small screen comedian Sagar karande, finds a good role, to express his emotions well. Others in the cast, like Producer Raees Lashkaria as the channel head, Sunil Tawde as village Sarpanch, Amol Gupte as underworld Don and few others are just fine. Amalendu Chaudhari’s cinematography and Avadhoot Gupte’s music are the only plus points of this film, besides good performances by the artistes.
‘Khel Mandala’ takes Marathi Movie to a greater height
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Rating: na
Banner: Amruta Productions, Mirah Entertainment Producer: Ashok Narkar Director: Viju Mane Story, ScreenPlay, Dialogues: Viju Mane Music: Chinar Mahesh Lyrics: Ashok Bagwe, Abhijit Panse, Viju Mane Cast: Mangesh Desai, Uday Sabnis, Ananya Devre, Urmila Kanetkar, Santosh Juvekar, Prasad Oak, Mansi Salvi, Kushal Bhadrike, Priya Marathe Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Script has been the success formula of Marathi films these days. New subjects with universal themes presented by Marathi movies now a days, are appealing not only the audience at the national level but also the world over. Viju Mane’s new Marathi film, ‘Khel Mandala’ can be counted in this category of exemplary films.
The film presents a poor simple villager- Dasu (Mangesh Desai) who comes to Mumbai along with his father(Uday Sabnis), as he feels that the puppet shows performed by his father have become outdated. The father is reluctant, but Dasu convinces him, suggesting that he would do some job, so that the old man could rest during his old age. He finds temporary shelter under a flyover bridge, but is unable to fulfill his father’s dream, as the old man is knocked down by a speeding truck.
Dasu decides to carry forward his father’s puppet shows . One day, he finds a new born baby girl left near his hut , during the riots. Dasu, who is all alone in this world, decides to take care of the child. He soon discovers that the baby girl is not only visually impaired but also dumb and deaf. He names her Bahuli. Already blessed with his father’s art, he uses threads tied to her to communicate with her. As Bahuli grows three year old, Dasu makes her dance like a puppet and earns for their living.
A TV Journalist Anushka (Urmila Kanitkar-Kothare) spots both of them during one such road show and makes a story for her breaking news. Her boyfriend (Santosh Juvekar) who belongs to rival channel, makes a different story out of this news, inviting Human Rights activist for a talk show to indicate that such an act is an exploitation of child, under Child labour act. In the meantime, Anushka discovers Bahuli’s real parents Sheetal & Sangeet (Manasi Salvi & Prasad Oak) and tries to hand over Bahuli to them. But, emotion filled Dasu is reluctant. Anushka tries to persuade him, stating that they would be able to offer treatment to Bahuli.
The film concludes with a tragic end, but it goes on to suggest the realities in human life. As a director Viju Mane has presented the character of Dasu in a sensible manner, showing his journey from a village to Mumbai and willing to do any work and adjust
himself in the so called dream city. He is the perfect choice for this role. His emotions are very cleverly captured by the camera, throughout the movie, especially in the climax. Urmila plays the committed TV News channel Journalist very effectively. At the same time, we witness a clever but cunning reporter in Santosh.
Both, Prasad and Manasi play the married couple efficiently. Manasi has more scope to prove her capacity through few emotion filled scenes, while Prasad plays a selfish husband, who later confesses his misdeed. Uday Sabnis has little to offer, but he has played his part well and so are the efforts put in by Arun kadam, Abhijit Chavan, Kushal Badrike and Priya Marathe – who plays the narrator. Child artiste Ananya plays the role of Bahuli as per director’s expectations. .
There are many touching emotion based scenes in the film; but one fails to understand the scenes, where Dasu falls asleep, holding Bahuli in his arms that too without tying her hands, while it rains and his body getting wet. Also, the dream scene where Dasu imagines Anushka as his companion to take care of Bahuli, does not go well. Barring these two scenes, director Viju Mane, has succeeded in his superb presentation, which certainly takes Marathi Movie to a greater height.
Mangesh Desai all set with his Game
Popular Marathi actor Mangesh Desai has entertained the audience till now, playing different characters in TV serials, reality shows, dramas and films. But now, he will be seen in a serious type of role in Mirah entertainment’s new film ‘Khel Mandla’ directed by Viju Mane. Mangesh plays Das-a puppeteer, which is a difficult role, for which he trained himself for two months.
The film has already been applauded by critics during various film festivals, where it was shown, prior to its official release, which takes place on 27th April 2012.
Akhercha Shwaas completes picturisation
‘Akhercha Shwaas’, an emotional family movie has finished with its shoot. The movie made under the banner of Atharva Creations will be in theatres in April-May, once it has been cleared by the censor board.
The story which is about the life of a doctor has been spun into an emotional tale. The movie has been produced and directed by Jayprakash Mahadev Patil who has also given the music and done the direction. The story and dialogue are by K Vandana. The songs for the movie are written by Rachana Jayprakash Mahadev, K Vandana and Pradeep Kamble.
Vivek Naik and Devangi Das are the singers. The lighting is by Jeetendra Achrekar and Shantaram Bhosale. The shooting has been done at Basara Studio in Kandivali, S.S Studio and at Bricks Studio in Andheri.
Mangesh Desai, Satish Tare, Kishore Nandlaskar, Vijay Kadam, Madhavi Dhabholkar, Sudha Shibe, Shatavari Vaidhya, Shekhar Pradhan, Prashant Yerawale and child artiste Preetesh Joshi are the actors in the movie.