Rating: na Banner: Parv Creation, Samruddhi Creation Producer: Vimal Lohane, Sameer Ramesh Surve Director: Sameer Ramesh Surve Based on Novel: ‘Partner’ Music: Nilesh Moharir Cast: Satish Pulekar, Padmanabh Bind, Shweta Pagar, Lalan Sarang Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

Vasant Purushottam Kale, popularly known as Va Pu, was a renowned Marathi novelist.

He wrote about 60 books but his most popular novel was ‘Partner’. Va Pu himself was so impressed by the character of Partner from his book that he himself played the title role in a Marathi play, which was staged sometime during early 80s. Being an architect by profession, the writer had rightly chosen ‘Accommodation problem in Mumbai’ as the backdrop of this love story of a young couple.

Va Pu’s ‘Partner’ was attempted in the form of a TV serial in the past. And now, Sameer Ramesh Surve makes his debut as a director through a feature film ‘Shree Partner’ based on this novel. Sameer, a great admirer of Va Pu’s literature, was very keen on making a film on ‘Partner’. Finally when he acquired the official rights, his dream came true.

Through this film, the director had the liberties of glorifying the characters; but he preferred to stick to originality in the script and only added few meaningful melodious songs to support the expressions of the three main characters in this film; i.e. the central character of Partner( Satish Pulekar), Shree ( Padmanabh Bind) and Kiran ( Shweta Pagar). All the songs are played in the background, to create their desired impact. Some intimate love scenes have also been shot with decency.

Very effectively, these three characters have been presented in the film’s screenplay so that the audience get the feeling of reading the original novel. Shree’s first meeting with Kiran, his first interaction with his so called ‘Partner’, who later offers him accommodation in the corridor of his house and later turns his Guru; his exploitation by his selfish mother, brother and sister in law, everything has been shown realistically. The director has cleverly used the term ‘third person’ making the life of Shree miserable.

The writer’s philosophy on alphabets W & M and using the same to show how a Wife becomes wiser after becoming Mother herself, have been picturised well. Though script is the heart of the film, it is the mesmerizing music of Nilesh Moharir , sensible lyrics of Ashwini Shende and melodious voices of Swapnil Bandodkar, Bela Shende and Madhuhree make this film more appealing. Deepali Vichare’s creative choreography during one of the songs and Sandeep Dhumal’s fabulous cinematography also invites attention.

In the central role of Partner, Satish Pulekar has given full justice to his fun loving but helpful character. Talented stage actor Padmanabh Bind plays the role of Shree with responsibility. Shweta Pagar, who makes her acting debut through this film, in an important role of Kiran, has proved that she is an actress to reckon. Perhaps, her training at Anupam kher’s acting school, has boosted her confidence . Lalan Sarang in the role of Shree’s mother doesn’t have much to offer, except for one scene, where she finds some scope. Others in the supporting cast have done a good job. ‘Shree Partner’ is certainly a well presented film, for retaining the original flavour of the celebrated writer.