Abhishek Gunaji to make his debut as a director – Ravan Calling
Abhishek Gunaji son of renowned Marathi & Bollywood actor Milind Gunaji is making his debut as a director through forthcoming Marathi film ‘Ravan Calling’. Recently, muhurat of this film was performed with first clap for muhurat shot given by Amit Raj Thackeray. Abhishek Gunaji will be directing this film along with Sandeep Bankeshwar and the screenplay of this film is written by Abhishek Gunaji, Sandeep Bankeshwar and Sandeep Dandavate. Additional screenplay and dialogues are by Sachin Darekar.
Produced by Shree Gajanan Productions, this film stars Sachit Patil, Pooja Sawant, Vandana Gupte, Gaurav Ghatnekar, Ravi Kale, Bipin Nadkarni, Raju Shirsatkar ,Sonali Kulkarni and Milind Gunaji in lead roles. Speaking about this film director Abhishek Gunaji says, “This is my first independent film as a director, Earlier I had assisted Satish Rajwade for his film. Since my name is associated with two big names in this industry, I am working on this project with full responsibility and shall give my 100%.” The shooting of this film has started in Mumbai and very soon this film will be released.
‘Gulhar’ poster launched on auspicious Gudi Padwa day
The story plays a very important role in the success of Marathi film. Therefore, now days Marathi film makers are paying attention to this aspect. On the auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa makers of Marathi film Shantaram (Appa) Medage, Shivaji Bhintade, Anup Shinde, Abid Syed launched the poster of their film ‘Gulhar (गुल्हर)’. This film presents Ravi Kale and Bhargavi Chirmule in the lead roles for the first time together and the story of this film revolves around an 11 year old boy. This itself clearly indicates that their roles author backed.
‘Gulhar’ Movie , Ravi Kale, Vinayak Potdar, Bhargavi Chirmule
The film is written by Mohan Padwal ,scripted by Sanjay Navgire and directed by Ramesh Sahebrao Chaudhary . Besides Ravi and Bhargavi the other star cast of the film comprise of Vinayak Poddar, Madhav Abhyankar, Suresh Vishwakarma, Kishor Chougule, Rukmini Sutar, Shivani Bavkar, Ganesh Kokate, Kapil Kadam, Pushpa Chaudhary, Shivaji Bhintade, Anup Shinde, Manjiri Yashwant, Swapnil Landge, Reshma Phadtare, Sachin Malwade, Devendra Vayal and Ganesh Shitole,
Padmanabh Gaikwad has composed the music for the songs . Vishal Patil is the choreographer while Kumar Dongre is the cinematographer and compiler. Background music is by Kedar Divekar and sound design by Nikhil Lanjekar and Himanshu Ambekar. The film has already won prestigious awards at various film festivals and will now be released on 6th May 2022 all over Maharashtra.
Musical Motion Poster of ‘Gulhar’ launched
Unique titles of Marathi films have always invited the attention of filmlovers. It is for this reason, some of the Marathi films have taken huge leap across the globe and have also made their presence felt at the international film festivals. One such forthcoming film is ‘Gulhar’ which is produced under the banner of Ideal Venture and R. K. films launched by Shantaram (Appa) Medage, Shivaji Bhintade, Anup Shinde and Abid Syed.Gulhar. Recently, musical motion poster of this film was launched.
The motion poster moves forward with exciting music. This is followed by a blank black board with the tagline ‘Goshta Eka Unad Manachi’ followed by the title ‘Gulhar’. After working as an assistant director for many films, Ramesh Chaudhari, who did the direction of the film ‘Baabo’, has directed ‘Gulhar’. In short, the story of teaching kindness to animals by blowing trumpets against customs will be seen in ‘Gulhar’. The story is portrayed through the point of view of an 11-year-old boy named Gulhar.
The film stars Vinayak Poddar, Ravi Kale, Bhargavi Chiramule, Suresh Vishwakarma, Madhav Abhyankar, Kishore Chougule, Rukmini Sutar, Shivani Bawkar, Shivaji Bhintade, Anup Shinde, Manjiri Yashwant among others. The story of the film is written by Mohan Padwal and the screenplay and dialogues are by Sanjay Navgire. Photography and compilation by Kumar Dongre. Music Director Padmanabh Gaikwad has composed the songs and Vishal Patil has done the choreography. This film is all set to release soon.
‘Langar’ hits out at blind faith
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Rating: na
Banner: Shree Ganesh Marketing & Films Producer: Kumari Niharika S. Phadtare Director: Sandeep M. Naware Story: Sandeep M. Naware Music: Mandar Khare Cast: Ravi Kale, Manawa Naik, Aditi, Kishori Shane-Vij, Vinay Apate, Pankaj Vishnu, Milind Shinde, Bharat Ganeshpure, Namrata Gaikwad Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Time has changed and reforms are welcomed. But, still customary practices with blind faith, are followed in some villages in our country. Produced by Niharika Sunil Phadtare and directed by Sandeep Manohar Navare, new Marathi film ‘Langar’ throws light on injustice to children from a particular community in a village, where parents offer their children to God, just to keep their vows to God. One such girl Malan who is studying in school, is offered by her father (Vinay Apte) to the service of God, much against the wish of her mother (Kishori Shahane Vij), after she attains puberty.
Malan is taken away by her maternal uncle Jagan (Ravi Kale), who is himself deserted by his parents to the service of God. Deeply hurt, Malan soon forgets her family and joins the group of her uncle, aunty and others, to perform at religious functions with their folk performances entertaining the families. Men in this group are called Vaghya and women folks are called Murali. So, when Malan grows up, she is identified as ‘Murali’ and has no right to marry, as she is offered to the God in marriage.
But, when Malan meets Yashwant (Pankaj Vishnu), he proposes to her and promises to marry her soon. Malan crosses her limits against the wish of her uncle. Yashwant, who goes to city for some legal case, fails to return. Even her Uncle proceeds to other villages in search of work. When the uncle returns, he is criticized by the villagers and unable to bear the insults, he disappears one day. Yashwant does return back after six months; but, Malan refuses to marry him and drives him back. She takes over the business of her uncle and gives birth to her child. At the end of the film, which is actually the beginning, Malan is honoured by a Social activist, at a function held in a village, to boost her bold decision.
The film does pass a social message and hits out at blind faith and such customary practice. The effort of the film maker is sincere, capturing the right locations to create an impact. But, there is not much of opposition shown in the film, faced by the leading lady. Except for the reaction of her uncle and exchange of words with a local stone crushing contractor (Milind Shinde) who insults her; she doesn’t face much humiliation from the community. In fact, Jagan’s associates stand behind her. The character of Malan’s father though selfish, does not look realistic in some of the scenes, with his changing attitude. The same is the case with her brother Sagar’s character, who does not react, during reunion with his sister after several years.
It is also not clear, as to why the Uncle takes so long (almost few months) to return from his surrounding village trip, to discover that Malan is pregnant . Also there is no convincing explanation, as to why Yashwant returned after so many months. Moreover, when he is ready to marry Malan and accepts her would be child as his own child, why she refuses to marry him. Such incidences goes on to show that there wasn’t much sacrifice; but Malan repenting on her own mistake to trust a man of her choice. In fact, she is not left all alone; but, finds good helpful family of Jagan to support her.
In this film, Ravi Kale has come out with another superb performance in the role of Jagan. Kishori Shahane Vij does a good job through her emotion filled mother’s role. In the role of Malan, Manva Naik finds a better role for a change, to display variety through her acting and accent. Pankaj Vishnu is just fine in that limited role and so is veteran actor Vinay Apte in father’s role, though his character is not convincing. Bharat Ganeshpure and Namrata Gaikwad have done a good job, playing the family associates of Jagan. All others in the supporting cast have given their best.
Photography by Surya Mishra is good. He has captured the crowd scenes of devotees very well. Mandar Khare’s music is well suited to the theme of this film. ‘Langar’ is a festival kind of art film and not a mainstream cinema. And hence, those interested in such films and wanting to know the customary practices in villages, may like this film. But, will this film reach the target audience? Let’s wait and watch.
‘Pipani’ presents a Black comedy to deliver a timely message
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Rating: na
Banner: Tanishq Digital Eye Producer: Baburao Bhor Director: Gajendra Ahire Story, Screenplay, Dialogues, Lyrics: Gajendra Ahire Music: Chaitanya Adkar Cast: Makrand Anaspure, Chandrakant Kulkarni, Ravi Kale, Ramesh Dev, Kranti Redkar, Vaibhav Mangale, Satish Taare, Bharat Ganeshpure, Hemangi Kavi Dhumal, Vikas Samudre Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
We are all aware that India is agriculture based country with around 60% of its population directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture, as their income. But, in India, Agriculture is often attributed as gambling with seasonal monsoon. The failure of seasonal monsoon, leads to a series of droughts. But, sometimes, un-seasonal monsoon showers, also creates havoc on crop with heavy loss, resulting in lack of better prices to farmers. But, mainly, it is the exploitation by the Middlemen, the main cause of a series of suicides committed by farmers across India.
It is said that on an average, one farmer commits suicide every 30 minutes in India. And, the state of Maharashtra is among the leading states reporting such tragedies. Latest released film ‘Pipani’ is all about this tragic situation in our country, which has been shot on the backdrop of a village in Vidarbha region in Maharashtra. Now, to highlight the situation, film maker Gajendra Ahire has used a plot, where a Hollywood film maker Freda Russel (Kristin Piesker) is shown making a feature film, to invite the attention of the world to this tragic state of farmers in this region and the reality behind it.
The film opens with a narrator Dnyaneshwar Tembhre (Chandrakant Kulkarni) a Circle officer of the Block, posted by the State Government. When he receives a request from his department to offer all the help to the visiting foreigner, he obliges by deputing Popat Jhadbuke (Makarand Anaspure) his most trusted man, to help the lady. Popat arranges her meetings with different people, beginning with Nanda (Hemangi Kavi), a widow, whose farmer husband has recently committed suicide.
Highly impressed with the location, when Freda returns with her unit team to shoot a film, her female character Kranti (an actress) seeks help from Nanda to be more realistic through her body language. The film also shows actor Ravi kale playing her husband and veteran actor Ramesh Deo playing her father in law. A Film which has been shot in this film, focuses more on the emotional part of the artistes and tries to show how the middlemen cheat the farmers from getting their dues. The scenes cover damage to crop due to un-seasonal rains and the helplessness of the farmers, forcing them to commit suicide.
But, what is more important is director Gajendra Ahire throwing light on other aspects; such as the effect of the happenings during the shooting, on the real life of the local villagers and how the middlemen in the film production department exploit the villagers. The director has tried to create humour through the character of Popat, who makes hard hitting statements in his typical style, blaming the administration for their apathy to uplift the lives of farmers with schemes and packages to boost their morale. There is one character who is shown as a helper to Popal (Vikas Samudre), who keeps on reminding him about the schemes.
Some form of humour is also created in one of the scenes, where Ravi kale, in an attempt to show his superiority to the actress kranti, tells her that he is a big actor, having worked with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, when the veteran actor Ramesh Deo playing his old father is shown reacting, “So what ? I have performed with Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan together.” There are many such humour filled sequences, which openly point out the neglect by the Government department, in finding the solution towards development of the Block. The transfer of the SDO to Pune, clearly goes on to say everything, after the shoot of the film is over.
The film conveys a strong message to the entire world about the ground level situation in this so called progressive nation. When Danny Boyle could make a film like ‘Slumdog Millionnaire’ projecting the slums of Mumbai in a cheap mediocre style, ‘Pipani’ has rightly concluded indicating that the film made by Freda Russel reflecting the real situation of the village can also win Oscars award. When Popat tells this news to an old villager, he replies, “What have we got?”. And, that delivers the film’s message. The film has openly used the advertisements of the sponsors, when Popat calls it an official break, before the commercial scene was played.
As a Hollywood director Kristin Piesker from Germany has done a good job. She is very much at ease, in her debut film. Makarand Anaspure is best suited in the role of Popat. Kranti Redkar finds the best opportunity to display her talent as an actress in search of a role, to win national award. Ravi kale, Chandrakant Kulkarni and Ramesh Deo look very natural in their respective roles. Vaibhav Mangle, Bharat Ganeshpure and Vikas Samudre have little to their share; but their presence counts. But, it is Hemangi Kavi, who invites all the attention. She presents a perfect village woman with her body language and excellent spontaneous expressions. Chaitanya Adkar’s music is well suited to this subject and backdrop and Chandrashekar Aiyer’s cinematography captures some of the realistic emotion filled scenes. Editing by Santosh Gothoskar is perfect. ‘Pipani’ produced by Baburao Bhor, is a sincere attempt to present reality through a cinematic format. You may call it a Black comedy.
‘Sumbaraan’ does remind you about the golden memories
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Rating: 2
Presenter: Shree Ganesh Marketing and Films, Gypsy and Janki Production Production: A4 Creation, Anil Phadtare Story, Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction: Gajendra Ahire Cinematographer: Surya Mishra Music: Rahul Ranade Cast: Makarand Anaspure, Ravindra Mankani, Ravi Kale, Jitendra Joshi, Mukta Barve, Saie Tamhankar, Vrunda Gajendra, Shushrut Mankani, Shilpa Anaspure Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Known for his in depth knowledge about the village culture and presenting its contrast with new city lifestyle, Gajendra Ahire has in the past offered some sensible films. This time through his new film ‘Sumbaraan- Soneri divsaachya Soneri Athvani’ he shows very effectively the connect between the two places. ‘Sumbaraan’ is a tale of two generations and the changes noticed in their behaviour, with the passage of time. You may call it a touching tale of a village and the people living there.
Veeru (Jitendra Joshi) a struggling Music director is returning along with his elder brother Vasanta (Makarand Anaspure) to his village after a long time to spend their Diwali at their old ancestral house. They are accompanied by Vastanta’s wife (Vrunda Gajendra), Viru’s Friend Sushu (Shushrut Mankani) and his friend Mukta (Saie Tamhankar). On reaching there, though Viru takes it very lightly the arising situations and moreover in his own world, enjoying with his friends. Vasanta decides to sell the property and invites his old friend (Siddharth Jadhav) who is an estate agent.
Vasanta, is not happy in his life, remembering his past in the village and his inability to marry his girl friend – Shaku (Swarali Patil) who is the daughter of Biroba belonging to Dhangar community. Vasanta’s father Deshmukh Patil ( Ravindra Mankani) who is having a relationship with a lady from lower caste ( Ashwini Kalsekar) has no voice in the house, as the Mother (Seema Deshmukh) dominates. Vasanta’s younger brother Viru, during his childhood days, however maintains good relationship with Shaku’s younger sister – Kalli (Aditi Bhagwat).
The director has tried to show how attitude of individual matters. The elder brother is not happy in his life, for having ditched his beloved at a crucial stage in his life, while the younger brother is able to understand the situation better; with his own thinking process. In the case of Kalli, who is educated in city in the later part of her life, returns to her village as Dy. Collector. “Education is the key to progress of the society,’ is all that the director has tried to communicate through her character. Very efficiently he has handled the past memories through flash back from time to time.
Throughout the screenplay, the film sticks to its subject, not deviating from the main track. This results in total commitment to the script, which is based on the human relationship with the change of time. Take the character of Ashwini Kalsekar, who plays the keep of Deshmukh Patil, living in his own house. She is also being addressed as Mother, for obvious reasons, by both the children. When Viru returns to his village after a long time, she inquires about the relationship between two of his friends. And, when he tells her that they are in Live-in-relationship; she tries to find the difference between her relationship with his father and the young duo. Ashwini has played her role very efficiently. When kalli meets Viru after a long time, the director has very cleverly shown her maturity with education. Mukta Barve has played that small but sensible role with perfection in the company of Jitendra Joshi. Makarand is at ease in the role of Vasanta and so does Jitendra Joshi.
Shushrut Mankani and Saie Tamhankar are just show pieces in the film, playing Viru’s friends, with nothing much to do except playing Guitar, dancing or diving into the pond for swimming. Ravindra Mankani and Ravi kale are impressive in their respective roles. Seema Deshmukh and Vrunda Gajendra support well. All other artistes including Siddharth Jadhav perfectly fit into their characters, which are so lively.
Special mention about Dushyant Wagh, who displays his talent in that teenager Vasanta’s role. Rahul Ranade’s music is good . Technically, Sumbaraan is a well presented film, reminding one and all about the golden memories of the village life.