Rating: ★★★ ½ Studio: Video Palace, Dreaming Twenty Four Seven. Producers: Dreaming Twenty Four Seven. Director: Sanjay Jadhav Music: Sameer Saptiskar, Pankaj, Amit Raj Cinematography: Umesh Jadhav Cast: Swapnil Joshi, Ankush Chaudhary, Urmila Kanetkar, Sai Tamhankar, Sandeep Kulkarni, Varsha Usgaonkar, Jitendra Joshi, Sushant Shelar, Uday Tikekar, Uday Sabnis Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

The most valuable gift you can possess is a honest friend. Many a times, some people come into our lives and quickly go; but, some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. Ace Cinematographer turned director Sanjay Jadhav’s latest film ‘Duniyadari’ presents a plot based on such theme, which is inspired from best seller ‘Duniyadari’ by eminent writer Late Shri Suhas Shirwalkar Though primarily set on the backdrop of 1970’s, the happenings in this romantic emotion filled love story, still relates to the youth of today, as screenplay writer Chinmay Mandlekar has made few changes to suit the cinematic form.

So, we find Shreyas Talwalkar (Swapnil Joshi) a young boy in his 20s from Mumbai, caught up in a bad father and mother (Uday Tikekar- Varsha Usgaonkar) relationship. After scoring poor passing marks in graduation, he is sent by his mother to Pune’s S. P. College for his post graduation. He finds his accommodation in college hostel and encounters notorious Digya alias DSP (Ankush Choudhary) and his Katta Gang comprising of Ashkya, Nitys, Sorry, Sunil and Umya, a bunch of hooligans. Digya is in relationship with his long time neighbourhood friend Surekha (Richa Pariyali), who is also part of the gang.

The katta gang members add vibrant colours to the otherwise disturbed life of Shreyas ,who is from a rich family , but deprived of love and friendship. The gang come across a brother and sister duo of Pritam and Shirin (Sushant Shelar and Sai Tamhankar), who are children of a renowned MLA. Pritam who is also student of Post graduate studies, becomes friendly with Shreyas and his other friends, while Shirin who is a medical student, is a frequent visitor to their college. It is actually love at first sight for Shireen, when she first meets Shreyas. The friendship grows. But, in between Digya and his friends suggest Shreyas to become friendly with Police Inspector’s daughter Meenakshi alias Meenu ( Urmila kanitkar Kothare) taking it as a challenge to teach a lesson to her adamant father.

The assembly of these characters is enough for the film to progress with its screenplay with sequence of scenes between Meenu and Shreyas, Shireen and Shreyas, Digya and Sainath alias Sai( Jitendra Joshi) – from a rival gang and local politician’s son. Jealous about the growing friendship between Digya and Shreyas, Akshya breaks away from the group and joins Sai’s group. We also find Sai playing his clever game, proposing Shirin through his political connections. Watching Shreyas coming closer to Meenu, Shirin accepts Sai’s proposal. But, she still tries to be a good friend of Shreyas. Also, with the help of her brother, she brings Meenu closer to Shreyas. Now, in a dilemma, Shreyas declares his love for Meenu , in presence of Shireen; but is not happy. Even Digya finds his beloved getting married to a stranger, at the behest of her parents, who don’t approve Digya.

Many events unfold thereafter, through frequent flashbacks; as the entire story is shown in a series of flashbacks, which is a new style adopted by the director. You also find its link to the story of Shreyas’ mother, who reveals the truth to Shreyas , after his father’s untimely death. It is after that you find a sudden change in attitude of Shreyas, who moves ahead with his changed plan, to take you through a filmy climax .

Director Sanjay Jadhav seems to have paid more attention on presentation of every character from his film, with lot of perfection on their costumes and styles suited to the period of 70s. Watch the bell bottoms of boys, long side locks of Ajinkya, long hair style of Jitendra and costumes of all characters. They are all perfectly styled. What looks unrealistic is the climax, which goes on the lines of Bollywood films of 70s and 80s. Smoking cigarettes by the characters including Shireen-a medical student, has been shown more than required. Her regular visits to S. P. College and that too once in their library looks unnatural. Not much attention has been paid on the make up of the artistes in the older look, except for their grey hair. Even the names of the katta members engraved on the katta, are noticed during the reunion after almost 40-50 years, which is something strange.

But, the fine performances by all the artistes in the film make you overlook these minor errors. ‘Duniyadari’ is a film that mainly revolves around two main characters, Shreyas and Shireen, which is in narrative form from Shireen’s point of view. In the character of Shireen, Sai Tamhankar has found an important role to display her real acting skills. Till now, she was being used more as a glamour girl. Swapnil, was expected to deliver his best and he has played his role with total commitment to his character. His total involvement in the character, can be clearly noticed in this film.

In the role of Digya, Ankush Chaudhary is a perfect choice. He impresses with his tall angry young man looks and actions. Jitendra Joshi presents a rowdy young villain in style, paying more attention on his attire and dialogue delivery. Though Urmila kanitkar kothare finds a limited role, she plays an important character in the film, displaying her emotions clearly. Even Richa Pariyali in her limited role, finds an opportunity in one particular scene, to display her emotions. Sushant Shelar’s Pritam is convincing and so is Ajainkya Joshi’s Ashkya.

In this film, Sandeep Kulkarni surprises with his special appearance. He hardly has 2- 3 scenes; but he creates an impact through them. In the supporting cast, Varsha Usgaonkar, Uday Tikekar and others offer good backing. Music by Sameer Satoskar, Pankaj and Amit Raj is good for a change. Director Sanjay Jadhav has paid complete attention on direction, as he has handed over the responsibility of cinematography to Prasad Bhende in this film, who has done a good job. No wonder, there is sincere effort put in by entire team in presenting this strong script backed film.