Rating: ★★1/2 Presenter: Rohini Films Producers: Narayan Bhandarkar Director: Bharat Gaikwad Story, Screenplay: Shashank Udapurkar Camera: Ranjan Jha Music: Nandu Honap Cast: Bharat Jadhav, Shashank Udapurkar, Mohan Joshi, Smita Jaykar, Anand Abhyankar, Jaywant Wadkar, Arun Kadam, Jayraj Nair, Madhavi Nimkar, Hrutuja Patil, Vilas Ujawane Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

At a time, when we notice a change coming into Marathi films, still some Marathi film makers believe in doing a copy-paste job from Bollywood. A new Marathi film ‘Dhava Dhav’ does exactly that. Shahank Udapurkar, who identifies himself as a script writer of this Marathi film, goes on the lines of Bollywood’s popular duo- Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra, making a provision for himself to play a double role. And, to add some star value to the film he selects Bharat Jadhav as his co-star.

The film begins with the so called backdrop of ‘Sholay’, with two brothers-Jai and Veeru becoming Police Inspectors, only because their mother wants them to do so, to settle the score with their father’s killer- Gabbar Patil. This so called Gabbar has not only killed their father, but has also taken away Vijay, the twin brother of Jai while in cradle, along with him; so as to make him a Don ( Just another Bollywood formula). He sends him to a ‘Don School’, somewhere abroad. But, when Vijay graduates and returns back, he behaves more like a film hero than Don. He calls himself Vijay Dinanath Chavan. If that is not enough, the Mother of Jai and Veeru, plays the role of Bollywood’s popular Mom-Rakhee, uttering her translated dialogues from Bollywood films.

The entire film drags in this fashion with all translated dialogues from few Bollywood movies, uttered by most of the characters. The two girls-Hema and Malini, who play the daughters of a Senior Police Inspector, obviously pair with Jai and Veeru. They flirt with them on the lines of another Bollywood film ‘Aankhen’. Finally, the film ends with a typical climax of Bollywood films of 70s and 80s.

Looking at this patchwork done with the help of some Bollywood films, the audience is made to think, whether to call this film an action, comedy or mockery of Bollywood ? With the presentation of such themes, how can one expect audience at the theatres ? The 2 pm show at one of the multiplexes in Mumbai that too on a Sunday  was cancelled for want of people and at the other one located in a mall, it was screened for a dozen of viewers. We do have good actors in Marathi, but if they are made to act in such movies, then certainly it is a waste of their talent. Talking about the veterans like Mohan Joshi (who plays Gabber Patil), Smita Jaykar (Mother of Jai-Veeru-Vijay) and Anand Abhyankar (Sr. Police Inspector); they are simply wasted in their respective roles. The two girls namely Madhavi Nimkar and Hrutuja Patil are taken just for namesake to play the heroines. While the rest of the artistes play supporting roles, only to complete their team work

Music by Nadu Honap is just average and the background music is also a copy and paste job from popular Bollywood hits. Direction by Bharat Gaekwad is nothing special and so are the acts of Bharat Jadhav and Shashank Udapurkar. If there are few more such repeats in Marathi, those few who respect Marathi cinema, will also have to think twice before going to the theatres during those first three days.