‘4 Idiots’ goes the Bollywood way
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Rating: na
Banner: Madhu Entertainment Media Pvt. Ltd. Producer(s): Mayuresh Films and Entertainment, Guru Anand, Anant Walilkar Story: Milind Arun Kavade. Director: Milind Arun Kavade. Dialogues: Prakash Bhagwat Music: Mayuresh Pai Camera: Raja Phadtare Cast: Bharat Jadhav, Siddharth Jadhav, Guru Anand, Swapnil Joshi Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
We have seen Bollywood inspired by Tollywood or Mollywood and vice versa. But, we have seen some of our Marathi films only inspired by Bollywood. When they saw success of 3 Idiots, they thought of making 4 Idiots. Why can’t our Marathi films have their own originality? And there is already a film titled ‘4 Idiots’ in the making, in Mollywood. However, this Marathi film ‘4 idiots’, has nothing to do with the script of 3 Idiots, but has some relevance to the style of Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra, with a touch of David Dhavan. . It is a tale of 4 friends – Bunty( Bharat Jadhav) , Qayuum( Siddharth Jadhav) , Kashi( Newcomer Swapnil Joshi) and Nagya( Guru Anand- the producer of this film) from Mumbai, who help each other in the time of crisis.
Qayuum is not steady with his job and Bunty is a pickpocket. Kashi is an Air conditioner Mechanic and a follower of a Bhondu Baba; while Nagya is a driver, who is dreaming of going to USA. When Qayuum’s mother is seriously ill and is to be operated upon , the other three friends raise money out of their savings and by selling their belongings. Bunty also manages a sizable amount, which he claims to have stolen from a non occupied house. When all of them fail in their attempt to raise enough money for their new lifestyle, Bunty comes up with a plan of bank robbery. Initially, the other three friends are reluctant; but, when they find that it is the best way of earning quick money, without killing anyone, they join Bunty’s plan.
In the pre interval session, the film simply drags on to explain the background of each one of them and in showing the strong bonding of their friendship. But, in the post interval session, the film actually takes momentum, when we find a group of terrorists also entering the bank premises, almost coinciding with the visit of these four idiots. About 70 people are trapped inside the bank as hostages, including the bank’s staff, visiting customers and the 4 idiots.
The terrorists are looking for one Salma and her locker keys. They start searching for the lady and her locker keys. The terrorists then enter a deal with Bunty, to identify Salma.. Surprisingly, the ‘Azad kashmir’ terrorists speak in Marathi and claim to have learned Marathi for the past three years of their presence in Maharashtra. They are led by their leader, who demands the release of their chief from the jail, in return of hostages. With few twists and turns in the climax, we find the 4 idiots taking on the Four terrorists and coming out victorious. Each one of them learn a lesson and after three years, we find them engaged in their work of interest.
‘4 Idiots’ is purely an action comedy with nothing new in the script, except for the plot in the concluding session, dealing with the terrorists. The screenplay is good only in the concluding part. However, the dialogues by Prakash Bhagwat are hard hitting, when they are uttered at Politicians and the terrorists. The happenings in Politics, the pressure on Police by the Home Minister, the helpless attitude of home minister, the arrogance and selfishness of opposition Minister, whose daughter is trapped inside the bank, have been well presented. Music by Mayuresh Pai is just fine. The item number performed by Aarti Siolanki looks very odd. But, the background music by Salil Amrute is impressive. Raja Phadtare’s cinematography is good.
As a director, Milind Arun Kawade shows his strengths in post interval session, when he has tried to hold the audience to their seats. In the pre interval stage, there are unnecessary cheap jokes used as source of entertainment. Bharat and Siddharthg Jadhav play their respective roles almost on the style of Ashok Saraf and Laxmikant Berde. Producer Guru Anand has tried to fulfill his wish as a supporting actor with better scope, in the role of Nagya and has done well. In the role of Kashi, newcomer Swapnil Joshi is just fine in the company of 4 idiots in this film.
The females in this film have no scope at all. Vishakha Subhedar appears as kashis’s sister for a scene or two, while Siya Patil and Mrunalini Jambhale have been used as show pieces in the group trapped inside the bank. One doesn’t know, why did they accept such roles? Vaibhav Mangale is impressive in his role. He stands a chance to get offers from Bollywood, after this performance. There is a big crowd of supporting cast to create an impact of the sensational event occurring post interval, covered on television as breaking news! The effort of the film maker is good; but, the film does leave few drawbacks.
‘Superstar’ – a formula based film
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Rating: na
Presentor & Producer: Sakshi Entertainment Director: Mahendra Kadam Story: Mahendra Kadam, Sachin Mote Music: Ajit – Sameer Camera: Rahul Jadhav Cast: Siddharth Jadhav, Paddy Kamble, Megha, Rajan Tamhane, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Nandkishor Choughale, Prashant Tapasvi, Yogini Chowk Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Generally, a leading artiste who is also the producer of the film, would want himself or herself to be presented with prominence . The latest Marathi film ‘Superstar’ though speaks about the friendship between two standup clowns (Ranga and Bajya) in a Tamasha party from a village called Parambi, it revolves more around the character of an actress – Megha, played by debutant Megha Dhade, who is also the producer of this film. In the process, she has offered a formula based film. If she were a typical Bollywood producer, she would have said, “Meri film mein action hai, fantasy hain, romance hai, emotion hai aur comedy bhi hai”. In short, as a producer of this Marathi film, she has tried to follow the Bollywood path of 70s and 80s.
In this film, Megha comes across Ranga (Siddharth Jadhav), who is a popular clown from a village Parambi. Ranga along with his dear friend Bajya (Pandharinath Kamble) come to the rescue of a Film unit, in their village, when their main artiste gets delayed and the local crowd gathered in a hall goes out of control. Megha is particularly impressed by the act of Ranga and she along with her unit thereafter get an opportunity to witnesses the rehearsal of his folk art. So impressed is the producer (Rajan Tamhane) that he plans to use their theme for a film. He even agrees to make Ranga the new star opposite Megha and even invites his entire team to join the film.
Bajya is bit hesitant having experienced the tragedy of his mother and aunty in the past but, finally gives his nod. Soon he discovers that his original script is changed for the cinematic presentation and the credit being taken by the director (Nikhil Ratnaparakhi). Not only Bajya but his other group members except Ranga are ill treated by the film’s unit. Ranga being in the good books of Megha and being a hard working ambitious artiste, in fact becomes a darling of the unit.
The film’s director Mangesh Kadam has cleverly used this situation to show the difference when a versatile Tamashaa artiste is made to act in the film. Very cleverly he has shown that the creativity is lost in the process. The film picks up considerably better speed to present the screenplay but the frequent songs added in the film interrupt the process. Music is not bad, but it fails to make an impact after you leave the theatre.
Excluding two songs, the other songs were irrelevant in the film’s Author backed story. Even two of the scenes towards the end have been stretched too long. One can understand about branding of a particular product helping to a certain extent in co-sponsorship; but deliberately asking the leading lady in a scene to go into the vanity van and then displaying the product was almost like shooting an ad film into film; giving an awkward look. As it is there was a feature film titled ‘Parambicha Bapu’ being shot into this film and therefore this ad addition looks like an ad played during a short break. The two and half hour film should have been cut to size two hours instead.
Siddharth Jadhav successfully portrays a crazy village boy who later transforms into a self-assured actor with a pride. But, it is his friend played by Pandharinath( Paddy) kamble, who comes up with a memorable performance. Paddy has different shades in his role and the talented actor has proved that he is not only a good comedian but can be considered for emotion filled serious roles too. Being a debutant, Megha Dhade in the role of an actress has given a satisfying performance. There is no doubt that being a producer herself, she has taken more footage, but in the process there has been injustice to other leading lady Yogini Chouk. In the role of Sukhee, the would be of Ranga and sister of Bajya, she just remains a namesake character serving tea and food to the group. In short, a talented actress of her caliber, who has won the Maharashtrachi Superstar TV award, deserved a better deal. Others in supporting cast, especially the other team members of Ranga-Bajya group have performed very well.
Only other actor who got a better deal in this film is Nikhil Ratnaparakhi. While playing a film director’s role, he has proved that acting makes a big difference while portraying any character. No wonder, today he is the most popular model on television ads. Excellent photography by Rahul Jadhav and wonderful art direction by Mahesh Salgaonkar are the two highlights of the film. Overall, the film is filled with good dialogues by Sachin Mote , but some of them were repeated.
Although Superstar sells dreams to village folks with a captivating plot, a more gripping screenplay and clever editing could have made a big difference.
‘Shahanpan Dega Deva’ – performance oriented film
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Rating: na
Presenter: Great Maratha Entertainment Company Pvt. Ltd. Producer: Twinkel Group & Mirah Entertainmetn Pvt. Ltd. Direction: Sudesh Manjrekar, Atul Kale Screenplay: Abhijeet Deshpande, Mahesh Manjrekar Camera: Ajit Reddy Music: Ajit- Sameer Cast: Bharat Jadhav, Ankush Choudhary, Sanjay Narvekar, Vaibhav Mangale, Siddharth Jadhav, Kishore Kadam, Santosh Juvekar, Kamlakar Satpute, Manva Naik, Kranti Redkar and Mahesh Manjrekar. Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Known for his Police detection stories, writer Shrikant Sinker had also written in the past a play ‘Aaliya Bhogasi’ based on a team of mentally unstable people in a mental asylum, who only think of their past profession and enact their skills all the time. Producer Mahesh Manjrekar, perhaps got inspired with that play, while projecting his characters through his new film ‘Shahanpan Dega Deva’, which also revolves around 5 such mentally unstable characters( Bharat Jadhav, Siddharth Jadhav, Ankush Choudhary, Vaibhav Mangale & Sanjay Narvekar), who are being treated in his own way at a private Mental asylum by Dr. Subodh ( played by Mahesh himself) , attached to that asylum.
Mr. Manjrekar known for his offerings on sensational subjects, this time thought of moving into comedy and hence selected this performance oriented film with the sole motive of entertaining the audience. Directed jointly by Atul kale and Sudesh Manjrekar, the producer has himself got involved into the screenplay and dialogues in the company of Abhijeet Deshpande and Sanjay Pawar. There is nothing much seriously happening into the screenplay, except for theose mischievous acts by the five characters , which only encourage competition among themselves. It only looked like that the directors had during the pre-interval stage had given complete freedom to them, resulting into overacting by atleast two characters.
It was only after interval, it gave an impression that the director duo had taken total control of the film. The happenings in the film clearly indicate that each character had his own share to display talent under a given situation, which was nothing but pose mentally disturbed and perform an act to look more natural in that condition. And, this experiment succeeds only to a certain extent in post interval session comprising of 55 minutes.The film does not pay much attention on the past history of these characters, except for Bharat Jadhav, whose past incidence has been shown for proving him mentally unstable. The total length of film is just nearing two hours, a perfect length, as further extension would have certainly taxed the audience.
‘Shahanpan Dega Deva’ is a male dominated film, as the three girls namely Manva, Kranti and Poorva play just show pieces and have been rightly used in the climax scene as item girls. Manva makes her appearance just at the stroke of interval, while Kranti comes in almost towards the end of the film. Most of the scenes in the film are based on ‘mind act’ done by each character and among them Sanjay Narvekar invites all the attention for his cricket gimmicks that go very well with his body language. His character also springs a surprise in the climax, thus turning him into a real hero.
Watching the performances of other artistes, Bharat Jadhav, Vaibhav Mangale, Ankush Choudhary and Mahesh Manjrekar himself are all within their limits, except for Siddharth, who has been controlled in the second half, avoiding dialogues for him. Kamlakar Satpute, playing the gay Don is just fine; nothing exceptional about his performance, as we have seen such characters on the screen in the past. Since the film has Bollywood flavour, he reminds you of Kulbhushan Kharbanda in ‘Shaan’, but doesn’t look dangerous. Among the three doctors from the asylum playing villains, Kishore Kadam is impressive. Others in the supporting cast have done well, but Santosh Juvekar has been wasted in that ordinary looking side role.
There isn’t much scope for music in the film, except for the so called item number in the climax, where lavani has been performed in a different style. The background music sounded loud pre interval, but has been used well in the later part of the film. Cinematography by Ajit Reddy is good . The film is likely to impress the kind of audience who enjoy watching TV shows like ‘Comedy Circus’ and ‘Fu bai Fu’, as this film is based only on performances to entertain the audience with a given theme.
‘Paaradh’ highlights the socio – political issue
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Rating: na
Presenter: Amogh Cinetones Producer: Anuradha Talati Director: Gajendra Ahire Story: Gajendra Ahire Camera: Chandrashekar Iyer Music: Rahul Ranade Cast: Siddharth Jadhav, Makarand Anaspure, Hemangi Kavi Dhumal, Ravi Kale, Vrinda Gajendra, Vinay Apte, Amogh Talathi, Vitthal Umap, Milind Shinde Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Marathi films are back on the traditional track with tales of exploitation of rural poor. Only difference that we find now is the change of characters. The place of shrewd Zamindar or Village Sarpanch has been taken by selfish politicians, who are in search of youngsters to dance on their tunes to meet their personal goals. Gajendra Ahire’s latest film ‘Paaradh’ is no different from all those traditional Marathi films, but it sends out a strong message to today’s directionless youth; who are blindly following their leaders. Through this film, the maverick film maker makes a clear point of exploitation of rural youth by a power hungry politician, who uses them for his political gains and later sidelines them only to be killed by his opponents.
Ambadas (Makarand Anaspure) and his right hand Bappa( Milind Shinde) are involved in all such unethical practices at District level to prove their strength. They don’t miss a single opportunity to blackmail their own party seniors and one such victim is Prataprao(Vinay Apte). They first capture the dairy co-operative business with the help of young jobless youths from the village. Ambadas does not stop here, as his political ambitions are much higher. He dares to challenge even his party chief- Appa (identity not revealed) by exposing him with his wrong deeds with the help of his most trusted party worker Yashwant ( Siddharth Jadhav), whom he calls ‘Wagh (Tiger)’.
Yashwant-a small time party worker, who blindly follows the orders of his boss, suddenly comes into limelight. It is at this time Ambadas ditches him. His right hand Bappa, knowing the weaknesses of his boss, plays all dirty games in his name and even lures Yashwant’s younger sister Indu (Hemangi Kavi Dhumal) . Yashwant who belongs to a Warkari family, is the most notorious character in the family, who neither obeys his old father( Vitthal Omap) nor elder brother(Ravi Kale), who is a farmer.
Yashwant’s younger brother Anand (Amogh Talathi) , who is the mute witness to all the events the family faces, is actually the narrator in the film. The entire film is based on the political gimmicks of Ambadas and his link with Yashwant and his family. Finally, it is not only Yashwant who suffers, but his family members too. In the end of the film, Anand as a narrator tells that Siddharth who is undergoing sentence for the murder of Amabadas and Bappa, has one more year left for release and that his elder brother who had gone in search for justice is still missing. His sister-in-law(Vrinda Gajendra) works in the field and his ambitious sister Indu heads the women’s wing of the district. Finally, he concludes saying that he himself is well settled in a district place with his job and his son studying in a good Public school.
‘Paaradh’ begins well with realistic approach but drags in the second half with too many chase scenes, where Yashwant runs for his life, having been ditched by Ambadas. The characters of Ambadas, Yashwant, his elder brother ,his sister-in-law and sister Indu look realistic. The person who invites the attention is Milind Shinde in the role of Bappa. With his perfect visual expressions and body language, he has been able to present a real villain of Marathi films. Vinay Apte has been wasted in that role of Politician. There is no strength in his role, though he plays it with ease. Can’t find the reason for hiding the identity of Party chief. But, looking at the performances from Siddharth Jadhav, Makarand Anaspure, Hemangi Kavi Dhumal, Ravi Kale and Vrinda Gajendra, you tend to forget those few flaws in the film. Camera work by Chandrashekhar Iyer, Background music by Rahul Ranade and editing work by Rahul Bhatankar is pleasing.
‘Target’ designed for youth audience
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Rating: na
Producer: Jagdish Unecha, Rakesh Unech Presenter: J. K. Movies Director: Vivek Gore,. Rajesh Kolam Camera: Sandeep Patil Choreographer: Umesh Jadhav Music: Abhijeet Kawthalkar, Jeetendra Kulkarni Cast: Sanjay Narvekar, Ankush Chaudhari, Siddharth Jadhav, Swapnil Joshi, Kranti Deddkar,Tejaswini Pandit, Smita Gondkar, Vinay Apate, Sanjay More Movie Review by: Sandeep |
J. K. Movies new marathi film ‘Target’ is an action filled political thriller with a dose of youth angst. The story is about five idle friends Sanjubhai (Sanjay Narvekar) who thinks he is a ‘bhai’, Anky(Ankush Chowdhary) a builder’s son, who is a skirt chaser, Swapnil(Swapnil Joshi) -politician Vishwasrao’s (Vinay Apte’s) son, who is disillusioned with his father, the Home Minister of the state finding no time for his family,Sattar( Siddharth Jadhav)- a meat shop owner’s son with a penchant for the handycam and Paddy (Bhushan Kadu) -a pizza delivery boy.
These boys become friends with three girls played by Kranti Redkar, Tejaswini Pandit and Smita Gondkar after a lot of minor tiffs. Once, they attend a rave party in a farmhouse in a jungle, where a cop (Vivekanand Gore) tries to arrest Swapnil for drugs possession but then all the friends run helter shelter in the jungle and then they see a child sacrifice being performed in the jungle and then chance upon another boy who is kidnapped.
They rescue him but the bad guys are after them and whether they survive in the jungle and get the villains into jail and solve the ‘sacrifice’ mystery is the plot of the film.
The film moves at a brisk speed once the characters are established and the adventures captured in the jungle are really thrilling. Director duo Vivekanand Gore and Rajesh Kolan give the film a kind of ‘LOST’ series look and those umpteen teen campus drive-in movies that were a rage in the US in the 80’S. The political angle is a much repeated track.
The performances by the artistes are good, especially Kranti Redkar and Sanjay Narvekar. Swapnil Joshi plays a serious type of role with conviction. The cinematography by Sandeep Patil is slick, especially the jungle sequences. Cameos by Vinay Apte and Sanjay Mone are impressive. The item number by Manasi Naik was unnecessary.The music by Jeetendra Kulkarni and Abhijeet Kavthalkar is not up-to the mark.
The editor Sarvesh Parab could have used more pace in the first half. In all, the film will appeal to the youth and is good for a lazy evening hangout, when you need the air-conditioned ambience of a multiplex.
‘Irada Pakka’ – One more brainchild of Kedar Shinde
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Rating: na
Production: Meghe Entrtainment Pvt. Ltd. Director: Kedar Shinde Screenplay: Nimish datt Dialogues: Iravati Karnik Lyrics: Ashvini Shende Music: Nilesh Moharir Cast: Siddharth Jadhav, Sonalee, Mohan Joshi, Smita Jaikar, Kamlakar Satpute, Shalaka Pawar… Movie Review by: Kashmira Pawaskar |
In today’s busy lifestyle the main problem with most of the married couples is the ‘communication gap’, which creates lot of issues in their life. This is one of the common reasons why divorce rates are increasing day by day. And this is what Kedarh Shinde is trying to explain the audiences through his new light hearted romantic comedy movie ‘Irada Pakka’.
It’s a story about a couple Rohit (Siddharth Jadhav) who owns a Software Company and Aadhya (Sonalee Kulkarni) a pre-school teacher. They are bored of having their married life being very goody -goody with full of love and romance. And so one fine day they decide to fight with each other for a week, so that they could add a little spice into their life. This spice gets too hot after a week’s time, as they get into trouble by fighting continuously. This ultimately leads to a situation, where both of them actually decide to go for divorce. So the story is pushed till the end, to show how they come out of this trouble to be a happy couple.
The beginning of the movie is inspired by the opening scene lifted from a successful Hollywood movie ‘Mr.and Mrs Smith.’ It does create suspense in the minds of viewers who are surprised to see this kind of scene in a comedy flick. Some part of the film even reminds of Kedarh‘s previous film ‘Yenda kartvya Aahe’, which also has a similar story revolving around newly married couple. But, as predicted, it’s totally Kedarh’s movie. The movie can be very well remembered for its amazing cinematography, especially used during the songs.
Siddharth Jadhav has worked very hard and has given full justice to the role with the support of Sonalee Kulkarni, whose character of being a lovely innocent wife, makes a notion. The other characters of the movie have also given their best. They are : Smita Jaykar as Aadhya’s divorced and independent mother , Kamlakar Sathputhe who plays the role of a ‘bhai’and Mohan Joshi as Aadhya’s father.
Music for this film is provided by a young duo Nilesh Moharir & Pankaj Pushkar and their song ‘Bhijun Gela Vara’ leaves behind good impression. The USP of the film is a song at the end of the film, featuring 21 celebrities with Ramdas Padhye, Atmaram Bhende, Shreyas Talpade & others on the Lyrics by Ashwini Shende & Sumati Wankhede. Also the art direction is superior, in comparison to other marathi movies.
‘Kshanbhar Vishranti ’- A friendly romantic film!
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Rating: na
Presenter: Shree Autographs Films Producers: Sandeep Shinde, Maulik Bhat Story & Director: Sachit Patil Camera: Sanjay Jadhav Lyrics: Guru Thakur Music: Hrishikesh Kamerkar Cast: Bharat Jadhav, Sachit Patil, Siddharth Jadhav, Sonalee, Maanava Naik, Pooja Sawant, Kadambari Kadam… Movie Review by: Sandeep Hattangadi |
Sachit Patil’s ‘Kshanbhar Vishranti’ is a Marathi version of Farhan Akhtar’s classic ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ based on friends, with the setting changed from Goa to Alibag. Ritwik (Sachit Patil) returns from US due to a job loss, in wake of recession in the IT sector. He reunites his old friends Vishnu (Siddharth Jadhav), Avya and Ravya together for a trip to Alibag, where he owns a bungalow which is on the verge of sell.
The film then takes a cue from Shakti Samanta classic ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ plot, where the caretaker Appa (Bharat Jadhav) has turned this bungalow into a hotel for tourists.
Appa is very apologetic to Ritwik and Ritwik is kind enough to forgive him. However, Appa is disheartened to know that the bungalow is being sold to a businessman rich enough to turn into a swanky joint. There is a sub-plot of romance between the four friends who woo the bungalows inmates, Neha (Maanava Naik-Appa’s niece), a micro-biology student turned singer (Sonalee ), a fashion designer (Pooja Sawant), and an MBBS student (Kadambari Kadam).
Soon, you find them sing tuneful songs on the beautiful beaches and other scenic locations shot beautifully with dazzlingly lit frames by cinematographer Sanjay Jadhav.
There is a lot of comic ad-libbing between the friends and their girlfriends and they finally decide to get hitched. But the bungalow situation is finally solved on Appa’s plea to Ritwik, who decides to run the hotel himself with Vishnu and Appa as his partners and turns down the offer of the buyer.
The film is incredibly beautiful at first look at and all the actors especially the girls woo the camera in style with camera friendly looks. Siddharth Jadhav is the pick of the actors providing the much required laughter. Sachit Patil looks handsome and is as good a director besides being an actor. Among the girls Maanava Naik and Sonalee Kulkarni are good. Bharat Jadhav is reliable as ever. Shubhangi Gokhale, Jayraj Nayar ,lend good support. The debutant actors have tried hard to impress.
Late Amit Pawar deserves a special mention for his snip-snap editing. The lyrics by Guru Thakur have been composed well on the music of Hrishikesh Kamerkar, especially the ‘Holiday’ and ‘Bavraa’ songs. Rajesh Bidve’s choreography also deserves a special mention as he has utilized the natural beauty of Alibag and Revdanda very well.
In all, this ‘Autograph Films’ presentation produced by Sandeep Shinde and Maulik Bhat is certainly worth a dekko!
‘Lalbaug Paral’ – Realistic but Vicious
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Rating: na
Presenter: Dar Motion Pictures Producer: Arun Rangachari Director: Mahesh Manjrekar Screenplay: Jayant Pawar, Mahesh Manjrekar Music: Ajit – Sameer Cast: Satish Kaushik, Siddharth Jadhav, Ankush Choudhary, Veena jamkar, VIneet Kumar, sameer Dharmadhikari, Sachin Khedekar, Kashmera Shah, Ganesh Yadav, Karan Patel, Shashank Shende, Seema Biswas Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
One man’s nightmare is another man’s dream. The closure of Mills in Mumbai was a nightmare to lakhs of workers, but it turned out to be a dream for the owners, who sold their land making crores of rupees out of it in such deals. It was a big game played by Mill owners those days, with the support of government. Not much of attention was paid by the media , which only blamed the adamant Union leader for holding on to his demands.
28 years after this tragic happening in the lives of those lower middle class families, today a film maker dares to describe the inside story and aftermath. ‘Lalbaug Parel (Zhali Mumbai Sonyachi) directed by Mahesh Manjrekar projects various characters, based on the original script of Jayant Pawar, which highlights the consequences of this social issue, totally ignored by the Government. No wonder, after release of this film, the government has started taking steps towards rehabilitation of the mill workers and their families.
The film begins with a scene where a real life script writer (Ankush Chowdhury) showing his old house to his girlfriend from the terrace top of a multi story tower and narrating the tragic story of his family in the flashback. The audience is then taken back to 1982, to show how the shrewd Mill owners with the support of Government played their cruel game to exploit the poor mill workers. Mahesh Manjrekar as a film maker goes into all required details to highlight the after effects of the strike. He has skillfully shown the Politician- Mill worker nexus for the closure of mills; but has failed to define the role of the adamant Union leader, who was equally responsible for this indefinite strike.
The director has paid more attention on the spread of underworld network with the young children of these jobless Mill workers turning towards crime. He has also focused on the simple lifestyle of these Lower middle class people living in chawls those days. As a director, he has done a commendable job to place before the audience the reality, capturing many emotion filled scenes. However, in the process he has shown too much of bloodshed on the screen. At the end of the film, the character of Speed breaker who turns a sharp shooter moves scot- free (in the present time) after killing his own friend in front of his family members at a public place and then shooting point blank the son-in-law of the mill owner along with his security guards, in his plush office.
Looking at the performances of the artistes, Seema Biswas plays the role of Mother with simplicity, paying more attention on her body language. Shashank Shende as Mill worker –father, is a perfect choice. Both Sachin Khedkar and Vinay Apte as Union leaders do well ; but surprisingly the character of the Chief Union leader –Doctor, does not get much of scope, considering the major role played by him in the controversial strike. Satish kaushik as Mama in the neighborhood, borrows the voice of Mahesh Manjrekar for this Marathi version, while Santosh Juvekar dubs his voice for Karan Patel, who plays Naru -the younger son of this mill worker, who later turns a sharp shooter. Actually, Santosh would have been a perfect choice for this character. Siddharth Jadhav as Speed breaker ( His character name), plays the son of a Union leader in his own style.
Actress Veena Jamkar plays an important character of Manju- the daughter of the Mill worker. She plays her part with total commitment . Kashmira Shah plays Mami – wife of Satish kaushik. Her sex appeal has been used for a different reason in this film to create that cheap humour. Sai Tamhankar has been a waste in that small role of a flower vendor. Kishore Pradhan and Sameer Dharmadhikari look very natural as Mill owners. Music does not have much scope in this film backed with a serious theme. In all, ‘Lalbaug Parel’ is a good, realistic and hard hitting film except for the violence part, which has been stretched too much in few sequences.
Huppa Huiyya ( हुप्पा हुय्या)
Genres: Drama
Rating: na
Censor: U
Duration: 130 min.
Studio/presenter: Samit Kakkad, Dream View Productions
Producers: Amar Kakkad, Pushpa Kakkad
Executive Producer: Sachin Kakkad
Director: Anil Surve
Writer: Hemant Edlabadkar
ScreenPlay: Hemant Edlabadkar
Dialogues: na
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Cast & Crew
Executive Producer: Sachin Kakkad
Director: Anil Surve
Assistant Director: na
Writer: Hemant Edlabadkar
ScreenPlay: Hemant Edlabadkar
Dialogues: na
Lyrics: Baba Chauman
Music: Ajit Parab
Playback Singer: Vaishali Samant, Swapnil Bandodkar, Nehh
Cinematographer (DOP): A. K. Bir
Editor: Ravi Bhushan
Starcast: Siddharth Jadhav, Mohan Joshi, Girija Oak, Usha Nadkarni, Ganesh Yadav, Vaibhav Mangale, Mangesh Desai, Nilesh Divekar, Mansi Magikar
Costumes: na
Makeup: na
Sound : Anil Nikam
Background Score: na
Choreographer: Umesh Jaadhav
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‘Huppa Huiyaa’ : na
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Fantasy filled ‘Huppa Huiyya!’
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Presenter: Akshara Films Division, DreamView Productions Pvt. Ltd Producers: Samit Kakkad, Amar Kakkad, Pushpa Kakkad Director: Anil Surve Camera: A.K. Bir Story & Screenplay: Hemant Edlabadkar Music: Ajit Parab Cast: Mohan Joshi, Siddharth Jadhav, Girija Oak, Mangesh Desai, Vabhav Mangle, Ganesh Yadav Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke |
Come Hanuman Jayanti and you have a timely offering coming from Marathi film industry in the form of ‘Huppa Huiya!’ to Lord Hanuman. Produced by Amar and Pushpa Kakkad and directed by Anil Surve this author backed fantasy is based on the script of Hemant Edlabadkar.
Hanmya (Siddharth Jadhav)a poor boy from the village is brought up by the Sarpanch of the village ( Mohan Joshi) and his caring wife ( Mansi Magikar). Being a helpful youngster, Hanmya has two friends – a clown in the village who performs shows ( Mangesh Desai) and his beloved (Girija Oak). His daily routine is to help people from the village and to bring to book those involved in illegal activities. He is more into social work and helps the old lady ( Usha Nadkarni) living in the outskirts of the village, by collecting herbs for her medicines from the jungles .
One day, while collecting herbs, Hanmya interacts with a group of monkeys and eats a fruit thrown at him by one of the monkeys. When he returns to Old lady’s house, he finds extra energy within him. Not surprised by this superpower, the old lady realizes this gift coming from God, especially to those who would make use of it only for the right purpose. The script of the film then takes you on fantasy filled journey. Soon, you are taken for the darshan of 11 Hanuman temples created by Swami Samarth Ramdas in the 17th century, through that 8 minute song sequence.
Now, when there are good things happening, the evil power is sure to block the way. So, in comes the villain Rangrao ( Ganesh Yadav). He first gets Hanmya’s clown friend killed and also succeeds in giving an electric shock to Hanmya’s beloved. In the climax of the film, the old lady comes to remind Hanmya about the secret about the superpower that he possesses. Hanmya opts for the ‘three-in-one’ prayer to first get the water for the village. With that valid message, director Anil Surve concludes his film with happy ending.
‘Huppa Huiya!’ is a total entertaining film with a social message. In that two hour length film, the director has however wasted first thirty minutes to describe all the characters and their attitude. But, once it takes off with that fantasy filled plot, it runs smoothly, holding the audience to their seats. Cinematography by national award winning cameraman A.K. Bir is the biggest asset of the film. He has captured all those outdoor scenes very effectively. Siddharth Jadhav has proved that a tailor made role can make him a solo hero, shouldering the responsibility of film’s success. Girija Oak as his co-star is the right choice. She has played her part very well. One wonders as to why an actress of her calibre hasn’t been offered better roles. Mohan Joshi, Mansi Magikar, Mangesh Desai support well as character artistes. Usha Nadkarni is impressive playing the old woman, but it is Ganesh Yadav in his negative role invites the attention. He has performed small roles in many Bollywood films, but now gets his chance to prove his acting skills, through this film. Kashmira Shah makes her brief appearance in one item number. Music by Ajit Parab is okay. The film has not paid much attention on its ad campaign. Looking at the fantasy filled script, they could have used other methods of publicity.
In all, ‘Huppa Huiya!’ is an entertaining film.