Rating: ★★★ Genres: Drama Censor: U/A Duration: 130 min Studio/presenter: Raiees Lashkaria Productions Producer: Raiees Lashkaria Productions Director: Avadhoot Gupte Writer: Avadhoot Gupte, Sachin Darekar Lyrics:  Guru Thakur, Avadhoot Gupte Music: Avadhoot Gupte Cinematographer (DOP): Amalendu Chauhdari Cast: Santosh Juvekar, Mangesh Desai, Urmila Nimbalkar, Sagar Karande, Tejaswini Pandit, Abhedya Gupte Movie Review by: Jitendra R More

Known for his films on social issues like, Politicians exploiting their party workers, the politics behind community festivals and inspiring Marathi youth to start business in other states; Avadhoot Gupte hasn’t offered much , through his latest film ‘Ek Taraa’. As a story writer, lyricist, singer and above all, the director of this film, Avadhoot dosen’t seem to have paid attention on restricting the length of the film. The only plus point of the film is its music, which offers variety.
Alandi seems to be the new destination for the lead characters of our Marathi films. So, in ‘Ek Taara’ we find another ‘Mauli’, who is not a protagonist, but a singer. The story of ‘Ek Taraa’ revolves around this local singer Dnyaneshwar Lokhande , who is popularly known as ‘Mauli'( Santosh Juvekar). Mauli sings devotional songs in his village, to carry forward the legacy of his father ( Mangesh Desai).
The film begins with an All India Music contest, with Mauli as one of the finalists. From there, the film goes into flashback, where we see Mauli preparing himself to take part in a reality singing contest in Mumbai. During the final round, we find his fiancée Chatura( Urmila Nimbalkar) and close friend Vithu( Sagar Karande) also joining him, to boost his morale. Undoubtedly, Mauli wins this contest and carries home a big booty .

Mauli marries Chatura and comes back to Mumbai. He signs a big contract with a channel, through a foreign returned E.P. of that channel Urja( Tejaswini Pandit). The business tactics of this channel are exposed in the film. Mauli also slips and falls into the trap of ‘wine and woman’. He frequently insults his wife and close friend and dares to share the bed with Urja in his own house. Both Chatura and Vithu after facing humiliation, return to their village.
In the post interval session, we see the film trailing , with Mauli falling into the trap of underworld. The director has not justified the behavior of two important characters of Mauli and Urja. How can a person with proper upbringing, change all of a sudden, to sleep with another woman, by asking his wife to sleep in a guest room ? How can he join the underworld group ? Also, how can a well educated big executive stoop so low, as noticed through some of her acts ? The concluding scenes in the film, are done hurriedly , i.e. to conclude with Mauli’s reunion with his family, after few years and his little son Omkar (Abhedya Gupte ) also acquiring singing talent. At the end of the film, we even see a complete devotional song picturised on him.
Santosh Juvekar has done a good job playing different shades, through his character. He finds good support coming from his co star Tejaswini, but, their chemistry doesn’t work well, as throughout the film, the audience develop a soft corner towards Chatura, who finds a better role this time in Marathi, after her debut through a cameo ‘Dum Dum Diga ..’. few years ago. Popular small screen comedian Sagar karande, finds a good role, to express his emotions well. Others in the cast, like Producer Raees Lashkaria as the channel head, Sunil Tawde as village Sarpanch, Amol Gupte as underworld Don and few others are just fine. Amalendu Chaudhari’s cinematography and Avadhoot Gupte’s music are the only plus points of this film, besides good performances by the artistes.