चित्रपट: अश्लील उद्योग मित्रमंडळ
निर्मिती: गौरी आणि बनी दालमिया, सुरेश देशमाने आणि विनोद सातव
दिग्दर्शन: आलोक राजवाडे
लेखन: धर्मकीर्ती सुमंत
स्टार कास्ट: अभय महाजन, पर्ण पेठे, सायली पाठक, अक्षय टांकसाळे, ऋतुराज शिंदे, विराट मडके, अमेय वाघ आणि सई ताम्हणकर

व्ह्यूपॉइंट: ‘अश्लील उद्योग मित्रमंडळ’ या नावावर जाऊन जर तुम्ही अलीकडे आलेल्या मराठीतल्या काही प्रसिद्ध अडल्ट कॉमेडी सिनेमांसारखा हा हि एक सिनेमा असावा असं समजून हा सिनेमा पाहायला गेलात तर नक्कीच तुमची निराशा होऊ शकते. मात्र मराठीत नवे प्रयोग करणारे सिनेमे क्वचितच प्रदर्शित होत असतात, आणि अशा सिनेमांबद्दल तुम्हाला कुतूहल असेल तर हा सिनेमा नक्कीच पाहायला हवा!

काय जमून आलंय?

• सिनेमा सुरु झाल्याच्या १० मिनिटातच सिनेमा कुठल्या वाटेने जाणार आहे हे प्रामाणिकपणे जाहीर करतो. हि वाट एरव्हीच्या तर्कशुद्ध कथानकात असते तशी नाही. किंबहुना एरव्हीचं पारंपारिक कथानक सुद्धा इथे अस्तितवात नाही. दोन ओळीत जर हे कथानक तुम्हाला सांगितलं तर ते अगदीच बालिश आणि निरर्थक वाटेल. मात्र हा सिनेमा पाहताना कथानक दुय्यम ठरतं. सिनेमातून आपला होणारा भावनानुभव अधिक महत्वाचा आहे. या सिनेमात जर गुंग होऊ शकलो तर सिनेमा अनेकदा हसवतो आणि चांगल्या अर्थी गोंधळवून लावतो.
• ‘अब्सर्ड’ या शब्दाचा गुगल वर येणारा अर्थ ‘अनरिजनेबल’, ‘इललॉजिकल’ इत्यादी हा आहे. म्हणजेच एखादा सिनेमा ‘अब्सर्ड’ आहे असं म्हटलं तर त्यापासून तर्क जपण्याच्या अपेक्षा असू नयेत. अब्सर्डपणा एखाद्या ब्लॅक कॉमेडी किंवा सटायर पेक्षा काहीसा सारखा असला तरी वेगळा असतो. सटायरमध्ये प्रत्येक गोष्टीला विशिष्ट अर्थ असतो, अब्सर्डपणात काही गोष्टींचा अर्थ लागतो (जो प्रत्येकाचा वेगळा असू शकतो) आणि काहींचा नाही लागत. या खेळात रस निर्माण झाला तर आपलं मनोरंजन नक्कीच होतं.
• सर्व कलाकार त्यांच्या परीने त्यांना दिलेली पात्र सामर्थ्याने उभी करतात. अगदी एकाच सीनमध्ये दिसलेला कलाकारही त्याचं काम उत्तम करून जातो. हा सिनेमा बनवणारी आणि त्यात काम करणारी हि सगळी तरुण मंडळी नाटकातल्या शिस्तीत तयार झालेली असल्याने कदाचित त्यांच्या कामात नवेपण जाणवला तरी नवखेपणा अजिबात जाणवत नाही. हे दिग्दर्शक म्हणून आलोक राजवाडे याचं सर्वात मोठं यश आहे.
• सिनेमाचा मूळ विषय तरुणांच्या लैंगिक वंचितपणाशी निगडीत आहे. मात्र या विषयासोबतच एखाद्या तरुणाच्या आयुष्यात इत्तर अनेक गोंधळून टाकणाऱ्या गोष्टी घडत असतात. त्यात मिसळलेला ‘अब्सर्डपणा’ याने सिनेमाचा एकूण माहोल जो तयार होतो तो या पिढीतल्या तरुणांना रिलेट होणारा आहे असं म्हणता येईल. एखादी ‘बॅड ट्रीप’ लागते तेव्हा अवतीभवतीचं जग कसं अस्पष्ट वाटू लागतं तसा अनुभव हा सिनेमा देतो.

काय फसलंय?

• सिनेमातली मुख्य पात्र आपल्यासमोर तुकड्या तुकड्यात उभी केली जातात. त्यांच्याबद्दल सहानुभूती किंवा इत्तर काही तीव्र भावना निर्माण होतील अशी सोय या सिनेमात नाही. आणि त्कया पात्दारांच्चिया एकमेकांशी असलेली नात्तयांमध्ये सुद्धा आपण फार गुंतत नाही. हे जाणीवपूर्वक केलेलं प्रयोजन असावं पण तरी त्यामुळे त्या पात्रांच्या आयुष्यात घडणाऱ्या घटना काहीश्या दुरूनच आपण पाहत राहतो.
• सिनेमाचं कथानक ‘नॉन लिनिअर’ पद्धतीने उलगडत जातं. हे प्रयोजन खरंतर एका विशिष्ट पात्रासाठी केलेलं आहे. पण ते तसं न करता त्या पात्राचं सिनेमात असणं तुकड्या तुकड्यात जर आलं असतं आणि कथानक लिनिअर पद्तधतीने उलगडललं असतं तर अधिक गुंतवणूक प्रेक्षकांची झाली असती आणि शेवटाला जेव्हा ते पात्र मुख्य घटनाक्रमात आणलं जातं तेव्हा ते जबरदस्तीने आणलं आहे असं वाटलं नसतं.
• वरच्या मुद्द्याला धरूनच, अखेर जबरदस्तीने त्या पात्राचं येणं खरंतर सामाजिक संदेश थेट पद्धतीने देता यावा यासाठी केलेलं प्रयोजन आहे. साधारणतः एखद्या ‘अब्सर्ड’ सिनेमात समाजिक संदेश दिला जाणं अपेक्षित नसतं, मात्र तो देऊच नये असाही नियम नाही. तो कसा द्यावा या बद्दल नक्कीच चर्चा होऊ शकते. इथे तो अधिक चातुर्याने देता आला असता जो सिनेमा संपल्यावर आपल्याला विचार करायला लावील.

फायनल व्हर्डीक्ट: पारंपारिक कथानकाच्या पलीकडे कथनक झेलू शकणारी रसिक मंडळी आपल्याकडे कमी प्रमाणात का होईना नक्कीच आहेत. जगभरातला सिनेमा पाहताना आपल्या भाषेत आपल्या तरुण कलाकारांनी बनवलेला हा प्रायोगिक सिनेमा आपण नक्कीच एकदा तरी पाहायला हवा!

The post अश्लील उद्योग मित्रमंडळ रिव्ह्यू: जणू एखादी न विसरता येणारी बीटी (बॅड ट्रीप)! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Kesari | केसरी
• Producer : Santosh Ramchandani
• Director & Editor: Sujay S Dahake
• Cinematography (DOP) : Sandeep Giyan Yadav
• Writer : Niyaj Mujavar
• Background Music : Saket Kanetkar
• Star Cast : Virat Madke, Mahesh Manjrekar, Vikram Gokhale, Umesh Jagtap, Chhaya Kadam, Jaywant Wadkar & Mohan Joshi

Viewpoint: Sujay Dahake’s ‘Kesari’ stands out strong & bold among the crowd of sports dramas being made everywhere in India. More than the plot of the film it’s the visual experience that the film gives matters here which in turn reflects into our emotional experience throughout the film.

What Works? 

• 5 Minutes into the film and you know you are in for a rare visual treat coming from a Marathi film. A wider aspect ratio has been used for the film which makes the visuals come out of the frame without any 3D effect. The way the camera caresses the protagonist preparing for the ‘Kusti’ shows how the beauty of a human body should be captured on the celluloid (or a digital celluloid). The lush green locales of the village in which the film is set, are actually contrasting in a film about ‘Kusti’. Probably indicating that it’s not really about ‘Kusti’!
• The lead actor of the film, Virat Madke is a real find. He fits the part perfectly in every way and keeps us backing him throughout the journey of the film.
• Every important character in the film has clear established traits that makes them feel real even when they don’t have any conventional tracks of their own and are in the story just to facilitate the protagonist.
• The dialogue writing especially in the first half, is extremely effective. It strikes the right balance of authenticity and a tad bit of filmyness. The dialogues are more effective because they are not thrown at us all the time, they come in at specific dramatic situations which take the film forward.
• There’s a scene in the film when our protagonist decides to enter a traditional “Kusti Taalim Akhada” to be trained & groomed under a master. The master played by Jaywant Wadkar understanding the economic situation of the protagonist introduces his “Akhada” in a way that is not insulting to the hero but also opens his eyes (and ours), shows him the reality that “Kusti” today is not a sport for the poor, it’s for the privileged ones. Countless films have come about “Kusti” in recent times, every other film probably missed this reflection of reality!

What Fails? 

• Almost until the end of second half we don’t really see actual “Kusti” ploys being practiced by our protagonist. That is not necessarily a problem up until then as the film addresses that and the protagonist himself is frustrated about it. But by the end Mahesh Manjrekar’s character (Protagonist’s Guru) says that throughout he wasn’t preparing our hero for the Kusti match alone but for life itself, that definitely doesn’t coincide with the overall sensibilities of the film & it clearly feels melodramatic. Adding to that melodrama there’s a twist added to the climax of the film that also feels very unnecessary.

Final Verdict: ‘Kesari’ is a must have theater experience! “Kusti” is a inherent part of our culture and yet there are hardly any decent films made about it in Marathi. ‘Kesari’ changes that totally and through the use of modern cinematic tools & sensibilities!

The post Kesari Marathi Movie Review: A Visual Spectacle to be Relished on the Big Screen! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Bonus | बोनस
• Producer : Arjun Singgh Baran & Kartik Nishandar, Govind Ubhe, Sandesh Patil, Ratish Patil and M. Anupama
• Writer-Director : Saurabh Bhave
• Star Cast : Gashmeer Mahajani, Pooja Sawant, Dr. Mohan Agashe, Jaywant Wadkar, Purna Nand, Makarand Sathe & others 

Viewpoint: Most importantly ‘Bonus’ succeeds in capturing the heartland of Mumbai in it’s truest form. Mumbai in this film feels alive unlike in Many other recent Marathi films! And along with that the film has a solid protagonist about whom we are concerned throughout his journey in the film.

What Works? 

• By feeling alive I mean the way Mumbai is captured in this film shies away from any artificial exaggeration. The life in chawls around Mumbai is not always as impossible and gruesome as some films before had depicted. Neither is it all hunky-dory all the time. While the protagonist in the film finds this life challenging we are never seeing any melodramatic exaggeration of his hardships. From a visual point of view too the film stays neutral and authentic.
• Gashmeer Mahajani had played this unlikable sophisticated outsider in his films before, but never did he succeed to this extent. In this film we despise him at the beginning but slowly also start sympathizing with him and eventually feeling that there’s nothing majorly wrong with him as he comes off age through the experiences he has in a world different from the world he was born and brought up in.
• Another major aspect in making this Mumbai more authentic are a number of other characters who seem taken out directly from the real world. Whether it’s an real estate agent who shows our protagonist a house under his measly allotted budget who then tells the owner of the house that he’ll take his commission whenever he is needs any money, but drools over fried Bombay ducks that the woman (owner) prepares. Then there is the husband of that woman who had been a convicted murderer and is back after finishing his sentence, who shares his experience of doing plumbing chores inside the Yerawada jail!
• While the film is about social and economic differences in our society, it doesn’t hit us hard in a way that is disturbing and difficult to digest, it rather chooses a different path where all it asks from us is a bit of compassion towards people living a harder life.
• The humour in the first half truly keeps us glued in curiosity towards the protagonist & his journey and also helps the film settle into it’s lighter, non-melodramatic tone for the rest of the run time!
• From a technical point of view the film understands when to let the background score take over a scene and when to not disrupt the realness of a scene. That again helps the film in maintaining it’s authentic but entertaining tone.

What Fails? 

• There are a few convenient plot points that the film takes for our protagonist which makes our protagonist’s challenge a little less challenging, for example the ease with which he gets a job.
• Not necessarily a big drawback but the way Pooja Sawant’s character was setup in the film felt well gelled with authenticity of the film but later her transition into a love interest for our protagonist seemed a unnecessary.

Final Verdict: ‘Bonus’ represents the new Marathi cinema that is both mainstream and audience friendly and is also thought provoking and well crafted. It’s high time that Marathi audiences start valuing our Marathi films more and watching them in theatres is the only way to do that.

The post Bonus Movie Review: Captures the Essence of Mumbai Authentically! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Vikun Taak | विकून टाक
• Producer : Uttung Hitendra Thakur
• Director : Sameer Patil
• Star Cast : Shivraj Waichal, Chunky Pandey, Rohit Mane, Hrishikesh Joshi, Varsha Dandale, Samir Choughule, Rujuta Deshmukh, Radha Sagar & Jaywant Wadkar
• Story, Screenplay and Dialogues : Siddheshwar Ekambe, Charudas Bhagwat & Sameer Patil

Viewpoint: Director Sameer Patil of ‘Poshter Boyz’, ‘Poshter Girl’ & ‘Shentimental’ fame has a habit of tickling us and pinching us both at same time through his issue based social comedies. In his newest film ‘Vikun Taak’ he again succeeds in doing the same though the issue feels a bit forced in the end of the film, and film’s plot jumbles itself up also by the end. Yet the overall experience of watching the film remains pleasant.

What Works? 

• Casting has been crucial to all of Sameer Patil films. He truly wins his first battle by getting the right people for the right part. And he does it again! From Shivraj Waichal in the lead, to Chunky Pandey as an ‘Arab’ (with a deliberately silly Arab accent) or the new actor (Rohit Mane) who plays the hero’s friend, and the rest of the ensemble cast all of them fit their parts perfectly and compliment each other through their performances.
• Another common trait in Sameer Patil‘s films is the way he marries old Marathi cinema subjects to modern sensibilities. His films though set in rural or urban backdrops they would easily appeal to both audiences. For example in the beginning of the film we see a marriage being called off at the very last moment, something we have seen so many times in our old Marathi films, but the twist here is that it’s been called off by the bride’s side instead of the groom’s! And this isn’t a gimmick in any way!
• Vikun Taak’s biggest strength is even though it uses a social backdrop to extract humour from, it never disrespects and sensationalize the backdrop. On a plot level yes it feels jumbled up by the end but we never feel that the backdrop was just there as a filmy element, it feels authentic.
• The film sets up it’s conflict effectively in the beginning of the film and because of that we feel for the protagonist and are really want him to get out of trouble. Had the set up failed in making us feel for him, the journey would have been less interesting.
• The humour is hit and miss, sometimes the joke work and sometimes they feel a bit cringy (especially in the second half) but there is still a newness about the humour that doesn’t make us feel we are watching something that we’ve watched before.

What Fails? 

• I said that the film has an authentic social backdrop but beyond that there’s a specific social issue and social commentary regarding human organ trafficking in the film. Which arrives too late in the film and feels forced into the plot. Had the film introduced it earlier, it would have really raised the stakes for the ‘thrill’ part of the film.
• There’s a love angle in the film that never really feels justified for it’s existence. It simply feels like a mandatory inclusion to have a female “heroine” in the film.
• As said above the plot of the film jumbles itself up in the end. The film feels a bit confused on the point it wanted to make, and we realize the point they wanted to make had nothing to do with the plot but had to do with the lately introduced social issue. While doing so it also forcefully villainizes a supporting character who always felt really harmless.

Final Verdict: ‘Vikun Taak’ is a fun film overall that is well acted and directed and give us a good light feeling that lasts at least a day but it’s very doubtful whether it will have any repeat watchable value or not?

The post Vikun Taak Movie Review: Another Entertaining Sameer Patil Comedy! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Makeup (2020) | मेकअप
• Producer : Deepak Mukut, B. Balaji Rao, Hiren Gada, Neeraj Kumar Burman, Amit Singh
• Director : Ganesh Pandit
• Star Cast : Rinku Rajguru, Chinmay Udgirkar, Prateeksha Lonkar, Rajan Tamhane
• Story, Screenplay and Dialogues : Sujoy Roy & Ganesh Pandit

Viewpoint: Rinku Rajguru’s third outing in Marathi cinema, ‘Makeup’ turns out be problematic in terms of her performance but overall the film succeeds because it defies stereotypes and avoids usual sentimental melodrama! The two halves of the film though distinctly different in terms of plot and tone, they compliment each other well and give us a strangely unique mainstream entertainer!

What Works? 

• Ganesh Pandit has been an established writer in Marathi cinema for around a decade now, this film is his directorial debut & the film reflects his unique sense of comedy in many ways. One of the most effective ways is the way in which he uses certain details in objects or props to extract humour. Throughout the first half which is primarily a comedy he uses certain objects, elements in almost every scene to convey few underlying themes of that particular scene or about the characters. Whether it’s a mobile phone, simple entrance doors, an audio device that constantly chants “Shree Swami Samarth”, or a sizzler dish ordered in a restaurant! Not many filmmakers in Marathi use such elements creatively.
• ‘Makeup’ succeeds in protecting the film by not revealing too much in the promos, trailers. Many films don’t understand the risk of giving away too much. Here because of the protection we are pleasantly surprised with the turns the plot takes.
• The film defies the norm that we need a conventional hero, conventional heroine coming together conventionally in a romantic dramedy! The two of the main characters are put through strange circumstances and are made to go through things we all face in our lives.
• The strangeness of the second half is such that many a times we as audiences are conflicted on whether to laugh or to feel bad! While this could be frustrating for some lot of the audiences to me it was exciting! Seldomly our films put us in such conflicted two minds, I enjoyed it!
• The film silently stands for all the right things related to feminism in today’s times. But more so it also looks at family in a new way, one that could be easily relatable to today’s youth.
• The music of the film is really good. Especially because these days it has become rare in Marathi cinema. Though there’s one song which is a remake of a popular Hindi song.
• Chinmay Udgirkar who’s in the male lead along with the rest of the supporting cast except Rinku have given consistent performances.

What Fails? 

• Rinku’s performance falters majorly in all the humorous moments designed around her character. However she is completely effective in other moments. This inconsistency could have been worked upon. It reinstates the fact that ‘comedy’ is the most difficult part of acting, and you can’t be good in it by default.
• The dialogues of the film (especially in the 1^st half) most of the times are too cheesy. It might be deliberately done but it isn’t effective enough.
• It’s clearly evident that the film is directed by a first time director. This film under a more finessed director could have been even more effective! But nevertheless we can expect Pandit’s next film to be better directed!

Final Verdict: ‘Makeup’ is a film about which we can’t really be general in terms of whether all kinds of audiences would be able to enjoy it or not. But certainly if an audience is open minded enough to consume content that defies their expectations and presents a confusing but lifelike tale of love, romance & relationships, ‘Makeup’ can work for them!

The post Makeup Marathi Movie Review: Strange in a Good Way! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Dhurala (2019) | धुरळा
• Producer : Zee Studios, Anish Joag, Ranjit Gugle
• Director : Sameer Vidwans
• Star Cast : Ankush Chaudhari, Sai Tamhankar, Siddharth Jadhav, Sonalee Kulkarni, Amey Wagh, Prasad Oak, Priyadarshan Jadhav, Umesh Kamat & Alka Kubal-Athalye
• Story, Screenplay and Dialogues : Kshitij Patwardhan
• Background Music : A V Prafullchandra

Viewpoint: Marathi cinema has had very few but great political films over the years. Most of them have lasted the test of time and are considered classics. Moreover we as a culture are very politically inclined and find day to day political incidents fascinating and exciting with our strong opinions about it. The recent chaotic political atmosphere also fueled the same, and in between all this ‘Dhurala’ is a brilliantly crafted political film that we all deserved!

What Works? 

• Unlike many other recent Indian political films, the political canvas of ‘Dhurala’ is smaller. It’s not about state level or national level politicians but about a political family working within the boundaries of a village. But the makers of this film have proved that the stakes are equally high here! In fact since the focus remains on a family and their internal as well as external politics the film becomes very character driven and we get to know all the primary characters in & out!
• The dialogue writing of the film strikes the right balance of being slightly filmy yet extremely believable! ‘Right’ because that’s what we see politicians doing too! Dramaticness or ‘filmyness’ has become an inseparable part of our politics.
• The film gives an inside view of how a political family functions from within. How in a strange way their privilege might actually be more of a curse. We understand the ruthlessness and the ugliness of the political games they have to play to survive or go forward.
• All the lead actors get an equal opportunity to shine! Siddharth Jadhav and Sonalee Kulkarni in particular get to play characters which they had never played before and shine in them! Ankush Chaudhari matches the subtle smartness of his character perfectly and Sai Tamhankar again hits it out of the park with her extremely sensitive performance!
• Technically the film is good at all levels. But it’s the background score that stands out bright and bold! The score gives context to many simpler scenes and makes us more interested than otherwise. It’s not just the quality of the score but the timing of it that makes the difference I believe and this film has so precisely got it right!
• Eventually ‘Dhurala’ works as a basic human drama. The setting is all of a political film, but somewhere we see ourselves in the film, that is what cinema is supposed to do! It has to speak to us in a very human way beyond all of it’s outer layers!

What Fails?

• No real major flaw in this film. Except a little one, I feel many a times the film doesn’t build an atmosphere. It feels a little too focused on it’s characters alone (which is great) but visually it could have done with building scenes in such a way that we feel where exactly is it happening, and we are a part of it.

Final Verdict: Post Sairat Marathi cinema has been in search of a film that works easily with a broader audience and is also brilliantly crafted. ‘Dhurala’ has that potential in my opinion. It surely feels like a hopeful resurrection of good Marathi cinema at the box office!

The post Dhurala Movie Review: A Brilliant Political Drama that Appeals in a Very Humane Way! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review: Khari Biscuit
• Director : Sanjay Jadhav
• Star Cast: Miss Vedashree Khadilkar, Master Adarsh Kadam, Nandita Patkar & Sushant Shelar
• Story, Screenplay & Dialogues: Sanket Mane, Sachin Mote & Chetan Saudane Respectively.
• Producer: Zee Studios, Dreaming Twenty Four 7 & Deepak Pandurang Rane

Quick Viewpoint: Sanjay Jadhav’s ‘Khari Biscuit’ has it’s flaws if looked objectively without being emotionally attached. But the problem is, it is really hard to detach ourselves emotionally even while judging the film! If a film manages to do that to you, I consider it a really good film irrespective of the flaws!

What Works? 

• First & foremost the credit to the film’s effectiveness should go to the three writers who have worked on the film; Sanket Mane, Sachin Mote & Chetan Saudane. On all three fronts of story, screenplay & dialogues ‘Khari Biscuit’ is built with a singular objective of relating the audience on an emotional level. They primarily succeed when we are by the side of the protagonist (the brother ‘biscuit’) quite quickly when the film starts. And then throughout we look at the obstacles coming in the way of our protagonist in a very sensitive way.
• The performances of the two lead kids are wonderful. While the little girl Vedashree Khadilkar pours sweetness into many little moments in the film, her elder brother played by Adarsh Kadam is throughout brilliant. His earnestness and sincerity in every scene that he features in is eye catching!
• Along with the emotional connect through the children’s story the film connects to us emotionally on another important front! Cricket is a religion in our country and for the longest time Sachin Tendulkar has been it’s god! This film understands that & uses that to it’s benefit beautifully! If you have ever been that cricket fan who sits in one position throughout the game as some superstition towards India winning or Sachin scoring, ‘Khari Biscuit’ is a tribute to you and your kind!
• Many films are made in order to romanticize the message of ‘hope’. It’s a very common trait of film messaging from the beginning of time! I think new films made today about ‘hope’ don’t get any by default credit for choosing it as the film’s major inspirational strategy, but when those films actually make you ‘feel’ hopeful that is when you have to give the due credit to them! And ‘Khari Biscuit’ made me feel ‘hopeful’!
• There’s a dialogue in the film where the elderly, motherly figure played by Nandita Patkar makes the protagonist realize that why ‘lies’ are important in a poor man’s life. And how ‘lies’ make their reality liveable. That moment to me puts into perspective the entire film and also makes feeling ‘hopeful’ more logical and meaningful!

What Fails?

• The film will ask for suspension of disbelief from the audiences and those who can’t manage it won’t be diving deep emotionally in the film. And if there’s no emotional connection for a viewer the entire film will loose all of it’s charm on him/her.
• While the film is shot decently enough in actual real locations in Mumbai, the stress is not on making the reality hit hard. To some extent if the film made the audiences realize about the harsher obstacles kids living on their own on the streets face, the emotional grip of the film on us would have only been tighter!
• By the end of the film there’s a track where the protagonist and his friends gets involved into something that is morally, ethically questionable. However the treatment given to this is pretty casual and superficial. Again there was scope to make it more harsher and hence more emotionally effective!

Final Verdict: Sanjay Jadhav is a director who has always reinvented himself at regular intervals. ‘Khari Biscuit’ is the first film in his newest reinvention of himself! And in my opinion he has managed to bring together his stylistic (commercially) way of cinema along with the cinema that appeals to us on a human level for it’s emotional truth!

The post Khari Biscuit Review: An Emotionally Moving Experience! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review: Triple Seat
• Director : Sanket Pavse
• Star Cast: Ankush Chaudhari, Shivani Surve, Pallavi Patil & Vidyadhar Joshi
• Screenplay: Adv. Abhijit Dalvi
• Producer: Narendra Firodiya

Quick Viewpoint: Triple Seat succeeds on a fundamental criteria in small parts through the film. The criteria being the execution of a ‘scene’. There’s some kind of emotional relativity in quite a few emotional scenes of the film, even when the dialogues sound like random whatsapp statuses!

What Works?

• The above mentioned emotional relativity can be traced back to two things. One is the precise use of background music that is not loud but is emotionally complementing to the scenes and the other being Ankush Chaudhari’s performance and a bit of Shivani Surve’s performance too.
• Along with the background score the overall musical score of the film is pretty decent. Especially when good music is becoming more and more rare in Marathi cinema today. All the songs highlight the feeling of romance, sometimes pleasant and sometimes dramatic!
• The first half of the film works really well whenever it takes itself seriously. But a major turning point in the plot takes the impact of it away from us.
• Even with many logical plotholes, inconsistent screenplay of the film by the end we are bothered about the characters in the film and in a romantic drama that is a positive!

What Fails? 

• The poor dialogue writing harms the film in multiple ways. Especially when they try to be general about life and love, they sound like cardboard cut outs from a random social media viral message!
• The film fails as a family drama, which it attempted in the second half. The family in the picture never feels like an actual family.
• There’s a major plot point where the film randomly turns into a comedy of errors without inflicting any humor whatsoever. The bigger problem is that throughout the second half it has to forcefully back the plot twist and go accordingly in the illogical direction. We wonder if the twist hadn’t come, the film might have well gone on to a different path of becoming a lighter romantic film.
• There’s an objective narrator-like character of an advocate (played by a popular Hindi character actor Rakesh Bedi) in the film. It’s a trait that is used to make things appear more important than how much important they actually feel to you! It’s completely unessential to the film and again avoiding that could have made the film much simpler and easier to like!

Final Verdict: ‘Triple Seat’ is few inches away from being called a harmless one time watch for romantic movie fans, but those inches could be covered up if you are a dedicated Ankush Chaudhari fan and/or an admirer of Shivani Surve!

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• Review: Pandu (Web Series)
  
• Director: Anusha Nandakumar & Sarang Sathaye
• Writer: Noel Cordeiro, Omkar Jadhav & Gaurav Pawar
• Cast: Suhas Shirsat, Deepak Shirke, Trupti Khamkar, Prasad Reddy, Abish Mathew, Girija Oak & Sarang Sathaye
• Web Platform: MX Player

Quick Viewpoint: ‘Pandu’ gives a refreshing look at the life of Mumbai police in a very light-hearted, easy going, private way. However without any warning it also shows us how their life is still at risk and in no time a disaster can take place.

What Works?

• Many a times when we see a Marathi police officer or a constable in a Hindi film or series, we are more likely seeing a stereotyped version of reality! In ‘Pandu’ that isn’t the case! The series first & foremost looks at the central character and the rest of the police surrounding him as simply humans. Humans who are imperfect, yet sensitive and have a practical conscience and not the heroic conscience that we see in the cops played by Bollywood stars!
• Suhas Shirsat and senior actor Deepak Shirke are both perfectly casted in their parts and they have truly given memorable performances. For Shirsat especially this could be a career changing moment!
• The private-family life of the central character is equally important in the series as his life as a cop and also to highlight the fact that the cops too are just the same average common man who has day to day little battles to fight!
• The blend of lifelike subtle humour and an existential crisis faced by the lead character makes the series stand out from various streaming content on different platforms.

What Fails?

• The first three episodes when compared to the last three feel lacking of substance, even though the characters are instantly relatable.
• The series was obviously made on a minimal budget and unfortunately it sometimes is visible in couple of scenes and becomes a distraction and a deviation from the plot of the series.

Final Verdict: Sarang Sathaye and his team at ‘Bharatiya Digital Party’ are true pioneers in the world of Marathi web content and with ‘Pandu’ they take it forward and inspire other creators in Marathi to take risks and bring out their own content out!

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• Review: Baba
• Director : Raj R Gupta
• Star Cast: Deepak Dobriyal, Nandita Patkar, Aryan Menghji, Spruha Joshi, Abhijeet Khandkekar, Chittranjan Giri & Jaywant Wadkar
• Screenplay: Manish Singh
• Producer: Maanayata Dutt & Ashok Subhedar

Quick Viewpoint: The basic one liner for ‘Baba’ does have a lot of emotional strength. And to some extent the film does explore it well up until the first half. But somewhere in the second half it loses it’s focus and then never really recovers.

What Works? 

• As said above, the basic story line of the film, where two sets (out of which one set is deaf and dumb) of parents are battling for a kid, is very believable. The situation that has caused this conflict might seem slightly filmy but the complexity of the scenario is from the real world. No parties are wrong yet one of them has to loose!
• The lead cast of the deaf and dumb parents (Dobriyal and Patkar) and the kid (Aryan) belong together in every way. Their chemistry works even more effectively as they are made to communicate without words!
• The film is technically well made, the music especially works really well to give it a light-hearted playful tone mainly in the first half.
• Even when the second half has issues the end is effective, not that it undoes the errors of the film but it still has lasting impression. It is not overly melodramatic and neither is it emotionally dull.

What Fails? 

• In the second half the film wastes too much time on a very irrelevant, unimportant sub track! The whole track could have been summed up in 5 minutes but the film wastes at least 20 minutes or more over it.
• In the end the film gives a sensible vocal perspective to what it wanted to say about the society which treats deaf and dumb individuals differently. Unfortunately the film fails to imbibe the message into the actual screenplay and simply covers it in the climax.
• The deaf and dumb parents are understandably too attached to the kid but never do they realize the importance of a different life for their kid. Maybe unintentionally the film projects them as selfish parents who couldn’t see what’s best for their kid beyond their love for him.
• The other parents portrayed by Spruha Joshi and Abhijeet Khandkekar deserved more exploration as characters in the film. They even have a legit sub-track worthy conflict between them! But the film fails at exploring them and making them lesser important in the story which doesn’t make us understand their emotional side of the story.

Final Verdict: ‘Baba’ is a decent film that can be seen with the family. But with minimum expectations.

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