Mulshi Pattern Quick Review: An Emotionally Effective ‘Gangster’ Film

Review: Mulshi Pattern (2018)
Cast: Om Bhutkar, Mohan Joshi, Upendra Limaye, Kshitish Date, Savita Malpekar, Mahesh Manjrekar & Pravin Tarde
Director: Pravin Tarde

Quick Viewpoint: The Gangster film genre isn’t explored that often in Marathi cinema. ‘Mulshi Pattern’ succeeds in getting quite a few traits of this genre right, especially the film has an everlasting emotional impact! 

What Fails? 

• The non-linear pattern of the film seems forceful & unnecessary. And while using this pattern the film jumps through the narrative every now & then. The film misses many narrative transitions, & distillates many peak points in the narrative casually.
• The film is in too much love with its characters. The whole narrative at many instances feels like manipulated for the convenience of increasing a character’s impact.
• While using many known traits of the ‘gangster’ genre it doesn’t discover any new possibilities on its own. While the social backdrop of farmers selling their lands is used well & has an emotional impact it doesn’t change the actual ‘gangster’ narrative of the film which lacks freshness.
• While the film is technically smooth. It could have been more rustic in the way in capturing action scenes. For example, too much use of slow motion spoils the impact of a chase scene!
• There’s a track of a teenage boy in the film who is closer to the hero (gangster) of the film played by Om Bhutkar. This whole track seems to be ripped off from another gangster film, a Hindi film named ‘Allah Ke Bandey’ starring Sherman Joshi in lead.

What Works? 

• The film has many elaborate scenes that are specifically designed to create an emotional impact on the audiences. There’s a gimmicky staginess in it. Though in a harmless way! In fact, those moments stay in our memory for a long time after the film is over!
• Om Bhutkar’s performance is one of the year’s finest & the most emotionally effective performance in Marathi of recent times! For the first time, he got the opportunity to shine in a full-fledged lead role in a well marketed commercial film & he has grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
• The chemistry between Om Bhutkar & Mohan Joshi, who plays his father, the role of an old man who is facing the consequences of the actions he once took (of selling the land).
• In fact, the father-son bond works really well in the film, that too in both perspectives; of the son & of the father.
• The dialogues of the film might not become iconic straight away iconic but they are certainly effective & suit the genre of the film & in keeping the audience’s interest throughout.
• There’s a legit audience for this kind of violent gangster films, but very few such films are made in Marathi. ‘Mulshi Pattern’ took it forward from where Mahesh Manjrekar’s ‘Lalbaug Parel’ & Abhijeet Panse’s ‘Rege’ left few years ago!

Final Verdict: ‘Mulshi Pattern’ is a must watch for the audiences who enjoy gangster films & it also gives an emotional impact that might work for any kind of audiences.

Rating: 3/5