• Review : Farzand (2018)
• Producer : Anirban Sarkar
• Director : Digpal Lanjekar
• Screenplay: Digpal Lanjekar
• Star Cast : Ankit Mohan, Prasad Oak, Chinmay Mandlekar, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Pravin Tarde, Aastad Kale, Ajay Purkar, Sameer Dharmadhikari & Neha Joshi
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 3.5/5

Farzand Review (Marathi Movie):

As much the great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is a part of our culture & our cultural references it has hardly reflected in our films. There is a whole genre of literature dedicated to the king & other kings who were connected to him in some ways, but very few attempts have been made in our films especially in today’s times. So ‘Farzand’ clearly has a huge advantage for taking up the subject with such conviction & confidence.

The film introduces us to it’s world by directly letting us into the tactical war methodology of ‘Ganimi Kawa’ being implemented by Tanaji Malusare (Ganesh Yadav) & his men. We see a smashing few dialogues with a touch of humour & then Tanaji & his men directly start the warfare. Now the problem here is the idea of ‘Ganimi Kawa’ gets lost here. The direct cut to sword fight where the unfocussed men in the backdrop simply seem like faking the fight, this action piece proves week & we start telling ourselves, we shouldn’t expect more. But even in those scenes the ‘Spirit’ is evident clear & loud!

After this episode the actual track of the narrative begins. Maharaj (Chinmay Mandlekar) has won all the forts within the Swarajya vicinity. The only fort that remains is ‘Panhala’! Mughal emperor Beshak Khan (Sameer Dharmadhikari) rules over Panhala. And under his rule many women from the Swarajya are facing threat everyday, his men kidnap random women from the vicinity & take them to the fort. Maharaj feels guilty to perform the ‘Rajyabhishek’ ritual when his people are facing such threats! He decides no matter what ‘Panhala’ needs to be under the Marathas!

Then the title character of the film comes into play! From the very first moment actor Ankit Mohan convinces us to be a warrior! His body, his body language, the fire in his eyes all of it contributes immensely in the impact of ‘Farzand’. Alongside him almost equal footage & importance is shared by Prasad Oak who portrays the ‘Bahuroopi’ Bahirji Naik. The rest of the team that includes Ajay Purkar, Aastad Kale, Praveen Tarde, Nikhil Raut or even Mrunmayee Deshpande & some others too fit their parts perfectly! Chinmay Mandlekar as Maharaj is almost magical to say the least! This perfectly casted ensemble is another big advantage for Farzand!

Now to begin with the problems, the first is the use of VFX. To some extent this was an obvious problem. Though I believe it could have been smartly dealt. The serial style establishing shots of the fort from the top view could have easily been avoided. It’s better to not have them than having them clearly appear fake. The next problem & a bigger one is the logic behind the actual war methodology & implementation. While the methodology is workable in theory it just seems impossible for just 60 men against an empire of nearly 2500 soldiers (that’s what they say). They even establish the fact that it would be one against 40! But the fact is we never really see 1 vs 40. We clearly see 1 vs 1 or at max 1 vs 2!

Another major problem can’t be revealed as it could be a spoiler, but let’s say it’s connected with the warfare outcome. Obviously I am not talking about whether the Marathas won Panhala or not? That we all know that we did, but ‘how?’ is the problem! Anyways throughout the warfare by spirit we are still with the film & that is the reason why even with so many problems ‘Farzand’ emerges victorious!

Farzand has a well structured narrative with lots of humour sprinkled around it. One could say it wastes too much time in the preparation of the war, but that part of the film is not really empty in terms of the narrative. Along with humour It also has a few interesting points to make about the mentality of us; Maharashtrians! These 60 men too are not really perfect. In fact even Maharaj, Farzand all of them have a human like characterization. They can make mistakes, they can be vulnerable, they could also fear the enemy at one point. But that doesn’t take anything away from their bravery! We don’t really want larger than life Bahubalis who are almost super humans!

Farzand could have been better directed for sure, but this is a great start! Let’s hope the audiences reward this film & this highly workable genre establishes itself in Marathi cinema!

Overall:

For all Maharaj devotees ‘Farzand’ is the film they were waiting for! And for other Marathi audiences too for the first time you could experience a spirited historical epic that has great performances & which also shies away from too much jingoism.

The post Farzand Review: A Spirited Historical Epic! appeared first on MarathiStars.

‘Farzand‘ is a highly awaited historical action film in Marathi that is set to release on 1st June. Ever since the first news came out about the film, the audiences & shivbhakts have been eagerly awaiting to watch the film on the big screen. Written & directed by Digpal Lanjekar ‘Farzand’ feels like an extravaganza of action!

The great battle of Panhala from the history feels to be recreated & could be relived by watching this film. The film stars Chinmay Mandlekar as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mrinal Kulkarni as ‘Jijau’, Prasad Oak as ‘Bahirji Naik’ & in the title role of ‘Farzand’ we will be seeing young & dashing actor Ankit Mohan.

The trailer of the film tells us that this film is focused on only the battle of Panhala, hence there’s more scope to go into the details of the battle fought resulting into a never before seen experience. We are sure ‘Farzand’ will get an enormous response from the audiences when it releases all over Maharashtra on 1st June!

The post Farzand Trailer: The Great Battle of Panhala! appeared first on MarathiStars.

We revealed the news of how the great historian Babasaheb Purandare inaugurated the official poster of upcoming historical Marathi movie ‘Farzand’. Now the very first teaser of the film is out & the expectations about the film are coming true. The film seems to have captured the essence of the ‘Shivshahi’ times perfectly. Most importantly technically the film looks really good.

Popular actor Chinmay Mandlekar is seen playing the role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In the title role of Kondaji Farzand we can see a young actor with a phenomenal muscular body that suits the role perfectly. His dialogue delivery too appears really good!

The film is based on the battle of Fort Panhala for which Shivaji Maharaj needed a real warrior with the heart of a tiger. Kondaji Farzand fought for this battle for Maharaj and all the swaraj of that time. The pages of history seem to be coming alive beautifully through this film, the trailer should interest us even more once it is out soon!

The post Farzand Marathi Movie Teaser: A Grand Historical! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Quite a few period films have been made in Marathi in recent times & they have been loved by the audiences too. Many great personalities have been a subject of these films. There’s a new addition to this list now. Kondaji Fajendra was a brave warrior in the history of Maratha empire. He fought for the great Shivaji Maharaj against the enemies on those very forts! This forgotten hero’s bravery will be shown in upcoming Marathi film ‘Farzand’.

Kondaji Fajendra alongside other brave Mavalas won the Panhala Fort for the Maratha empire! Director Digpal Lanjekar is set to show this brave journey through ‘Farzand’ film. In this way we could relive the history again. The first teaser poster of this film was unveiled by the great historian Shivshahir Babasaheb Purandare. Babasaheb believes such biopics about brave warriors inspire the whole state to do brave things. He also felt that this film could attract many youngsters towards our great history.

‘Swami Samarth Movies’ presents ‘Fajendra’ is produced by Anirban Sarkar, Sandip Jadhav, Mahesh Jaurkar & Swapnil Potdar & is set to release all over Maharashtra on 11^th May 2018!

The post Shivshahir Babasaheb Purandare Unveils The Poster of Periodic Marathi Film ‘Farzand’ appeared first on MarathiStars.

Third Bell Entertainment recently conferred Kalatheerth Awards to 12 dancers for their excellent work. The award was given by senior dancer Shama Bhate. Shiv Shir Babasaheb Purandare was present as a chief guest for this event.

The event started with Ganesh Vandana by Pooja Shede along with Anuja Bathe, Isha Phadke and Kalavardhini students.

Soniya Parchure, Dipali Vichare, Ashwinee Ekbote, Mayur Vaidya, Subhash Nakashe, Sharvari Jamenis, Prajakta Mali, Megha Ghadge, Parimal Phadke, Rochky Poonavala, Aditi Bhagwat and Shambhavi Dandekar were felicitated by Kalateerth Award.
Also, severel artistes like lyricist Mandar Cholkar, cinematographer Nandu Dhurandhar, RJ SAngram Khopde, Fashion Choreographer Abhyang Kuvalekar, Costume designer Prachi Badve, music director Amar Mohile were also honored.

The post Kalatheerth Puraskar for excellence in Dance appeared first on MarathiStars.