Review: Thackeray
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao, Sandeep Khare, Pravin Tarde, Sanjay Narvekar, Chittaranjan Giri & others.
Director: Abhijit Panse

Quick Viewpoint: While there are tonnes of moral issues with what the film believes in & wants to communicate (or ends up communicating), on a cinematic level there are other bigger problems that affect the overall impact of the film.

What Works? 

• The entire craft of film making in the first half is of the highest order! Almost entirely black & white, ‘Thackeray’ takes us to the old Mumbai within few minutes! The absolutely brilliant camera work or the attention to detail in the production design or the work done on Makeup & costume all of it makes us lose ourselves in those times. Even if the narrative isn’t totally flawless, we hardly mind!
• There’s an absolute creative novelty at the display when we see Balasaheb’s newspaper cartoons come to life through Animation (yes in black & white)! For a moment we hope what if the entire run time the film had a similar sense of discovery while looking at the life of a political messiah!
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s performance & Chetan Shashital’s voice over both have gelled really well (as that was my personal concern). Chetan Shashital is probably India’s greatest voice-over artist & it’s a known fact that he can recreate Balasaheb’s voice pitch perfect!
• The casting of the film! Along with the main parts, even those cast in smaller roles leaves their impression. Sandeep Khare (the poet turned actor) as Manohar ‘Pant’ Joshi was a masterstroke!

What Fails? 

• Just as the film turns color in the second half it loses it’s cinematic fluidity & also the disassociation we feel with the protagonist grows.
• One might applaud the makers of this biopic, that they aren’t really whitewashing the acts of it’s subject but then because of that it unconsciously projects the subject as a contrasting political leader who only to his benefit commits social & political nuisance of tremendous proportion! For example; If ‘Hindutva’ is really that important to him, why doesn’t the film ever feel the need to justify this love, passion or obsession or whatever it is! Why don’t we really peep into his psyche? Or why don’t we really understand the origin of his principles?
• Even sparring all that, on a narrative level the whole screenplay is a mess with the most abrupt ending I have seen in a Marathi film in a long long time!
• Many colleges feel like straightforward advertorials for the political party that is behind the making of this film. Never do we get an actual sneak peek into the functioning (both financial & manual) of this huge political party that wins in the state elections for the first time by the end of the film.
• Also, the film does bore you a bit in the second half as we never manage to relate with the protagonist or feel anything for him or even against him.

Final Verdict: One needs to open one’s conscience & understand that after all this is just a film. So one can decide on their own that how much do you want the film to affect you? Both in an inspiring & in a depressing way!

Rating: 3/5

The post Thackeray Movie Review: Cinematic Wonder in the First Half and A Mess in the Second! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review : Lathe Joshi (2018)
• Producer : Sonali Joshi and Mangesh Joshi
• Presenter : Amol Kagne Studios, Laxman Eknathrao Kagne and Amol Laxman Kagne
• Director : Mangesh Joshi
• Screenplay : Mangesh Joshi
• Star Cast : Chittaranjan Giri, Ashwini Giri, Om Bhutkar, Seva Chauhan & Shrikant Yadav
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 4.5/5

Lathe Joshi Review (Marathi Movie):

Lathe Joshi starts with a pin drop silence introducing Mr. Joshi & his ‘Lathe’ machine at work. Joshi’s boss calls for him & in the next scene we see Joshi & his fellow lathe workers sitting calmly, without discussing a bit about what happened in the boss’s cabin. Yet the message reaches us clearly. Their skill isn’t required any longer. Almost without a word spoken ‘Lathe Joshi’ tells what the film is all about & how it will approach the subject throughout the film.

‘Lathe Joshi’ lies strongly on it’s title character. His characteristics also define the treatment of the film. Mr. Joshi isn’t keen on confrontations, sometimes he seems to exist on such minimalist scale that the surroundings over power his existence. There are many scenes in the film where we see other characters not even noticing that he is there in the same space. Chittaranjan Giri’s performance is as unconventionally plain as it can get! A conventional actor with a conventional performance would have taken away much of the uniqueness from the film. One needs to understand that Joshi represents the subject of the film in & out, but the film still doesn’t exploit the character for the subject’s purpose, it makes us believe in Joshi throughout.

The film deals with the changing (or rather changed) times. Times that are scrapping out human skill, craft as redundant in the today’s highly productive & business oriented world. Every one of us has experienced this change. The idea of having an individual impact in your work place is dying out. In the larger context it applies to every employee who went through this change. We see a younger colleague of Joshi, Mr. Shinde (Shrikant Yadav) who has managed to change with the changing times leaving behind Joshi & others who couldn’t.

In Joshi’s own family his son Dinu (Om Bhutkar) & his wife (Ashwini Giri) represent this change. And Joshi’s old blind mother represents the further transition Joshi himself would go through if he doesn’t change! The change required has very little to do with learning a newer skill which could suit the new age (as Joshi’s son repairs computers) it has more to do with the principles behind the work. Joshi’s work was his identity, his old bedridden boss proudly calls him an artist. Joshi worked for that, for his boss to embrace his skill, his art! His son represents a completely different work ethic. So does his wife (who works as a small time caterer).

Both Joshi’s son & wife are working for the outcomes alone. Eating at a fancy restaurant, buying a car, & so on. Their work is just a mean to reach new destinations every day. Unlike Joshi who’s journey & destination both were in his work. As plain as all this might sound, throughout in ‘Lathe Joshi’ there are countless humorous moments! Mainly involving Joshi’s old mother & her obsession with Television (she can’t see but she can hear!). Television too is a tool of this new world. Filled with advertisements & shows that would inspire you to keep copping up with the constantly evolving world! Dinu (Joshi’s son) keeps creating small quarrels between his grandmother & mother to keep his grandmother ‘interested’. That’s all there’s left in an old person’s life who isn’t part of the rat race in today’s world! This also is Joshi’s own future.

Mangesh Joshi the director of the film deserves credit for actualizing this film without any compromises. And of course for it’s inception in the first place too! His entire technical team too deserves credit. And of course the actors! One can’t stop but mention Chaitanya Tamhane’s ‘Court’, that was the last Marathi film that truly explored the art of subtlety to it’s fullest, ‘Lathe Joshi’ too does that with great focus.

Overall:

‘Lathe Joshi’ is a film that would work for an audience who wishes to be served ‘quality’ over the ‘quantity’ of usual idea of ‘entertainment’. It’s a film that is destined be talked about for years to come, for how rare the subject it chose to the treatment & the perfection it achieved in it’s execution!

The post Lathe Joshi Review (Marathi Movie ): Rarest of Rare Masterpiece! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Lathe Joshi (2018) | लेथ जोशी
• Producer : Sonali Joshi and Mangesh Joshi
• Director : Mangesh Joshi
• Studio : Pravah Nirmitee Production and Dawn Studios
• Star Cast :
  • Chittaranjan Giri as Lathe Joshi
  • Ashwini Giri as Wife
  • Seva Chauhan as Mother
  • Om Bhutkar as Son
• Writer : Mangesh Joshi
• Sound Design : Piyush Shah
• Background Music: Sarang Kulkarni
• Cinematography (DOP) : Satyajeet Shobha Shriram
• Editor : Makrand Dambhare
• Art Director : Prashant Bidkar
• Costume : Seema Arolkar
• Presenter : Amol Kagne Studios, Laxman Eknathrao Kagne and Amol Laxman Kagne
• Associate Producer : Narendra Bhide, Nitin Vaidya and Leela Talkies
• Executive Producer : Mandar Deshpande and Nitin Ambale
• Distributor : Ankit Chandiramani
• Digital Marketing : Loki’s Studio
• Visual Promotion : Sameer Shaikh and Akash Gawli
• Publicity Stills : Shashank Bhalerao
• Publicity Design : Milind Matkar
• Chief Assistant Director : Pradeepkishor Shruti
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 13th July 2018

Synopsis : Machines making workers obsolete may still look like a futuristic concept, but comes true in Joshi’s life. Joshi, known as Lathe Joshi for his skilled work on lathe machine, is left jobless when the owner of the workshop has to close the business as it is incurring the loss. Lathe Joshi finds losing lathe work as losing his identity & refuses to give in to the changing times of globalization in the form of automation. But he comes to face it, even in his home, with his wife doing a catering business, his son running an electronic repair shop in the house & even with his mother, who resolves to chant 500,000 times using a chant machine. The numbers become significant over the skills. Joshi finds himself as a mere witness of the coming time when a skilled worker might become a museum exhibit.

Lathe Joshi Marathi Movie Poster/Still Photos :

Lathe Joshi Marathi Movie Trailer :

The post Lathe Joshi (2018) – Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

Mangesh Joshi directorial & presented by Amol Kagne Studios, ‘Lathe Joshi‘ is an award-winning Marathi film that has impressed the audiences worldwide in different film festivals. Now it’s set to release in theaters on 13th of July. The trailer of the film is now out & gives a nice idea about the film’s subject.

In today’s continuously changing world ‘Lathe Joshi‘ tells the tale of an ordinary Lathe Machine worker ‘Joshi’ who struggles to keep up with the changing times. His mind is still invested in an old machine like ‘Lathe’. The world has moved on, it doesn’t need such old Lathe machines & neither does it need a Lathe worker.

Joshi’s son & wife have readily adapted to the change, but Joshi himself finds ‘upgrading’ difficult. He seems dumbfounded & clueless. Even spirituality has adapted to changing times, as we see Joshi’s mother taking the blessing of a distant goddess through the internet. Joshi’s boss looks at Joshi as an artist, & not just a worker. Joshi feels good about it. Maybe this implies that in the race of ‘upgrading’ we’ve lost the ‘art’ in our life!

The post Lathe Joshi Trailer: Are You Ready to Upgrade? appeared first on MarathiStars.

12th of June is remembered as a sad day in Maharashtra’s history. Today is the day when Maharashtra’s most celebrated cultural icon, the great writer-actor-humorist-musician-playwright-director & more importantly a great human being Pu La Deshpande left this world. Yesterday the announcement of a Pu La Deshpande biopic was made at an event in Worli, Mumbai!

While the names of the artists & actors associated with the film were kept under wraps before the event, the news was disclosed at the event slowly! The film is a joint venture between Great Maratha Entertainment, Mahesh Manjrekar Movies & Phalke’s Factory & is to be directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. The film was officially announced by MNS Chief Raj Thackeray who was present at the event as the guest of honor.

Mahesh Manjrekar revealed the entire team of the film starting from the writers; senior writer Ratnakar Matkari as the dialogue writer, Ratnakar Matkari’s son film critic & writer Ganesh Matkari as the screenplay writer & music director Ajit Parab. While the lead cast of the film was also revealed at the event in the same get up of the characters they would portray in the film.

Actor Sagar Deshmukh (known for his lead performance in ‘YZ’) will be portraying Pu La Deshpande in the film! And he looked perfect for the part in that get up designed by the popular makeup artist Vikram Gaikwad. The role of Sunita Deshpande wife of Pu La, is being played by the ‘Aapla Manus’ fame actress Iravati Harshe! She too looked perfect in her part. The rest of the cast includes Sachin Khedekar, Sagar Karande, Deepti Lele, Pravin Tarde, Sarang Sathaye, Vidyadhar Joshi, Chittaranjan Giri, Ashwini Giri, Padmanabh Bind, Ajay Purkar & others.

Senior writer Ratnakar Matkari & Raj Thackeray both talked about their memories connected to Pu La & how they felt blessed to have known him & met him in person. For all the Pu La fans this film promises to give us a new perspective about Pu La the human being more than the writer he was or the characters he created as this film will be focusing on his actual life unknown to many!

The post Raj Thackeray Announces Bhai – Vyakti Ki Valli; A Pu La Deshpande Biopic by Mahesh Manjrekar appeared first on MarathiStars.

The modernization & technical advancement of today’s times also has affected the worker class around the world. Along with that every skill & the attachment with the tools that these workers used are all disappearing in time. This is a constant process. Mangesh Joshi directorial ‘Lathe Joshi’ tells the story of one such worker who is at the center of this change.

Amol Kagne & Lakshman Kagne are presenting this film under their banner ‘Amol Kagne Studios’ & the film is produced by ‘Pravah Productions’ & ‘Don Studios’. The film stars Chittaranjan Giri, Ashwini Giri, Uttara Baokar, Om Bhutkar in lead roles. The poster of the film was recently revealed & since then the excitement for the film among serious filmgoers is on the peak!

‘Lathe Joshi’ has been a part of around 20 International film festivals & has won 12 International awards at these festivals. The audiences have been awaiting this film from a long time ever since the positive reactions came out from Maharashtra’s premiere film festivals MAMI & PIFF. The film releases on 13^th July at a theatre near you!

The post Highly Awaited Lathe Joshi Poster Out; Releasing on 13th July appeared first on MarathiStars.

2 years ago at MAMI festival a film called “Court” was screened. It later created history. This time Lathe Joshi is a new Marathi film that is all set to premiere at this prestigious festival.

The trailer of Lathe Joshi is out & it is excitingly real. It reminds us of Court in many ways. The film has a world which revolves around the lower middle class of a worker. Mumbai city has a huge history of workers & it only makes perfect sense for such a film to be screened at Mumbai’s very own film festival “MAMI”.

The post Lathe Joshi Trailer: Really Real! appeared first on MarathiStars.