2018 has been a splendid year for Marathi cinema! The great cinema was made last year too, but the audiences didn’t quite respond towards it! This year the audiences have wholeheartedly loved Marathi cinema & the box-office has boomed tremendously especially in the second half of 2018! So here’s our list of top 10 Marathi films of the year! Films that are high on quality as well have clicked with the audiences!

10. Mumbai Pune Mumbai 3
Our Rating: 3.5/5

The third part of the franchise mixed up the best of the previous two films very skillfully! It had the lighthearted fun tone of the first film & the serious dramatic undertone from the second film. Swapnil Joshi & Mukta Barve both had flawless chemistry as always!

Read our full review here

9. Redu
Our Rating: 3.5/5

Editor turned director Sagar Vanjari re-introduced the sweetness of ‘Malvani’ language & culture to the audiences, throughout enthralling us by the simplicity of this film. The film ended on such an unexpected yet beautiful point that it redefined the whole film & made us think after the film for a long time!

8. Aapla Manus
Our Rating: 4/5

The second Satish Rajwade film in our list after MPM 3! Nana Patekar’s surprise double role, the performances of the rest of the solid cast that included Sumit Raghavan & Irawati Harshe & the overall strength of the story made ‘Aapla Manus’ one of the most exciting films of the year! The idea of a suspense thriller was pushed to its limits rewarding the audiences in the end with an altogether unexpected twist.

Read our full review here

7. Pimpal
Our Rating: 4/5

Gajendra Ahire’s most simplistically beautiful film of all time! Dilip Prabhawalkar’s heartfelt performance connects us with the film almost instantly & we feel like we know this old man in real life. The film was a beautiful love letter to loneliness & how old age makes any stiff man become tender about his memories & the people who were most dear to him!

Read our full review here

6. Nude
Our Rating: 4/5

Ravi Jadhav’s magnum opus! Every frame of this film was like a painting! Probably the most visually stunning film made in Marathi ever! At the same time the film dealt with a very deep subject that dealt with the tragedy of a single uneducated mother fighting against the world. ‘Nude’ also had a philosophical subtext regarding ‘art’ & how it’s perceived by society.

Read our full review here

5. Maska
Our Rating: 4.5/5

Priyadarshan Jadhav’s debut film as a director was the most unexpectedly entertaining film of the year! Never have we ever seen a better ‘genre’ comedy in Marathi cinema. The performances of the cast that included Aniket Vishwasrao, Shashank Shende, Prarthana Behere, Pranav Raorane & Chinmay Mandlekar were equally brilliant & brought life into the quirky fun script! In years to come ‘Maska’ is destined to be an iconic Marathi film that will be enjoyed by the audiences repeatedly!

Read our full review here

4. Gulabjaam
Our Rating: 4.5/5

Sachin Kundalkar’s passion for food was seen in ‘Vazandar’ before but in ‘Gulabjaam’ he glamorized Maharashtrian food like never before! But beyond that the film’s strength was it’s emotional core & the chemistry between the characters played by Sonali Kulkarni & Siddharth Chandekar. ‘Gulabjaam’ had the right blend of Kundalkar’s avant-garde sensibilities & his love for ‘youthful’ mainstream cinema!

Read our full review here

3. Lathe Joshi
Our Rating: 4.5/5

A subtle masterpiece by debutant director Mangesh Joshi. A film that demands patience from the audiences & in return it rewards them with a completely original cinematic experience. A film that garnered praise all around the world at different festivals but didn’t quite receive a similar response upon its theatrical release here. Hopefully ,the film will pass the test of time & slowly the audiences would re-discover it some way.

Read our full review here

2. Chumbak
Our Rating: 5/5

A film presented by super star Akshay Kumar! He was so much in love with the film after watching it that that he wanted to be associated with it without expecting any returns! The film took the children film genre to an altogether new level in Marathi cinema. Popular lyricist & singer Swanand Kirkire gave a performance of a lifetime in this film & was equally supported by the rest of the teenage cast.

Read our full review here

1. Naal
Our Rating: 5/5

The Nagraj Manjule magic again worked! This time as producer & actor! However ,the real star of the film was the little kid Shrinivas Pokhale who gave the performance of the year! The audiences were throughout at the edge of the seat while watching this emotional journey of a little boy who discovers the meaning of the motherhood through it. Director Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti explored the larger meaning of birth & death too in a very organic & non-pretentious yet artistic way!

Read our full review here

Honourable Mentions:
Farzand – 3.5/5
Amhi Doghi – 3.5/5
Take Care Good Night – 3/5
Ani..Dr. Kashinath Ghanekar – 3/5
Mulshi Pattern – 3/5
Cycle – 3/5
Mantra – 3/5
Youngraad – 3/5

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The brave tale of Kondaji Farzand & his few brave men winning the Panhala Fort was the subject of the Marathi film ‘Farzand’ that released on 1^st June. The audiences have given a thunderous response to the film! There wasn’t a single Marathi released on 15^th June as the Bollywood film ‘Race 3’ was releasing.

But Farzand has stood strong in this competition against Bollywood & has gathered great occupancy in whatever shows in had in multiplexes as well as single screen theatres all over Maharashtra. It’s unfair for Marathi films to get lesser shows because of Big Bollywood release, yet Farzand has managed to break the shackles & succeed!

In the first week Farzand got 450 shows in 302 theatres, in the second week it was 391 shows in 240 theatres & then in the third week, the film has got merely 230 shows in 162 theatres. Even after having packed shows & the audiences showing interest to watch the film Marathi cinema has been consistently being hampered by Bollywood. But the success of ‘Farzand’ proves that the Marathi audiences are strongly behind Marathi cinema!

The post Farzand Stands Strong Against Bollywood Big Release Race 3 appeared first on MarathiStars.

• 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.

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‘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.

‘Farzand’ is currently the most awaited Marathi film that is all set to actualize our dream of a big budget action film based in the times of the Great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The first poster of the film was recently revealed it gives us the exact idea of a grand historical action film! Presented by ‘Swami Samarth Movies Creations LLP’ ‘Farzand’ releases on the 1^st of June.

This film is based on the battle of Panhala fort during the times of ‘Shivshahi’. Kondaji Farzand along with few brave Mavalas won the fort for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj & Swarajya. This tale of bravery is presented in a grand cinematic style in this film. This film is produced by Anirban Sarkar & is co-produced by Sandeep Jadhav, Mahesh Jaurkar & Swapnil Potdar. Digpal Lanjekar is the writer-director of the film.

This poster has definitely excited the audiences in general & the Shivbhakts specifically! Actor Chinmay Mandlekar is seen playing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in this film, whereas we will also see Prasad Oak & Mrunmayee Deshpande in important roles in ‘Farzand’. The title role of ‘Farzand’ is played by a new actor who is already getting good appreciation from the audiences.

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• Movie : Farzand (2018) | फर्जंद
• Producer :  Anirban Sarkar
• Director : Digpal Lanjekar
• Studio : Swami Samarth Creations LLP
• Star Cast :
  • Ankit Mohan in Lead Role
  • Mrinal Kulkarni as Jijabai
  • Chinmay Mandlekar as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
  • Neha Joshi as Kamali
  • Mrunmayee Deshpande as Kesar
  • Prasad Oak as Bahirji Naik
  • Sameer Dharmadhikari as Beshak Khan
  • Nikhil Raut as Kisna
• Story : Digpal Lanjekar
• Screenplay and Dialogues : Digpal Lanjekar
• Music : Amitraj
• Lyrics : Kshitij Patwardhan and Digpal Lanjekar
• Sound Design : Nikhil Lanjekar
• Background Music : Kedar Divekar
• Singers : Adarsh Shinde and Vaishali Samant
• Cinematography (DOP) : Kedar Gaikwad
• Editor : Pramod Kahar
• Art Director : Nitin Chandrakant Desai
• Action Director : Prashant Naik
• Costume : Pournima Oak
• Make-Up : Sachin Dete
• Choreography : Akshata Thite
• Co-Producer : Sandip Jadhav, Mahesh Jaurkar and Swapnil Potdar
• Executive Producer : Utkarsh Jadhav
• Production Designer : Nitin Chandrakant Desai
• DI : After Studio
• VFX : Loading Pixels and Corridor Studioz
• Production Design : Nitin Chandrakant Desai
• Genre : Biography and drama
• Release Date : 1st June 2018

Synopsis : 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.

 Farzand Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Farzand Marathi Movie Teaser/Trailer :

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Prasad Oak is widely known as an actor of a great calibre. He has portrayed many iconic roles from Mahatma Phule to Bajirao Peshwa & now he is all set to play the first ever Marathi spy, ‘Bahirji Naik’ known as a spy in the Hindvi Swarajya! In the upcoming historical war film ‘Farzand’ we will be seeing Prasad Oak as Bahirji Naik! Directed by Digpal Lanjekar & produced by Anirban Sarkar this film is presented by ‘Swami Samarth Movies’ & is set to release on 1^st June.

Many historical names from the Shiv era haven’t really been known to the people of today. Bahirji Naik had the complete trust of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj & they wanted him to become a spy after realizing his skills & talent. Bahirji Naik knew around 14 spoken languages of those times & he was brilliant in changing his get up!

Ever since the first look of Prasad Oak as Bahirji Naik has been revealed the audiences have reacted very positively towards it! ‘Farzand’ is already a highly awaited film but now the eagerness among the audiences to watch this film is on another level! ‘Farzand’ releases on 1^st June all over Maharashtra.

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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!

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Name :- Mrunmayee Deshpande. (मृण्मयी देशपांडे )
Education:-

• Studied From S.P. College, Pune
• School – Renuka Swaroop High school, Pune
• Marital Status : Married

Birth Date : 29 May 1988 Age : 35 years
About : Mrunmayee Deshpande is leading Marathi actress, who performs in Tv serials & in Movies. She is a well known dancer and started performing on stage since her 7th standard. During college days Mrunmayee participated in Play’s ‘Popti Choukat’ and ‘Conditions Apply’. ‘Conditions Apply’ was the play performed for the Firodia Cup, at the Inter collegiate competition hosted by Sakaal group. This play was directed by Mrunmayee. Mrunmayee’ debu film is Humne Jeena Seekh Liya (Hindi) which was released in 2008.

Mrunmayee Deshpande Filmography :

Movies As Actress :

• Katyaar Kaljat Ghusali
• Aandhali Koshimbir
• Dhamdhoom (2013)
• Pune Via Bihar (2013)  as Taara Upcoming Marathi Movie
• Mokala Shwaas (Marathi – 2012)
• Sanshay kallol (2012)
• Ek Cup Chya (Marathi – 2009)
• Humne Jeena Seekh Liya (Bollywood-2008)
• Sata Lota Pan Sagla Khota
• Mamachya Gavala Jaaoo Yaa
• Natsamrat (2016)
• Anuraag (2016)
• Bebhaan (2017)
• Navra Maza Bhavra (2013)
• Farzand (2018)
• 15 August (2019)
• Miss U Mister (2019)

Daily soaps :
1. Agnihotra (Star Pravah)
2.Kunku(Zee Marathi)

Drama :

1. A Fair Deal (“अ-फेअर डील”)

Mrunmayee Deshpande Marathi Actress Photos:

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