• 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.

नवीन वर्षाची सुरुवात खळखळून हसत करण्यासाठी विवा इनएन प्रोडक्शन आणि उत्तुंग हितेंद्र ठाकूर निर्मित ‘विकून टाक’ या सिनेमाचा टिझर प्रदर्शित करण्यात आला आहे. या टिझरमध्ये चंकी पांडेला बघताना चित्रपटाबद्दल असलेली उत्सुकता अधिकच वाढते. नेहमी आपल्या विनोदी भूमिकांनी प्रेक्षकांचे मनोरंजन करणारे चंकी पांडे त्याच्या अरब शेखच्या भूमिकेतही भाव खाऊन जात आहेत. चंकी पांडे सोबतच शिवराज वायचळ, राधा सागर, रोहित माने, ऋतुजा देखमुख, समीर चौगुले, हृषीकेश जोशी, वर्षा दांदळे, जयवंत वाडकर  या सगळ्यांचेच या टीझरमध्ये दर्शन घडते. मुकुंद म्हणजेच शिवराजच्या लग्नाची तयारी चालली असतानाच अब्दुल्ला म्हणजे चंकी पांडेची एन्ट्री होते. हा ‘अब्दुला’ मुकुंदच्या लग्नात ‘बिन बुलाए मेहमान’ बनून येतो आणि मुकुंदचे जीवनच बदलून जाते. सगळ्यांसाठीच अनोळखी असणारा ‘अब्दुल्ला’ अचानक दत्त म्हणून समोर उभा ठाकतो आणि चित्रपटाला वळण मिळते. आता हा अब्दुला नक्की कोण? तो का येतो? गावातील वस्तू का आणि कशा गायब होतात? या आणि अशा अनेक प्रश्नांच्या उत्तरासाठी ३१ जानेवारीपर्यंत वाट पाहावी लागणार आहे.

‘पोस्टर बॉईज’, ‘पोस्टर गर्ल’ असे विनोदी  चित्रपट दिग्दर्शित करणारे समीर पाटील ‘विकून टाक’ चित्रपटाचे देखील दिग्दर्शन करत आहे. ‘विकून टाक’ चित्रपटापूर्वी ‘बालक पालक’, ‘येल्लो’, ‘डोक्याला शॉट’ अशा हिट चित्रपटांची निर्मिती करणारे उत्तुंग हितेंद्र ठाकूर आणि विवा इनएन प्रोडक्शन यांनी या सिनेमाची निर्मिती केली असून क्रिएटिव्ह कन्सल्टंट म्हणून राजेंद्र वनमाळी यांनी काम पहिले आहे. तर  मग नवीन वर्षात मोठा हास्यकल्लोळ करण्यासाठी तयार राहा.

The post Start Your New Year With A Laugh Riot : ‘Vikun Taak’ appeared first on MarathiStars.

While Sanjay Dutt has always shown the Marathi influence in his style, from his dressing sense to the way he speaks in Mumbaiya language on and off screen, Sanju Baba as he is fondly called has always been a close icon for the Marathi Manoos! And now Sanju Baba has ventured into Marathi cinema as a producer! Incidentally his film is titled ‘Baba‘!

The first teaser of the film is out and it feels very heart touching. The lead actor in the film Deepak Dobriyal has proved his talent through many great Hindi films in recent times like Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Hindi Medium! He is playing a muted character in this film and is proving that acting is acting no matter which film industry it is! Along with him child artist Aaryan Menghji too captures our fascination from the teaser.

While this film mainly looks like a father son story, the film also stars many important names from the Marathi film industry. Mainly Nandita Patkar, Spruha Joshi, Abhijeet Khandkekar, Chittaranjan Giri & Jaywant Wadkar. Sanjay Dutt and his wife Maanayata Dutt have together produced this film. The film is co-produced under their banner Sanjay S Dutt Productions, with Ashok Subhedar and Aarti Subhedar of Blue Mustang Creations, who had earlier produced the film “Bucket List” starring Madhuri Dixit.

‘Baba’ hits theatres on the 2nd of August!

The post Baba Movie Teaser: Sanjay Dutt’s First Marathi Film! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Review: Nashibvaan
Cast: Bhau Kadam, Mithali Jagtap, Neha Joshi, Atul Aaglavey, Jaywant Wadkar, Yatin Karyekar & Rajesh Shringarpure
Director: Amol Gole
Original Story: Uday Prakash (Based on ‘Dilli Ki Deewar’)

Quick Viewpoint: ‘Nashibvaan’ is a film that loses it’s a charm because of not being clear about what it wants to be & where it wants to belong? It starts like a non-commercial festival suited film but later throughout feels more in the commercial zone, in both types it succeeds to average extent.

What Works? 

• Bhau Kadam! For the major part of the film! He plays a man who starts off being the usual innocent Bhau we are familiar with but later he has been presented in grey shades in a non-judgemental way, where his evolution over the course of time (however there’s a big issue with ‘the course of time’) does feel believable! In fact, almost every character in the film can be looked as grey characters.
• The first half of the film even after being slightly repetitive manages to keep us invested completely. The refreshing aspect here is how ‘Nashibvaan’ has portrayed poverty! It isn’t melodramatic as it is mostly seen in other recent Marathi films.
• The film isn’t bothered to give a moral lecture about anything. Though it also means the film had to work harder on what exactly it wishes to say.

What Fails? 

• ‘The course of time’ has a major logical issue. Though the change of Bhau’s character is believable the period in which it happens doesn’t make sense. Beyond his character, even the transition that takes place in his house & their family’s lifestyle in so much less time just doesn’t make sense. The time period is the issue (it is of about three weeks, where it could have been of at least 6 months) not the plot point that changes their life!
• Bhau Kadam being the principal protagonist of the film, doesn’t get any defining moment by the end of the film. It feels the film only uses him for the sake of the plot & then leaves him with its consequences without making a definite closure for him in terms of what it wishes to say through the consequences.
• As said about Bhau’s lack of closure, the overall film too lacks the same. It’s not compulsory for every film to say anything specific but then those films are throughout constructed in the same way. ‘Nashibvaan’ is never an escapist or artistically dominant film, it is about the humans it deals with & hence a definite conclusion was essential.
• The film could have been much more sharply edited! At many occasions, scenes are repetitive & don’t contribute in taking the narrative forward. In fact, even within the scenes, there are countless shots that make us wonder why are they there? Maybe the filmmaker wished to capture the realism of that scenario but then as said earlier it is inconsistent in being a festival suited film.
• While Bhau Kadam’s performance might not be different from his usual style of acting, it works well. But Mithali Jagtap who is a National award-winning actress ends up giving an inconsistent performance. In her loud emotional outbursts she feels to be very typical & fake but in the silent moments, she is effective.

Final Verdict: Amol Gole has been around as a cinematographer & even as a producer for a while, so certainly there were expectations from this film. But ‘Nashibvaan‘ doesn’t quite reward us in a way it could have, had it been more specific & confident about the things it wanted to say.

Rating: 2.5/5

The post Nashibvaan Movie Review: A Flawed film about Flawed People appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Nashibvaan (2019) | नशीबवान
• Producer : Amit Naresh Patil, Vinod Manohar Gaikwad, Mahendra Gangadhar Patil and Vidhi Kasliwal
• Directer : Amol Vasant Gole
• Studio : Flying God Films and Giri Media Factory
• StarCast :
  • Bhalchandra Kadam
  • Mitalee Jagtap-Varadkar
  • Neha Joshi
  • Atul Aagalaavey
  • Yatin Karyekar
  • Jaywant Wadkar
  • Tejpal Wagh
  • Rajesh Shringarpure

• Story : Uday Prakash (Based on ‘Dilli Ki Deewar’)
• Screenplay and Dialogues : Amol Vasant Gole
• Cinematography (DOP) : Amol Vasant Gole
• Music : Soham Pathak
• Sound Design : Rohit Pradhan
• Re-Recording Engineer : Justin Jose K
• Background Music : Nandu Ghanekar
• Lyrics : Shivkumar Dhale
• Editor : Karan Shetty
• Art Director : Nilesh Chaudhari
• Make-up : Shrikant Desai
• Costume : Kirti Jangam
• Co-Producer : Prashant Vijay Mayekar and Abhishek Ashok Renuse
• Presenter : Landmarc Films
• Creative Producer : Nandini Vaidya
• Executive Producer : Sachin Igve
• Publicity Design and Social Media : Visual Junkies
• Visual Promotions : Wizardry Studios
• Corporate Communication : Hema Upadhyay (Hi-Media Consultants)
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 11th January 2019

Synopsis : Nashibvaan is a Marathi movie starring Bhau Kadam in a prominent role. It is a drama directed by Amol Gole, with Uday Prakash as the writer, forming part of the crew.

Nashibvaan Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Nashibvaan Marathi Movie Trailer :

The post Nashibvaan (2019) – Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Tu Tithe Asave (2018) | तू तिथे असावे
• Producer : Ganesh Patil
• Director : Santosh Gaikwad
• Studio : G Kumar Patil Entertainment
• Star Cast :
  • Pallavi Patil as Gauri
  • Bhushan Pradhan as Malhar
  • Vijay Patkar as Mendhe Master
  • Mohan Joshi as Gauri’s Father
  • Arun Nalawade as Vithoba
  • Sameer Dharmadhikari as Baba Bhai
  • Jaywant Wadkar as Bhaurao
  • Tejas Patil
  • Vishakha Ghube
  • Rohitosh Sardare
  • Priti Narnavre
  • Shrikant Vattamvar
  • Abhilasha Patil
• Story and Screenplay : Ashish Virkar
• Dialogues : Dipak Angewar and Ashish Virkar
• Singer : Adarsh Shinde, Vaishali Made, Swapnil Bandodkar, Bela Shende, Jasraj Joshi, Neha Rajpal, Dhanashri Burbure and Ganesh Patil
• Lyrics : Mandar Cholkar, Dr. ShriKrishna Raut and Parvas Jadhav
• Sound Design : NA
• Music : Dinesh Arjuna
• Background Music : Sameer Fatarpekar
• Cinematography (DOP) : Bashalal Sayyad
• Editor : Mansur Azami
• Art Director : Mahendra Raut and Gajanan Fulari
• Costume : Kailash Brahmankar
• Hair Stylist : NA
• Make-up : NA
• Executive Producer : Rohitosh Sardare
• Co-Producer : Akash Kandurvar, Sharad Anil Sharma, Prashant Dhomne and Surbhi Bujade
• Production Manager : Sangeet Gaikar
• Associate Director : NA
• Line Producer : NA
• Presenter : NA
• Choreography : Jeet Singh and Pravin Suryvanshi
• Publicity Design : Milind Matkar
• VFX : NA
• Visual Promotions : Rahul Bhatankar
• Assistant Editor : NA
• Assistant Director : NA
• Digital Marketing : NA
• Distribution : NA
• Marketing : NA
• DI Colorist : NA
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 7th December 2018

Synopsis : Malhar is a simple boy with a dream of becoming a singer. He is aware of the challenges that he will have to face to achieve his dream. What follows is the journey towards the fulfillment of his dream and hurdles he faces on the way.

Tu Tithe Asave Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Tu Tithe Asave Marathi Movie Trailer :

The post Tu Tithe Asave (2018) – Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

Very few honest actors work hard for their roles to such extent that it becomes effective on the screen. One such example is Bhau Kadam’s efforts for his upcoming film ‘Nashibvaan’. Bhau plays the roles of a sweeper in this film. To put life into the character Bhau in real picked up waste & cleaned just like a real sweeper!

The director of the film Amol Gole, didn’t want any adjustments & hence he made Bhau clean the actual garbage that a sweeper cleans. Bhau even cleaned public toilets! The majority of this film has been shot in Mulund, Mumbai.

Bhau Kadam says, “While playing this role I understood all the problems that sweepers & cleaners face. The diseases they tackle, the way society treats them & all of that. I started hating myself for all of this! Because it’s for us that these sweepers pick up garbage & keep our city clean. They do great work! They are real heroes for me! And now I have immense respect from them from the bottom of my heart.”

Presented by Vidhi Kasliwal of ‘Landmark Films’, & produced by Naresh Patil, Vinod Manohar Gaikwad & Mahendra Gangadhar Patil, ‘Nashibvaan’ releases in theatres on 11^th January 2019!

The post Bhau Kadam has Truly Lived His Character for Nashibvaan appeared first on MarathiStars.

Bhau Kadam starrer ‘Nashibvaan’ is all set for the release. Vidhi Kasliwal of ‘Landmarc Films’ is presenting the film. Directed by cinematographer turned director Amol Vasant Gole, the first song of the film was recently revealed online! And since then the song has gone viral. Sung by popular singer Anand Shinde & also starring him in the video of the film.

The song has been penned by Shivkumar Dhale & the dance choreography has been done by Vitthal Patil. The unique thing about the song is that this song has been shot in a real dance bar. The bar was available for the shooting only for 1 day & the ‘Nashibvaan’ team had to shoot the song in that 1 day itself.

The song has a rocking chemistry between Bhau Kadam & Anand Shinde. Never before have the Marathi audiences got the opportunity to enjoy this chemistry between two of our favorite popular icons. Based on Uday Prakash’s Hindi story ‘Dilli Ki Deewar’, ‘Nashibvaan’ releases in theatres on 11^th January.

The post Bloody Fool Jiya Song: Bhau Kadam and Anand Shinde Rock Together appeared first on MarathiStars.

Following the success of the prequel ‘Boyz 2‘ has garnered equal amount of love from the audiences. In the first weekend of it’s releases it has already earned 5.11 Crore Rupees! On the opening Friday ‘Boyz 2’ made 1.30 Crores (Which is a big number for a Marathi film) & then on Saturday the film earned 1.61 Crores & on Sunday it made 2.20 Crores! It means the collections are only increasing day by day! The ‘Boyz 2’ team is ecstatic & will be celebrating their success.

Starring the young trio of Parth Bhalerao, Sumant Shinde & Prateek Lad the ‘Boyz’ franchise seems to have connected really well with the audiences & especially the youth audiences! Though the film was certified ‘A’ by the censor boards, the audiences have responded in great numbers.

The film tells the story of three boys who are juniors in the college & who keep challenging their seniors. The audiences have seemed to enjoy the humour & the action of the film. The music of the film too seems to be a hit among the audiences as many incidents have been reported where the audiences have danced in the theatre to it’s song!

The post Boyz 2 Box Office Collection : 5 Crores in the First Weekend! appeared first on MarathiStars.

The trailer of upcoming Marathi entertainer ‘Majha Agadbam‘ is out & now the trailer reveals a new angle about the film, which the audiences weren’t aware of previously! Trupti Bhoir’s character of ‘Nazuka’ is seen living a secret dual life of sorts! However, the trailer also leaves scope to consider that maybe that isn’t the case. Maybe Nazuka & the famous wrestler ‘Maaza’ are not one & the same!

Naazuka’s husband (Subodh Bhave) & her mother-in-law (Usha Nadkarni) both are aware that Nazuka is up to something, but they don’t seem to be sure! It will be exciting to see what will be the real truth in this story when the film releases in theatres on 26th October!

The music of the film seems to be fun & seems to complement the film well. Moreover the chemistry between the trio of Trupti Bhoir, Subodh Bhave & Usha Nadkarni also seems to be interesting! ‘Nazuka’ is back after the success of ‘Agadbam’ & the audiences too seems to be welcoming her in ‘Majha Agadbam‘!

The post Majha Agadbam Trailer: ‘Nazuka’ in a Secret Avatar appeared first on MarathiStars.