• Review : Manjha (2017)
• Producer : Trilok Malhotra, KR Harish
• Director : Jatin Wagle
• Star Cast : Ashvini Bhave – Samidha, Sumedh Mudgalkar, Rohit Phalke, Apoorva Arora, Shivani Tanksale, Mohan Kapur, Denzil Smith
• Writer : Jatin Wagle
• Music : Shail-Pritesh
• Review By : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 3.5/5

Manjha Marathi Movie Review :

The most basic difference between a psychological thriller & a thriller is that in a thriller incidents keep on occurring one after the other, but in a psycho thriller very few incidents actually occur. Most of the incidents are ‘about to’ occur, with a possibility that they might never occur! Another important trait of this genre is the importance of the mental state of the characters. Jatin Wagle directed ‘Manjha’ proudly inhibits these traits & gives a well-polished, well-crafted psychological thriller to Marathi cinema.

The heart of ‘Manjha’ lies with Jaydeep, (Rohit Phalke) an introvert young boy who has just moved to Lonavala with his mother (Ashwini Bhave). Both of them are new in the town & are helped around by a friend (Veena) of Jaydeep’s mother. She also takes up a job (she works under Veeena’s husband) to support herself & her son. Jaydeep is admitted to a new school in Lonavala. He studies in XIth std. Enters Vicky, (Sumedh Mudgalkar) Jaydeep’s classmate, a complete opposite of Jaydeep, a flamboyant lad who befriends Jaydeep almost instantly. The two of them become the best of friends. However there are many odd things that Jaydeep slowly starts noticing about Vicky. Rather, Vicky too wants Jaydeep to know all that. Vicky’s ideas of ‘fear’ & solutions to come out of it, truly shock Jaydeep & the audiences. Is Vicky an outright psycho? Or is it just his age? Many questions keep arising in our minds.

The first half is a terrific build-up for truly shocking things that are about to happen. And that is the best part about this film. It doesn’t keep explaining itself with dialogues. But then the second half slowly dilutes all the ambiguity of it! It becomes more & more one dimensional. Vicky’s character becomes a clear cut negative & Jaydeep’s mother takes charge of his son’s life & this film’s life too. Having said that we are still not complaining! We are definitely eager to see what happens & how does Jaydeep ‘comes-of-age’ through this difficult patch of his life!

Then enters the anti-climax! One that finishes a truly thrilling scene almost abruptly & gives a moral lesson for no particular reason! It’s almost like it’s no longer the same film! All the craftsmanship & the psychological games the first half played get affected by this, to be frank! It appears like, since Jaydeep’s mother is played by a popular actress like Ashwini Bhave, the film has to make use of her & put her above the actual soul of the film. Just because Marathi cinema has never really seen a well crafted psycho thriller, we are trying to forgive the makers for these messed up 5-10 minutes that sum up the otherwise beautiful film!

There are two important reasons for forgiving the makers for the end; Rohit Phalke & Sumedh Mudgalkar! Straight from the decision of casting them for this film to pulling out extremely intricate, soulful performances from these young men ‘Manjha’ hits a home run! Rohit was previously seen working under the assured direction of Ravi Jadhav for ‘BP’, while Sumedh a popular dancing star on T.V. was seen in a small role in Rajesh Mapuskar’s ‘Ventilator’. Both Rohit & Sumedh out-perform themselves when compared to their previous works. Hopefully we can see them doing even better works in the future! Another little flaw is that the makers chose non-Marathi actors in a few important characters like the principal of Jaydeep & Vicky’s school, Veena’s husband & even Veena’s daughter! The problem is that it’s a little displeasing to our ears to listen to their broken Marathi.

The sound, background score, cinematography all of it is top notch & represents the new sophisticated Marathi cinema! Of course minus the anti-climax!

Overall:

There are huge releases in other languages, but ‘Manjha’ deserves to be seen by all true lovers of Marathi Cinema.

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Manjha Upcoming Marathi Movie starring Ashwini Bhave, Sumedh Mudgalkar, Rohit Phalke. Directed by Jatin Wagle.

• Movie : Manjha (2017)
• Producer : Trilok Malhotra, KR Harish (India Stories)
• Director : Jatin Wagle
• Studio : India Stories Media and Entertainment Private Limited
• Star Cast :
  • Ashvini Bhave – Samidha
  • Sumedh Mudgalkar – Vicky
  • Rohit Phalke – Jaydeep
  • Apoorva Arora – Maya
  • Shivani Tanksale – Ashvini Bhave’s friend Veena
  • Mohan Kapur – Ashvini Bhave’s friend Saurabh
  • Denzil Smith – School Principle Mr. Smith 
• Story & Screenplay : Jatin Wagle
• Dialogues : Upendra Sidhaye
• Lyrics:  Mangesh Kangane
• Music Composers : Shail-Pritesh
• Original Background Score : Anurag Saikia
• Sound Designer : Baylon Fonseca
• Cinematography (DOP) : Fasahat Khan
• Editor: Charu Shree Roy 
• Action Director : Pradyumna Kumar Swain (PK)
• Re-Recording Mixer : Alok De (Fiesta)
• Production Designer : Priten Patil  
• Choreographer : Longinus Fernandes 
• Costume Designer : Nakshatra Dewadikar
• Make- Up : Pradeep Pemgirikar
• D.I & VFX : Prime Focus Ltd
• D.I Colouris :Nilesh Sawant
• Visual Promotions : Roop
• VFX Superviso : Susheel Peris
• Publicity Designer : Chaitanya Sant (Mantra SDS)
• Associate Director : Omkar Joshi
• Head – Post Production : Sharang Pange
• Executive Producer : Surendra Pratap Singh / Umang Agarwal
• Production Manager : Dinesh Yadav
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 21st April, 2017

Synopsis : A working mother with a teenage son shifts to a new town to escape her abusive husband and to begin a new life, but when she finds that her son is being forced to be party to a violent crime by his psychotic class friend, she has to decide if she is going to run away again or fight her deepest fears and stand up for herself.

Manjha Marathi Movie First Look Poster

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Nittin Keni, the visionary maverick of Marathi cinema, who has a keen sense of cinema for the masses and the classes, today presented Manjha, the psychological thriller directed by Jatin Wagle.

The film appears to be a psychological thriller between a psychotic teenager, (played by ‘Dance India Dance’ fame Sumedh Mudgalkar) and an introvert boy, (played by Rohit Phalke of ‘BalakPalak’ fame), undergoing psychological therapy. There seems to be a cat and mouse game because it is not clear which of the boys are saying the truth about a heinous crime being planned. Behind the introvert boy, as his pillar of strength against his psycho friend, is his strong mother played by Ashvini Bhave.

Ashwini Bhave has a complex role of not only single handedly bringing up a disturbed and introverted son but also coping with her own seeming vulnerabilities as a single mother. Rising above these challenges, she is seen as defending her son against the whole world – her love for her son being the strong basis for her conviction of his truthfulness.

An India Stories Production, ‘Manjha’ is the first Marathi film Produced by Producers Trilok Malhotra and KR Harish. The film is presented by MFDC, a venture helmed by Nittin Keni and Manish Vasisht, and is slated for a global release on 21st July, 2017.

The post A One of A Kind Psychological Thriller ‘Manjha’ Releases Globally on 21st July appeared first on MarathiStars.

The first motion teaser of upcoming Marathi film ‘Manjha’ was recently released on social media. Like its teaser poster earlier that created waves on the internet, the motion poster has upped the momentum to intrigue and amplify the curiosity of film goers.

What is most interesting about the motion teaser is the mysterious whistle accompanying the poster as it reveals itself in a most dramatic manner. And when one reads the tag line “Reshmacha dhagyala samvadachi dhaar” it appears to cue a thriller riding on the communication gap between parents and children.

Ashvini Bhave has heightened her fans’ curiosity with her very sublime expression which is an interesting mixture of concern and helplessness. Contrasting her expression is that of the two boys in the background – ‘Balak Palak’ fame Rohit Phalke and ‘Dance India Dance’ fame Sumedh Mudgalkar. And with Jatin Wagle at the helm, as the director, this one looks like a sure winner.

An India Stories Production, ‘Manjha’ is the first Marathi venture movie by producers Trilok Malhotra and KR Harish. Along with the motion poster the release date of the film has also been announced.

Manjha is going to be released globally on 21st of July, and is being presented by MFDC, a company focused on Marathi Film Distribution and Production. MFDC is promoted by Nittin Keni, with Manish Vasisht as co-promoter.

The post Manjha Teaser: A Film about Communication Gap appeared first on MarathiStars.

On the occasion of Makar Sankranti the teaser poster of “Manjha” has been released digitally. The film will hit the theatres on the 21st April 2017.Ashvini Bhave has heightened her fans’ curiosity after releasing the first teaser poster of her upcoming film ‘Manjha’.

The further combination of ‘Balak Palak’ fame Rohit Phalke and ‘Dance India Dance’ fame Sumedh Mudgalkar has made it even more intriguing! And with Director Jatin Wagle at the helm, this one looks like a winner. An India Stories Production, ‘Manjha’ is the first Marathi venture movie produced by Hindi film producers Trilok Malhotra & KR Harish.

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