Review: Mauli (2018)
Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Jitendra Joshi, Siddharth Jadhav, Saiyami Kher, Girija Oak Godbole & Shrikant Yadav
Director: Aditya Sarpotdar
Writer: Kshitij Patwardhan

Quick Viewpoint: Mauli doesn’t match the expectations that we had from a very reputed team who had recently given us ‘Faster Fene’. Yet the film should be looked as an honest attempt (though a failed attempt) to push the envelope of a template style commercial cinema.

What Fails? 

• The principal conflict of the film lacks logic especially in the first half. The film stereotypes a liquor bar as the most evil thing that can happen to a small village. And never does it feel to explain itself. Is the liquor bar illegal? If yes then why doesn’t the film spend some screen time to investigate what can be done legally to shut it down? Usual civic sense seems to be completely given a toss!
• Then the owner of the liquor bar, Nana (Jitendra Joshi) the evil villain with a scar on a his face, has a personal history against the temple that is just opposite to the bar & he has pledged that the locked temple will never be freed again! (If Pravin Tarde is reading, here’s the plot for Deool Band 2!) If Nana is mainly a greedy, money minded man, why doesn’t he ever realize that there’s probably more money in the spiritual field than the liquor field?
• The reasons of the above flaws is that, the film is least bothered about the actual narrative, it only wishes to use it as a template. The main moto is to give you a larger than life hero & his journey to become the saviour of this village!
• Saiyami Kher making her debut in Marathi cinema, sadly never manages to appear like her character. Her character itself feels like a poor man’s ‘Basanti’ (from Sholay) but without any fun aspect to it. Her Marathi is definitely problematic but beyond that too her performance feels fake.
• The action scenes have an overdose of slow motion. That is actually something that is common in masala action films made all over India right now! What happens is that we never really feel the actual rush of an action sequence if the slow mo is overused.
• It might be lesser important but the first 10 minutes or so have almost nothing to do with the actual film. First there’s this huge title sequence with a song which shows some beautifully captured moments of the Pandharpur Waari, just after that we see an action scene set probably in Pandharpur to introduce the principal character of the film, then follows the ‘Holi’ song! No matter what reasons they must have, but this is just not done! 10 minutes or more in a film’s run time should either be a part of the film or just shouldn’t be there!

What Works? 

• By the end of the first half there’s a twist in the story that turns the table on its head. An exact opposite turn to the story when compared to the prequel or other films like Rowdy Rathore of this type. At that point we are intrigued about the second half! And comparatively the second half of the film starts pretty well! Mainly because of the twist!
• The internal conflict of Riteish Deshmukh’s Mauli (can’t reveal much) with himself is far more interesting than the rest of the film.
• Kshitij Patwardhan’s dialogues sometimes fall flat & feel too ambitious for a template driven film, but sometimes they work! And when they work they make us linger over them!
• Amalendu Choudhary’s camera work! No matter how hard you try to be disinterested in the action scenes of the film, it’s the cinematography that keeps you there!

Final Verdict: I see ‘Mauli’ as a missed opportunity towards redefining the age old masala action genre. Yet there’s hope for this genre to be some day redefined by maybe the same people who are a part of this team!

Rating: 2.5/5

The post Mauli Movie Review: A Typical Masala Affair Slightly Uplifted with its Twist! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Ever since the announcement of the ‘Lai Bhari’ sequel the audiences have been eagerly awaiting for ‘Mauli‘. With even more excitement this time as the Riteish Deshmukh starrer is written & directed by the team which gave us the superhit film ‘Faster Fene‘! Writer Kshitij Patwardhan & director Aditya Sarpotdar have collaborated again & the trailer promises that ‘Mauli’ would break many box office records!

Along with Riteish the film stars Saiyami Kher who is making her Marathi film debut after her performance in the Hindi film ‘Mirzya’! ‘Mauli’ also stars Jitendra Joshi in a negative role! After his stints as a villain in ‘Duniyadari’ & ‘Baji’, our beloved Jitu is again exploring the villainous side to him! The film also stars Siddharth Jadhav & Girija Oak Godbole among others.

‘Mauli’ seems to have the right blend of action, drama, comedy & strong ‘Marathiness’ in it. It doesn’t seem inspired from south Indian action film or Bollywood action films it presents the Marathi culture imbibing it into the framework of an old school commercial film with a rural backdrop! ‘Mauli‘ hits theatres on 14th of December!

The post Mauli Trailer: Riteish Deshmukh All Set To Set The Silver Screen on Fire appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Mauli (2018) | माउली
• Producer : Genelia Deshmukh
• Directer : Aditya Sarpotdar
• Studio : Mumbai Film Company and Hindustan Talkies
• Star Cast :
  • Riteish Deshmukh as Mauli Sarjerao Deshmukh
  • Saiyami Kher as Renuka
  • Jitendra Joshi
  • Siddharth Jadhav
  • Girija Oak
  • Mayur Khandge
  • Shrikant Yadav
• Writer : Kshitij Patwardhan
• Screenplay : NA
• Dialogues : NA
• Singer : NA
• Lyrics : Guru Thakur and Ajay Gogawale
• Sound Design : Arun Nambiar
• Music : Ajay-Atul
• Background Score : Troy – Arif
• Cinematography (DOP) : Amalendu Choudhary
• Editor : Snajay Sankla
• Art Director : NA
• Costume : Karishma Gulati and Sachin Lovalekar
• Make-up : NA
• Executive Producer : Sanjay Mehta
• Supervising Producer : Rajkumar Tiwari
• Action Director : Ravi Varma
• Presenter : Jio Studios
• Choreography : Bosco-Caesar and Ranju Varghese
• Co-Producer : Pankaj Razdan, Ashish Chowdhary, Deepa Pardasany and Ravi Walia
• Line Producer : Vinay Chaukar
• Creative Producer : Sandeep Patil
• VFX : NA
• VFX Artist : NA
• Production Design : Santosh Phutane
• Visual Promotions : Just Right Studioz NX
• Publicity Design : Marching Ants
• Marketing Consultant : NA
• Digital Promotions : Digi Osmosis
• DI : Prime Focus Ltd
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 14th December 2018

Synopsis : Mauli is the sequel to the Marathi blockbuster Lai Bhaari, where Riteish Deshmukh’s character was called Mauli. The sequel is directed by Aditya Sarpotdar.

Mauli Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Mauli Marathi Movie Teaser :

Mauli Marathi Movie Trailer :

The post Mauli (2018) | Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

• TV Serial : Baapmanus | बापमाणूस
• Also Known As : Bap Manus Zee Yuva Marathi Serial
• Producer : ASanjay Bhagwat Zankar, Gaurav Avinash Ponkshe
• Director : Bhimrao Mude
• Production House : RFilm Positive
• StarCast :
  • Suyash Tilak
  • Ravindra Mankani as Dadasaheb
  • Pooja Pawar Salunkhe as Aaisaheb
  • Pallavi Patil as Nisha
  • Shruti Atre
  • Sangram Samel
  • Sanjay Kulkarni as Ramakantrao
  • Shivraj Walvekar
  • Namrata Awate as Sujata
  • Abhijeet Shwetchandra as Chandrakant
  • Amol Deshmukh as Shabbir
  • Anand Prabhu as Raghuveer
  • Abhilasha Patil
  • Jyoti Patil as Shilpa
  • Maithili Patwardhan
  • Sunil Khandagale
  • Mayur Khandge
  • Ajay Purkar
• Story & Screenplay : Swapnil Gangurde, Charudatt Bhagwat
• Dialogues : Manish Kadam
• Background Music : Onkar Dange
• Title Song Lyrics : Vaibhav Deshmukh
• Title Song Music : Rahul Suhas
• Title Song Singer : Divya Kumar
• Title Song Director : Amol Ajay Pathare
• Sound Recording : Aruna Mishra
• Cinematography (DOP) : Gaurav Ponkshe, Kumar Gauda
• Art : Satish Gawali
• Editor : T. Ramraj Nayadu, Prathamesh Uttekar
• Co-Editor : Amol Sodye
• Costumes : Sayali Soman
• Make-Up : Shripad Sonar
• Creative Head : Sameer Sudesh Maktedar
• Executive Producer : Suhas Dongare
• Co Producer : Manoj D. Piulledar, Harsha Shanbag
• Set Designer : Rajesh Maruti Sapte
• Online Editor : MBharat Lokhande, Neha Sathe
• Channel : Zee Yuva
• Starting Date : 18th December 2017
• Starting Time : 08:30 Pm Monday to Saturday

Story Outline : 

Few days back actor Suyash Tilak initiated a social media trend of ‘#baapmanus’. Little did we know what it was actually about! But through that trend many of social media users, friends & fans of Suyash Tilak wrote about that one ‘Baapmanus’ in their lives, a person who has inspired them tremendously. For some it was their parents & for some their friends. Soon the promos of Zee Yuva’s ‘Baapmanus’ started flashing on T.V. & we got how ‘Baapmanus’ was associated with Suyash Tilak!

Zee Yuva’s upcoming serial ‘Baapmanus’ appears distinctly different from the word go! A story a larger than life good fatherly figure to the whole village portrayed by senior actor Ravindra Mankani & his son played by Suyash Tilak, who feels it’s his responsibility to continue the great work of his father! This serial also stars Pooja Pawar, Pallavi Patil, Sangram Samel, Sanjay Kulkarni, Shivraj Walvekar, Namrata Awate among others. Moreover the director of Zee Yuva’s sensational hit serial ‘Rudram’, Bhimrao Mude is directing this serial!

And this story is set in the heart of Maharashtra ‘Kolhapur’! What else can we ask for! So don’t forget to tune into Zee Yuva every Monday to Saturday at 8:30 pm from 18th December!

Baapmanus Zee Yuva Marathi Tv Serial Photos :

Bap Manus – Zee Yuva Serial Promo :

The post Baapmanus – Zee Yuva Serial appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review : Ghantaa (2016)
• Producer : Rohit Shetty
• Directer : Shailesh Shankar Kale
• Star Cast : Aroh Velankar, Amey wagh, Saksham kulkarni, Shivani Surve, Anuja Sathe, Kishor Kadam, Pushkar Shrotri, Viju Khote, Murli Sharma, Bhau Kadam, Kanchan Pagare, Vijay kadam, Ganesh Mayekar, Mayur Khandge
• Screenplay : Sumit Bonkar Rahul Yashod
• Music : Samir Saptiskar
• Genre  : Comedy
• Review By : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 2.5/5

Ghanta Marathi Movie Review :

Ghantaa belongs to a genre that hardly has a history in Marathi, but has many examples in Bollywood & of course Hollywood. The most direct comparison could be well made with Aamir Khan’s Delhi Belly. Though the basic plot is common in these two films there is one significant difference. The three leads in Delhi Belly have a darker, realistic edge to them whereas here Raj (Amey), Umesh (Saksham) & Angad (Aroha) are cardboard cut outs. Though this is situational crime comedy, you still need interesting lead characters.

The actors though succeed in doing their jobs. The rest of the cast that has Pushkar Shrotri & Kishore Kadam as leaders of two gangs (one of which is political) are fabulous as always. The character of Murli Sharma needs a special mention. He has been established pretty well & brings in the essential unpredictability in this “Hira Kahan Hain” mystery. Though it could have been more justified if they had used him efficiently in the climax. Another stock character will stay memorable is that of a simple secretary (Pushkar’s) who is not bothered about the conflict at all instead he simply wants to go home early.

Ghanta is directed by a first timer, who has no background of this industry & deserves a lot of credit because he has genuinely made the film he wanted to make. Because there is nothing in the film that has been forcibly added to please any specific lot of audience. But throughout the film his inexperience is evident. Still it will be exciting to see what he comes up with when he brings his second film.

Visually Ghanta experiments a little too much & unnecessarily, the same applies to the omnipresent background score. However there’s a unique exception in a deliberately pretentious (& satirical) sad romantic song titled “Unbreakable” voiced by Hariharan. It works well in this setting. We would have actually loved a similar approach to the lives of these three characters especially in the first half.

The fate of Ghanta (in terms of box office) depends on those huge numbers of Amey Wagh fans. Importantly these fans also somewhat represent the new target audience of popular Marathi Cinema. The right amount of hype has been created by the Ghanta team. And if they watch Ghanta they’ll definitely enjoy it.

Overall:

Ghantaa is enjoyable & definitely worth a watch, the errors are there but they won’t hit you on the face. If you belong to a certain section of young audience who are still aloof from Marathi Cinema Ghantaa is worth to start with!

The post Ghantaa Review: A Comedy with Errors! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Ghantaa (2016)
• Producor : Rohit Shetty
• Director : Shailesh Shankar Kale
• Studio : Brahmapura Pictures, Dashmi Creations
• StarCast : Aroh Velankar, Amey wagh, Saksham kulkarni, Shivani Surve, Anuja Sathe, Kishor Kadam, Pushkar Shrotri, Viju Khote, Murli Sharma, Bhau Kadam, Kanchan Pagare, Vijay kadam, Ganesh Mayekar, Mayur Khandge
• Screenplay : Suumit Bonkar & Rahul Yashod
• Dilouges : Fransis Augustine & Vinod Jadhav
• Music : Samir Saptiskar
• Lyrics : Abhishek Khankar
• Background Score : Aditya Bedekar
• Sound Design & Mixing : Dinesh Uchil & Shantanu Akerkar
• Editor : Pankaj Deepak Hurne
• Art Director : Akhilesh jambhavdekar
• Action : Ravi Kumar & Harpal Singh
• Costume Designer : Ashwini Kocharekar & Dipti Panchal
• Cinematography (DOP) : Siddhartha More
• Genre : Comedy
• Release Date : October 14, 2016

Synopsis : Ghanta is a story about 3 friends, who just passed out from college and try their hand in betting to earn money. The story is about how they get into a big mess because of betting and comes across three Villans in their life. The film is about their struggle to get out of this situation and how.

Ghanta Marathi Photos/ Poster :

Ghanta Marathi Movie Trailer :

The post Ghantaa | Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

Ghanta is getting ready for 14 October release. The recently released trailer of this film promises us a good film with some great performances. This black comedy is directed by Shailesh Kale.

The film is about three youngsters who dreams to make it big in their life. How the situations change and their life bring some new twists and turns will be seen in this film. Out of the three youngsters one wants to become a famous dubbing artiste, another is an idiot and third is a charmer. However, a certain decision by these three friends goes wrong and they end up in the hands of two rival gans. What happens next- will see it on the big screen. The film stars Dil Dosti Duniyadari’s Kaivaly – Amey Wagh along with Aroh Welankar and Saksham Kulkarni in the lead roles. Pushkar Shrotri and Kishor Kadam also play important role in this film.

The film is produced by Rohit Shetty and presented by Brahmapura Pictures and Dashami Studioz

The post Ghanta Trailer promises a laugh riot appeared first on MarathiStars.

The makers of the film Ghanta recently released the music in an innovative event. Ghanta Toast (similar like Comedy Roast) was done with the three heroes of this film by Mahesh Manjrekar, Jitendra Joshi.

Amey Wagh, Saksham Kulkarni and Aroh Welankar and Amruta Khanvilkar were present for this Ghanta Toast. The event was hosted by Pushkar Shrotri, who is playing an important role in this film.

Ghanta has been using different techniques for the promotions including live motion poster and live chats on the social media. The film has been directed by Shailesh Kale. The film is produced by Dashami Creation, Brahmapura Pictures and Yellow Incorporation.  Dashami has earlier given hit serials like Durva, Majhe Man Tujhe Jhale and Pasant Aahe Mulgi. The film is written by Sumit Bonkar and Rahul Yashod.

The film will be releasing on 14 October.

The post The music launch of Ghanta with Ghanta Toast appeared first on MarathiStars.

Ghanta– a film starring Amey Wagh, Saksham Kulkarni and Aroh Welankar has released its teaser. The teaser promises us a complete entertainment with the hint of black comedy. The film is direceted by Shailesh Kale and will be releasing on 14 October.

The film also stars Pushkar Shrotri and Kishor Kadam in leading roles. The teaser shows three young boys and how they find themselves in difficult situations. The film has all the elements like love, lust, action, thriller, chase to give us a complete entertainment package. Amey Wagh, who rose on popularity charts with his role as “Kaivaly” is Zee Marathi’s serial Dil Dosti Duniyadari will be seen as not so good boy in this film. Saksham who is currently seen in Zee Yuva’s Love Lagn aani Lochya is also playing an important part in this film. Aroh was seen in critically acclaimed “Rege”.

The film is produced by Dashami Productions, Brahmaputra Pictures and Yelow Inc. The film will be releasing on 14 October all over Maharashtra.

The post Amey, Saksham and Aroh in Ghanta – Official Teaser appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review : Highway (2015)
• Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
• Producers: Arbhaat Films and Kharapoos Films
• Writer: Girish Kulkarni
• Cast: Girish Kulkarni, Renuka Shahane Rana, Huma Qureshi, Sunil Barve, Vrushali Kulkarni, Mukta Barve, Tisca Chopra, Kishore Kadam
• Music: Amit Trivedi
• Genre: Drama
• Review By : Keyur Seta

Rating : 2.5/5

Review:

Audiences are broadly categorized either as ‘masses’ or ‘classes’, based on their preferences. But over the years another sub-category under ‘classes’ has evolved called ‘festival audience’. Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni’s Highway falls under this category. The film is strictly for those who are fine with watching something thoroughly experimental.

Highway features a road journey from Mumbai to Pune involving the following characters:-

• A good-natured but hot-headed NRI (Girish Kulkarni) visiting his ailing father in Pune in a cab. He has a tussle with the driver. Later on, he provides a lift to a man injured in an accident (Vidyadhar Joshi) and his wife (Renuka Shahane Rana).
• A couple (Sunil Barve and Vrushali Kulkarni) whose marriage is on the verge of a breakdown.
•  A TV actress (Huma Qureshi) visiting Pune to take part in a political event. She is traveling with the party’s karyakarta (Shrikant Yadav).

• A middle-aged married woman (Tisca Chopra) is excited for a fun time in Pune with a gigolo [male prostitute (Mayur Khandge)], who is traveling with her.
•  A bar dancer (Mukta Barve) traveling with her aunt. The passenger sitting next to her is having a tough time because of her. A bird seller is also their fellow traveler.
• A south Indian ruffian (Nagraj Manjule) and his aides take a lift in a truck. They are carrying something suspicious.
• A man (Kishore Kadam), traveling in a taxi, is physically and mentally abused by his wife throughout the journey while their fellow passenger looks on in disgust.
• A father on a bus with his deaf and mute child.
• A family relocating from Mumbai to Pune with their belongings in a tempo.

Initially, it appears as if the first half is a build-up for the main story. Journey of the aforementioned characters is shown randomly one after the other without any link between them. However, it doesn’t trigger boredom at all due to the fast-paced conversations, constant humor, which is real and subtle, and your expectation for some story development in the second half.

But that doesn’t happen. Post-interval you realize that there is no basic plot as such or something that knits together all tales. No doubt, various questions raised that make you ponder over certain things. But it isn’t enough, more so with a high length of 137 minutes. A film of such genre needs to be narrated in a duration well under 120 minutes.

Technical aspects play a large role in making the film watchable. The film is smartly edited. It isn’t easy for an editor in such genre of films. Sudhakar Reddy’s camerawork complements the subject. The use of shaky hand-held camera adds to the realism. Amit Trivedi’s tunes are melodious.

The performances keep you interested. Girish Kulkarni is the best of the lot. He has displayed his amazing talent while playing a complicated character. Renuka Shahane Rana too gives an adorable performance. Sunil Barve and Vrushali Kulkarni perfectly fit their respective characters.

Huma Qureshi and Tisca Chopra, making their Marathi debuts, succeed in speaking through expressions. Both of them only speak Hindi though, as per their characters. Mukta Barve, Kishore Kadam and the actress playing his wife also chip in with fine acts. The rest of the actors too display their goodness.

Overall:

Highway is an experimental product only suited for the festival audience.

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