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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Nagraj Manjule starer, Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti directorial ‘Naal‘ has collected 14 Crores in its opening weekend which is the biggest opening a Marathi film has received post ‘Sairat’! It has also become this year’s highest grossing Marathi film! Zee Studios have released the film across the country including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Surat, Vadodara, and Chennai with subtitles for non-Marathi viewers!

Producer and actor Nagraj Manjule said, “ I’m overwhelmed with the response by the audience. It is almost as if there is a renaissance across the Marathi cinema; the success of this film is definably a triumph of the art.”

Mangesh Kulkarni, Business Head, Zee Studios Marathi said, “It’s heartening to see Naal become this year’s highest grosser. Zee Studios and Nagraj Manjule have always created magic on screen and will continue our journey together to reach newer heights each time. We at Zee Studios want to thank the audiences and our partners on the film for their support as the movie continues its dream run at the box office with houseful theatres”.

The film is produced by Mrudgandha Films and Aatpat, presented by Zee Studios and Nagraj Manjule, Naal is running successfully across India.

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• Review : Naal (2018)
• Cast: Nagraj Manjule, Devika Daftardar, Shrinivas Pokale, Om Bhutkar & Deepti Devi
• Director: Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti

Quick Viewpoint: After the super success of ‘Sairat’ Nagraj Manjule (as actor & producer) & Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti (cinematographer & director) have again collaborated through ‘Naal’, though in different roles! And in my opinion they have altogether given a complete cinematic experience that also connects emotionally with the audiences taking Marathi cinema to new heights!

What Fails?

• Absolutely nothing fails here!!

What Works?

• Naal dwells on the meaning of motherhood. While doing so it keeps the audiences with the boy & not with the mother. Letting us understand what the boy is going through! And how he perceives his mother & motherhood in a larger way!

• Naal captures the essence of childhood curiosity & innocence in a way which was never seen before in a Marathi film.
• Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti succeeds magnificently in executing film’s each & every aspect. Including acting of the little kid (Shrinivas Pokale) & every other aspect!
• Up until the first half the film reaches the most beautiful form of simplicity. But in the later half it goes places where very few Marathi films manage to go! It creates an everlasting bittersweet emotionally ambiguous atmosphere using the same setting that was explored for a sweet little feel good film!
• It now dwells on life in a larger way creating a symphony between birth & death. It understands the meaninglessness of life yet embraces it with both hands, lovingly! The last Marathi film that I was reminded of that gave a similar experience, was Umesh Kulkarni’s Vihir.
• Though different from films of this kind, it doesn’t question the norms of life & hence it is never about finding answers. Those films don’t provide specific answers either, but they dwell on questions more specifically. In Naal, both the question & the answers are blurred & the film still beautifully acknowledges their existence.

Final Verdict: ‘Naal’ has opened to a great response from the audiences & it succeeds in enthralling them & also encouraging them to interpret cinema on their own. Knowing things on their own, without being spoon feed, which is a rare achievement in our films!

Rating: 5/5

The post Naal Marathi Movie Quick Review: An Emotionally Impactful Masterpiece! appeared first on MarathiStars.

The much awaited trailer of upcoming Marathi film ‘Naal‘ produced by & starring Nagraj Manjule is finally out. At first we saw the song from the film that introduced us to the protagonist of the film, the little boy! We saw him pleading to his mother to play outside with his friends. Now in the trailer we see something so unique that it is never even heard before!

The little boy notices how a mother cries for her child. He is even curious about animals if they cry for their little ones. And then he asks his mother whether she even cries or not! His father too finds his little kid’s curiosity fascinating. We are then shown the other side of the story.

The little boy seems to embark on a long journey on his own! Why exactly does he take this brave step? Why does he want his mother to cry for him? All this countless questions arise in our mind after watching the trailer & we get extremely excited to watch the film! So for all the answers, remember the release date of ‘Naal’ which is 16th Novemeber brought to us by Zee Studios & Nagraj Manjule!

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The sudden news of Nagraj Manjule’s first film as a producer ‘Naal‘ came in as a pleasant surprise to his fans! It was directly during the teaser launch that the audiences knew about it! Now the first song ‘Jau De Na Va‘ from the film Naal has been revealed & feels like pure childhood bliss! It will remind all of us of our childhood days & the memories we have of playing with our friends.

Along with Nagraj’s ‘Aatpat’ productions, Zee Studios too is associated with this film. This film is directorial debut of Suddhakar Reddy Yakkanti who was the director of photography in Nagraj Manjule’s ‘Sairat‘! The visuals of this song truly are splendid & they completely immerse us into the film’s world.

This beautiful song is sung by Jayas Kumar & the music & lyrics is credited to AV Prafullachandra. While we can’t make out anything about the plot of the film, we still know that the film is about this little boy who lives in small village & enjoys the beauty of the village life!

The post Jau De Na Va Song: Nagraj Manjule’s ‘Naal’ Promises Childhood Bliss! appeared first on MarathiStars.

After the super success of ‘Fandry’ & ‘Sairat’, Zee Studios & Nagraj Manjule are again together for a new film! Though this time the film isn’t directed by Nagraj but it is produced by him. ‘Naal’ is the directorial debut of Sudhakar Reddy who was the cinematographer of ‘Sairat’! The teaser of the film was revealed on social media recently.

With this film, Nagraj has entered the new world of film production! Nagraj even said on social media account while sharing this teaser, that this story is from his own heart & Sudhakar is telling the story in his way!

The only character we can spot in the film’s teaser is of a young boy who is bathing in the river! Though the visuals & the music of this teaser have excited us for the film! Moreover, we also want to know more about the cast of the film. The film releases very soon on 16^th November in theatres!

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• Movie : Naal (2018) | नाळ
• Producer : Nagraj Popatrao Manjule, Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti, Viraj Londhe, Nikhil Varadkar, Nitin Prakash Vaidya and Prashant Madhusudan Pethe
• Director : Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti
• Studio : Aatpat and Mrudgandha Films
• Star Cast :
  • Nagraj Manjule as Savkar
  • Devika Daftardar as Mother (Aai)
  • Shrinivas Pokale as Chetya
• Story and Screenplay : Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti
• Dialogues : Nagraj Popatrao Manjule
• Singer : Jayas Kumar
• Lyrics : AV Prafullachandra
• Music : AV Prafullachandra
• Sound Design : Anthony Ruben
• Background Score : Advait Nemlekar
• Cinematography (DOP) : Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti
• Editor : Sanchari Das Mollick
• Art Director : Satish Potdar and Prashant Deshmane
• Costume : Sachin Lovalekar
• Make-up : Sameer Kadam
• Executive Producer : Laxmikant Kalgutkar and Tushar Tupe
• Creative Producer : NA
• Presenter : NA
• Choreography : NA
• VFX : Lalit Khachane (Aatpat)
• VFX Artist : Mahesh Kadam (Aatpat)
• Publicity Design : Aatpat and Visual Junkies
• Visual Promotions : Kutub Inamdar and Vaibhav Dabhade (Aatpat)
• Digital Marketing : Visual Junkies
• Guest Composer : AV Prafulchandra
• Colorist : Ashirvad Hadkar
• DI Lab : Prime Focus
• Marketing : NA
• Genre : NA
• Release Date : 16th November 2018

Synopsis : NA

Naal Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Naal Marathi Movie Teaser :

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