• Review : Aapla Manus (2018)
• Producer : Watergate Marathi Motion Pictures, Nana Patekar & Arun Kupte
• Studio : Ajay Devgan FFilms, Watergate Marathi Motion Pictures, Shree Gajanan Chitra, Viacom Motion Pictures
• Director : Satish Rajwade
• Star Cast : Nana Patekar, Irawati Harshe & Sumeet Raghavan
• Story & Screenplay : Vivek Bele
• Review By : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 4/5

Aapla Manus Marathi Movie Review:

One of the most essential qualities of theatre is the freedom of being a set up; a game and henceforth called a ‘play’. The characters are participants in a game & not necessarily as completely relatable humans. So many a times a game has its own set of rules which shouldn’t be thought of in a literal sense by the audiences. Vivek Bele the writer of ‘Aapla Manus’ has created such a game in the original play ‘Katkon Trikon’ (from which this film is adapted) & also in ‘Aapla Manus’. Nana Patekar’s Inspector Maruti Nagargoje is one such ‘game’ defining character who shouldn’t be analysed in the literal logical sense. His conflicts, interests & purpose are all artificially created to serve a bigger purpose in the story & the things the film wishes to say.

Nana Patekar plays a double role in the film, one that is revealed from the very beginning (& hence not a spoiler!). An exact opposite of Inspector Nagargoje; in terms of the social-economical background, this character of an old man is the subject of the ‘game’ while Nagargoje is the most important player of the game. Now Nana Patekar has smoothly gone under the skin of Inspector Nagargoje; a character he literally owns throughout! But the other character which also has a lot of screen time doesn’t go well with Nana. Imagine Dr. Shreeram Lagoo playing A.K. Hangal but more animated & hysterical. However after some time we get used to Nana’s antics here, also because we never see him constantly in that character. As any regular murder mystery drama that explores different perspectives of the same incident in bits & parts we keep meeting the old Nana alternately.

Both Irawati Harshe & Sumeet Raghavan are perfectly casted in their parts & they match (& sometimes even overshadow) Nana throughout. Especially Irawati Harshe who plays an extremely delicate character which could’ve easily been a stereotype, but she makes her human. A modern day woman who doesn’t believe that confronting your elders is a sin. A maths teacher by profession & a Mathematics gold medal winner in her past who brings her theory of ‘Katkon Trikon’ (Right Angled Triangle) as an analogy to explain the relations between her, her husband & her father-in-law. The play was titled ‘Katkon Trikon’ based on this very theory, however ‘Aapla Manus’ is a more suitable title of the film as it represents the larger film defining theory or philosophy.

Nana’s Nagargoje does something really important throughout the tensed, serious & dramatic moments in the film. His tongue-in-cheek humour keeps lightening up the film throughout. In parts such as these the film’s dialogues are sharp & effective but some other times they are really bland. However the second half gets our complete attention & we don’t really notice the dialogues. We are too much in the narrative of the film. The narrative keeps playing with our emotions like an orchestra master who keeps controlling the instrument players constantly.

‘Aapla Manus’ ends on a morally important note, that might appear preachy to some. But after what we’ve gone through it makes complete sense. Yes there are logical flaws at a few instances if one tries to analyse the incidents, behaviours in a literal-logical way. But if one perceives this as a ‘game’ that was played for a purpose, both the ‘game’ & the purpose makes a powerful emotional connect. However the omnipresent flaws in every Satish Rajwade directorial are present here too. Whether it’s serial like blocking, framing, the make-up of artists & the production design all of it. But somehow they don’t pollute the film mainly because this film belongs more to the writer, & the actors than the director.

Overall:

‘Aapla Manus’ is perfect family entertainment that will hold the audiences throughout & would emotionally satisfy them, extending the feeling for hours after watching the film.

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Nana Patekar’s next film ‘Aapla Manus’ has been awaited as the biggest Marathi film of 2018! Produced by none other than Ajay Devgn & directed by ‘Ti Saddhya Kay Karte’ fame Satish Rajwade ‘Aapla Manus’ is a suspense thriller that also stars Sumeet Raghvan & Irawati Harshe alongside Nana.

Nana Patekar has don many hats as an actor playing different characters for many years in both Hindi & Marathi film, but still his ‘Crime Branch Inspector Maruti Nagargoje’ looks completely new & Nana also adopts different mannerism for this role which we have never seen before!

Satish Rajwade the director of this film is mostly known for his romantic entertainers like ‘Mumbai Pune Mumbai’ series, ‘Premachi Goshta’ & ‘Ti Saddhya Kay Karte’. But he has also directed a thriller film called ‘Gair’ & suspense serials like ‘Agnihotra’ & ‘Asambhav’. Another interesting aspect about the film is its title ‘Aapla Manus’! What exactly does the title mean? In terms of the murder mystery in the film, will be fun to explore in theatres.

The post Aapla Manus Teaser: Nana Patekar in a Never Seen Before Role! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Many Hindi actors have produced & even acted in Marathi films in recent times. Ajay Devgn too is one of them now! Few months back this film was announced & now with a special video through his official Facebook handle Superstar Ajay Devgn has even announced the release date of the film which is 9^th February 2018!

The film stars Nana Patekar, Sumeet Raghavan & Iravati Harshe in important roles. The film is directed by ‘Ti Saddhya Kay Karte’ fame director Satish Rajwade. It would be interesting to see what would be the subject & theme of the film! Moreover we can also expect a special appearance from Ajay Devgn himself in the film.

Ajay Devgan is married to Kajol & Kajol is a Maharashtrian from her mother’s side. Her mother ‘Tanuja’ was a leading actress of yesteryears & has also acted in Marathi films. So it’s good to see Ajay Devgn exploring the ‘Marathi’ influence on him & that too by producing a Marathi film.

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• Movie : Aapla Manus (2018) | आपला माणूस
• Producer : Watergate Marathi Motion Pictures, Nana Patekar & Arun Kupte
• Director : Satish Rajwade
• Studio : Ajay Devgan FFilms, Watergate Marathi Motion Pictures, Shree Gajanan Chitra, Viacom Motion Pictures
• Presented By : Sudhanshu Vats, Ajit Andhare & Nikhil Sane
• Star Cast :
  • Nana Patekar
  • Sumeet Raghavan
  • Iravati Harshe
  • Ajay Devgn in Special Apperance
• Story : Vivek Bele
• Screenplay :  Vivek Bele
• Dialogues : Vivek Bele
• Sound Design : Sunil Agarwal
• Background Music : Sameer Phaterpekar
• Cinematography (DOP) : Suhas Gujrati
• Editor : Rahul Bhatnakar
• Art Director : AparnaRaina
• Costumes : Pallavi Rajwade
• Co – Producers : Abhinav Shuklaa, Manish Mishra, Govind Goyal & Rohit Chaudhary (Bahul)
• Vizual Promotion : Just Right Studios
• Executive Producer : Ashish Chauhan, Kanchan Marathe
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date :  9^th February 2018

Synopsis : A young couple, living with the man’s father, already struggles to draw a balance between the pressures of urban life and the complexity of relationships when an unexpected incident makes them re-evaluate their beliefs about their life and family.

Aapla Manus Marathi Movie Photos, Poster :

Aapala Manus Marathi Movie Trailer:

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As we all know that Kajol is the daughter of Marathi actress Tanuja, who mainly acted in Hindi films. Many of us would also be aware that Kajol speaks decent Marathi! Ajay Devgn the Bollywood superstar & Kajol’s husband has now produced his second Marathi film (first was ‘Viti Dandu’) & this time he has collaborated with filmmaker Abhinav Shukla & none other than Nana Patekar, who have also produced the film.

This thriller film stars Nana Patekar in the lead & Sumeet Raghvan & Irawati Harshe in other important roles. The film is directed by popular filmmaker Satish Rajwade who recently gave a smashing hit ‘Ti Saddhya Kay Karte’!

Recently the shooting of this untitled project began with the first clap by Kajol herself. Ajay Devgn’s father & popular action choreographer of Bollywood Veeru Devgn was also present at the shoot. It’ll be interesting to see how this partnership of Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgn & Satish Rajwade turns out for Marathi Cinema.

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Yes you heard it right two of the stalwarts of Indian film industry, two actors who redefined the image of a hero in Bollywood are now collaborating for a Marathi film. Ajay Devgan has previously produced ‘Vitti Dandu’ in Marathi & now he is all set to produce his second along with Nana Patekar & producer Abhinav Shukla.

The film is a thriller & ‘Ti Saddhya Kay Karte’ fame Satish Rajwade will be directing the film. Satish has previously directed another thriller named ‘Gair’. In this currently untitled project, Nana Patekar will be playing the lead character & other stars of the Marathi fraternity will also be playing important roles.

After 2016’s ‘Natsamrat’ that was a huge blockbuster Nana will be returning to Marathi films in truly different avatar. The film’s shoot will kick start in a few months & hopefully by the end of the year or early next year we can enjoy this star studded thriller!

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In 2016 we have had some hardcore emotional performances by young-old men! The definition of a ‘Man’ has been modified in recent times & many Marathi actors have portrayed this change in perspective & sensibilities effectively on the silver screen.

Sagar Deshmukh (YZ)

YZ was a complex film that talked on passion, friendship, romance, life & everything in between. Sagar Deshmukh as ‘Gajanan’ was a genuinely out of the box protagonist. First of all a lot of credit goes to the makers of ‘YZ’ who perfectly casted Sagar in this role. Throughout the film Sagar is natural & carries the whole film on his shoulders with ease. We would definitely want to see him more often in Marathi films now!

Prashant Damle (Bho Bho)

It’s a said rule that usually popular stage actors are not suited in films. But the king of Marathi theatre for over 2 decades, Prashant Damle proved this rule wrong. He was just as great on the screen as he is on the stage. He scores in the comic, eccentric part of the film but he is even better in the emotional scenes. His character ‘Detective Vyankatesh Bhonde’ has a fondness for dogs & has many heart touching scenes were Prashant Sir is seen taking care of them, talking with them & also saving their life!

Jitendra joshi (Ventilator)

Jitu Joshi is an actor who gives his 200% to every role that comes his way. And his role of ‘Prasanna’ from ‘Ventilator’ was perfectly tailor-made for him. A struggling political activist whose father is on ‘Ventilator’ & he has been put into a position to choose whether his father should stay on the ‘Ventialtor’ or not. It’s the most difficult choice for a son to make, even if he wasn’t his father’s favorite child. This conflict & moral confusion has been portrayed by Jitu with real panache! His eyes emote everything that goes on in Prasanna’s mind throughout the film!

Nana Patekar (Natsamrat)

The most loved acting performance of 2016 by all audiences. Nana played a sharp, satirical but equally theatrical version of Dr. Lagoo’s ‘Ganpat Belwalkar’. Many have written about all those beautiful philosophical, theatrical & poetic dialogues that Nana recites in the film, but we felt Nana is actually more fantastic in those normal scenes. He simply seems to be enjoying living this mythical celebrated role. Those scenes where he ridicules his son-in-law’s boss about plays & playwrights or those when he enters drunk at the party or his satirical conversations with friend & ex-competitor Vikram Gokhale!

Dr. Mohan Agashe (Astu)

Dr. Mohan Agashe is one of India’s most underrated actors. He has worked in countless great films in different languages & he has been actively part of theatre as well. His role of a Sanskrit scholar who slowly & steadily gets affected by Alzheimer’s disease in ‘Astu’ is one of his most accomplished performances ever. The transition of an intelligent, learned man into a child who has no memory & no understanding of ‘life as we know it’ is played with subtle brilliance by Agashe Sir. It’s sad that a film like ‘Astu’ & a performance like Agashe Sir’s had to be crowd funded to manage a release in theatres. Nevertheless, it’s a film that will stay forever as a film that questioned, analyzed our purpose & meaning of existence.

Honorable Mentions:

• Vikram Gokhale (Natsamrat)
• Satish Alekar (Ventilator)
• Dilip Prabhawalkar (Family Katta)
• Makarand Anaspure (Ranga Patanga)
• Aniket Vishwasrao (Poshter Girl)

The post 5 Finest Male Acting Performances of 2016 in Marathi! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Very few times an actor finds a director who matches his/her wavelength, the same applies to the director while finding the right actor. Earlier in 2016, we saw one pair that worked out their wavelengths perfectly & gave us a blockbuster in the form of ‘Natsamrat’. The film has almost got a cult status in so less time. Not just the Marathi audiences but all Indian audiences watched & appreciated the film.

That’s the reason we are not sure that Nana Patekar & Mahesh Manjrekar’s upcoming film ‘Nation First’ is in Marathi or Hindi. Whichever language it may be in, one thing is for sure that it will be a good film & we are already excited for it.

Usually Mahesh Manjrekar is known for films that are lengthy in runtime but this time ‘Nation First’ is supposedly only 100 minutes long. This will be an interesting experiment on Mahesh Manjrekar’s part. All of us are aware that when a film’s runtime is around 100 minutes it will be one sharp & tension filled film with either thrilling or exciting elements. So now we can wait for ‘Nation First’ predicting it to be another blockbuster just like ‘Natsamrat’.

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Marathi Filmfare Awards will be telecast on Colors Marathi on 28 February at 7 pm. This is the first year of Marathi Filmfare Awards. The event was rocked by Dr. Prakash Baba Amte as it collected black lady for Best Film, Best Actress (Sonali Kulkarni) and Best Actor (Nana Patekar). Senior actor Ramesh Dev has been honoured with Lifetime achievement award.

The highlight of the event is Sachin Pilgaonkar’s performance. Dance performances by Mansi Naik, Sonalee Kulkarni, Amruta Khanvilkar and Neha Pendse are also very interesting. Other performances include laser act by Adinath Kothare, Vaishali Samant, Kranti Redkar and Bharat Jadhav. The event has been hosted by Pushkar Shrotri and Prasad Oak. Bollywood celebrities like Vidya Balan, Varun Dhawan and Tabu were also present for this event.

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‘Natsamrat… Asa Nat Hone Nahi’ is still running successfully in theaters after its blockbuster opening on 1^st January 2016. Natsamrat has collected 40 crores on box office and it is still running strong in various parts of Maharashtra. Natsamrat has become highest grossing movie in the history of Marathi cinema. On the occasion of this proud moment Natsamrat team organized a success party. The star cast of this movie and other celebrities from Marathi cine industry were present for this party. The list included Nana Patekar, Mahesh Manjrekar, Mrinal Kulkarni, Ankush Chaudhary, Manasi Naik, Vandana Gupte, Adinath Kothare, Samit Kakkad and many more.

However, the biggest announcement of the evening was: Natsamrat remake in Hindi. This announcement has already created buzz among film industry. Also, it is said that Amitabh Bachchan will be a part of this Hindi remake.

In this success party Nana Patekar said, “Earning money on the box office is important but for me what is more enthralling is people are loving and appreciating Natsamrat. I have given so much  for this movie and if I have to do a new movie I have to start from zero.”

Mahesh Manjrekar said, “I would like to thank everyone who is directly or indirectly responsible for the success of Natsamrat. For me, this film is a milestone in my career and I still remember the struggle which we went to complete this film.”

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