Film Medium Spicy that promises to spin a web around urban relationships is surely building an exciting ensemble in its journey. The film is already looking like one of the biggest ensembles of the year boasting of actors like Lalit Prabhakar, Sai Tamhankar and Parna Pethe in lead roles along with Sagar Deshmukh, veteran actors, Neena Kulkarni and Ravindra Mankani supporting the main cast. The makers have now announced the addition of Neha Joshi and Pushkaraj Chirputkar to the team. With Mohit Takalkar helming the directorial and Vidhi Kasliwal producing the film under her banner Landmarc Films, Medium Spicy seems to be getting more and more mouth-watering by the day and we can’t wait for its release already!

Neha is considered one of the most talented actresses in Marathi cinema and has made a mark for herself with films like Farzand, Zenda, Poshter Boyz and Nashibvaan for which she got the State Award for Best supporting actress last year while Pushkaraj who was loved by the audience for his character ‘Ashu’ in the Marathi Sitcom Dil Dosti Duniyadari, who also went on to win a Zee Marathi award for the same in 2015, has done several successful Marathi films in the last couple of years including Mantr for which he received a State Award nomination.

Confirmed Vidhi, “We are thrilled to offer such a bouquet of talented actors to our audience. It’s amazing to see how each one of them has loved the script as much as we did when we decided to start the film and they have completely submitted themselves to the vision that Mohit has for Medium Spicy. With such a powerhouse of talent, we are hopeful that audiences will like what we have in store for them.”

The post Neha Joshi and Pushkaraj Chirputkar join the ensemble of Medium Spicy 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.

Entertaining us through different mediums from Tv, films to theatre Shashank Ketkar’s new film ‘Aaron‘ is all set to release on 7th of December.

Shashank tweeted something interesting regarding this film that has excited all his fans & the audiences of Marathi films.

Guess the actors in this frame..

Hint: They aren’t Indians nor have performed in the Indian Film Industry. pic.twitter.com/TeczpJb8Lx

— Shashank Ketkar (@shashank_ketkar) December 1, 2018

The tweet says “Guess the actors in this frame..
Hint: They aren’t Indians nor have performed in the Indian Film Industry.”

Reportedly the film stars foreign hollywood actors in important roles! Who could be those actors? Well you need to hold on to your curiosity up until 7th December, when ‘Aaron’ releases in a theatre near you!

The post Hollywood Actors Star Opposite Shashank Ketkar in ‘Aaron’? appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Aaron (2018) |आरॉन
• Producer : Girish Narayan Pawar, Kaustubh Latke and Avinash Aher
• Director : Omkar Ramesh Shetty
• Studio : GNP Films
• Star Cast :
  • Shashank Ketkar as Madhav
  • Neha Joshi as Kaku
  • Atharv Padhye
  • Swastika Mukherjee as Alita Apte
  • Antoinette Fekete as Veronica
  • Barnabás Tóth as Jack
• Story : Omkar Ramesh Shetty
• Screenplay and Dialogues : Swami Baal and Omkar Ramesh Shetty
• Singer : NA
• Lyrics : NA
• Sound Design : Pramod Chandorkar
• Music : Chinmay Lele
• Background Music : Sai Piyush
• Cinematography (DOP) : Suman Sahu and Marton Vizkelety
• Editor : Ashish Mhatre and Apurva Motiwale Sahai
• Art Director : Jagannath Hatankar
• Costume : Sachin Lovalekar
• Hair Stylist : NA
• Make-up : Santosh Gayke
• Executive Producer : Milind Shingte
• Creative Producer : Eli Laszlo Berger
• Associate Producer : Arhima Sharma
• Associate Director : Amol Gharat
• Line Producer : Anand Namdeo Gaikwad and Rahul Dinanath Tulaskar
• Presenter : GNP Films
• Choreography : NA
• Publicity Photographer : Pravin Kamble
• VFX : NA
• Visual Promotions : Ajay Naik
• Assistant Editor : Vishwajeet Dodekar
• Assistant Director : Gergely Fogarasi, Samprata Ghorpade, Shabbir Shaikh and Arhima Sharma
• Digital Marketing : Be Birbal
• Distribution : SR Entertainment (Santosh Borhade)
• Marketing : Riyaz Balooch
• DI Colorist : NA
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 7th December 2018

Synopsis : Babu, a fifteen-year-old boy from a small village in Konkan (Maharashtra), has not met his mother for many years due to her work in Paris. The boy and his uncle, who is entrusted with the responsibility of taking him to his mother, start their journey to Paris, which turns out to be an unforgettable sojourn for them.

Babu’s quest to meet his mother with the help of his uncle reveals many dimensions of human nature, feelings, and emotions.

Aaron Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Aaron Marathi Movie Teaser :

Aaron Marathi Movie Trailer :

The post Aaron (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.

The brave tale of Kondaji Farzand & his few brave men winning the Panhala Fort was the subject of the Marathi film ‘Farzand’ that released on 1^st June. The audiences have given a thunderous response to the film! There wasn’t a single Marathi released on 15^th June as the Bollywood film ‘Race 3’ was releasing.

But Farzand has stood strong in this competition against Bollywood & has gathered great occupancy in whatever shows in had in multiplexes as well as single screen theatres all over Maharashtra. It’s unfair for Marathi films to get lesser shows because of Big Bollywood release, yet Farzand has managed to break the shackles & succeed!

In the first week Farzand got 450 shows in 302 theatres, in the second week it was 391 shows in 240 theatres & then in the third week, the film has got merely 230 shows in 162 theatres. Even after having packed shows & the audiences showing interest to watch the film Marathi cinema has been consistently being hampered by Bollywood. But the success of ‘Farzand’ proves that the Marathi audiences are strongly behind Marathi cinema!

The post Farzand Stands Strong Against Bollywood Big Release Race 3 appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review : Farzand (2018)
• Producer : Anirban Sarkar
• Director : Digpal Lanjekar
• Screenplay: Digpal Lanjekar
• Star Cast : Ankit Mohan, Prasad Oak, Chinmay Mandlekar, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Pravin Tarde, Aastad Kale, Ajay Purkar, Sameer Dharmadhikari & Neha Joshi
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 3.5/5

Farzand Review (Marathi Movie):

As much the great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is a part of our culture & our cultural references it has hardly reflected in our films. There is a whole genre of literature dedicated to the king & other kings who were connected to him in some ways, but very few attempts have been made in our films especially in today’s times. So ‘Farzand’ clearly has a huge advantage for taking up the subject with such conviction & confidence.

The film introduces us to it’s world by directly letting us into the tactical war methodology of ‘Ganimi Kawa’ being implemented by Tanaji Malusare (Ganesh Yadav) & his men. We see a smashing few dialogues with a touch of humour & then Tanaji & his men directly start the warfare. Now the problem here is the idea of ‘Ganimi Kawa’ gets lost here. The direct cut to sword fight where the unfocussed men in the backdrop simply seem like faking the fight, this action piece proves week & we start telling ourselves, we shouldn’t expect more. But even in those scenes the ‘Spirit’ is evident clear & loud!

After this episode the actual track of the narrative begins. Maharaj (Chinmay Mandlekar) has won all the forts within the Swarajya vicinity. The only fort that remains is ‘Panhala’! Mughal emperor Beshak Khan (Sameer Dharmadhikari) rules over Panhala. And under his rule many women from the Swarajya are facing threat everyday, his men kidnap random women from the vicinity & take them to the fort. Maharaj feels guilty to perform the ‘Rajyabhishek’ ritual when his people are facing such threats! He decides no matter what ‘Panhala’ needs to be under the Marathas!

Then the title character of the film comes into play! From the very first moment actor Ankit Mohan convinces us to be a warrior! His body, his body language, the fire in his eyes all of it contributes immensely in the impact of ‘Farzand’. Alongside him almost equal footage & importance is shared by Prasad Oak who portrays the ‘Bahuroopi’ Bahirji Naik. The rest of the team that includes Ajay Purkar, Aastad Kale, Praveen Tarde, Nikhil Raut or even Mrunmayee Deshpande & some others too fit their parts perfectly! Chinmay Mandlekar as Maharaj is almost magical to say the least! This perfectly casted ensemble is another big advantage for Farzand!

Now to begin with the problems, the first is the use of VFX. To some extent this was an obvious problem. Though I believe it could have been smartly dealt. The serial style establishing shots of the fort from the top view could have easily been avoided. It’s better to not have them than having them clearly appear fake. The next problem & a bigger one is the logic behind the actual war methodology & implementation. While the methodology is workable in theory it just seems impossible for just 60 men against an empire of nearly 2500 soldiers (that’s what they say). They even establish the fact that it would be one against 40! But the fact is we never really see 1 vs 40. We clearly see 1 vs 1 or at max 1 vs 2!

Another major problem can’t be revealed as it could be a spoiler, but let’s say it’s connected with the warfare outcome. Obviously I am not talking about whether the Marathas won Panhala or not? That we all know that we did, but ‘how?’ is the problem! Anyways throughout the warfare by spirit we are still with the film & that is the reason why even with so many problems ‘Farzand’ emerges victorious!

Farzand has a well structured narrative with lots of humour sprinkled around it. One could say it wastes too much time in the preparation of the war, but that part of the film is not really empty in terms of the narrative. Along with humour It also has a few interesting points to make about the mentality of us; Maharashtrians! These 60 men too are not really perfect. In fact even Maharaj, Farzand all of them have a human like characterization. They can make mistakes, they can be vulnerable, they could also fear the enemy at one point. But that doesn’t take anything away from their bravery! We don’t really want larger than life Bahubalis who are almost super humans!

Farzand could have been better directed for sure, but this is a great start! Let’s hope the audiences reward this film & this highly workable genre establishes itself in Marathi cinema!

Overall:

For all Maharaj devotees ‘Farzand’ is the film they were waiting for! And for other Marathi audiences too for the first time you could experience a spirited historical epic that has great performances & which also shies away from too much jingoism.

The post Farzand Review: A Spirited Historical Epic! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Zee Studio has further solidified its reputation as a studio that not only belts out one massive hit film after another but also supports meaningful and artistic ventures like its latest movie Nude. The Ravi Jadhav film, which has already won high praise in India, has now even bagged top honors at the prestigious New York Indian Film Festival by bagging the Best Film and Best Actress (Kalyanee Mulay) there.

Kalyanee Mulay’s performance as the mother who poses as a nude model for students of an art college, to fund her son’s education has been universally acclaimed. Critics have also praised the film’s message of giving dignity to the profession of nude modeling. The breathtaking visuals, mellifluous background score and performances by the rest of the cast are the other aspects for which the film received applause. And to top it all, Nude is also a success at the box office.

On this occasion, a rather pleased and satisfied business head of Zee Studios, Mangesh Kulkarni, said,“We are ecstatic with the kind of response our film Nude got to post it’s screening at NYIFF and especially proud for it to have bagged both Best Film and Best Actress awards. The award does not belong only to Nude but to everyone who dares to tell extraordinary stories through cinema”.

Director Ravi Jadhav, who was elated on winning the two big awards, said, “The film has always stood tall against all odds and there is a remarkably rugged renaissance across Marathi cinema. It is a triumph of an art”.

The post Nude bags topmost awards at New York Indian International Film Festival appeared first on MarathiStars.