• Review : Home Sweet Home (2018)
• Producer : Hemant Ruprel and Ranjeet Thakur
• Director : Hrishikesh Joshi
• Writers : Hrishikesh Joshi, Vaibhav Joshi and Mugdha Godbole
• Star Cast : Mohan Joshi, Reema, Spruha Joshi, Hrishikesh Joshi, Vibhawri Deshpande, Prasad Oak, Sumeet Raghavan, Mrunal Kulkarni
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 2.5/5

Home Sweet Home Review (Marathi Movie):

Home Sweet Home’s trailer is slightly misguiding in a way that it makes us feel that the star cast of the film that includes actors like Prasad Oak, Sumeet Raghvan & Mrunal Kulkarni have bigger & more important roles in the film & in the narrative. But that isn’t the case. They are merely cameos (Prasad Oak’s is an extended one though). The problem is that, it means the film is based on a single narrative & with a single conflict. And both the narrative & the conflict have major loopholes & repetition.

So the film involves four principal characters & a few lesser important characters. Mohan Joshi & Late Reema play a couple (Mr & Mrs. Mahajan) in their 60s who don’t have any children. Spruha Joshi (Devika) lives in their house almost like a paying guest. Mr. Mahajan is her ‘Mama’. But her ‘Mami’ never really has any warmth for her, (if she had any warmth for her, the whole point of her character’s existence in the narrative would have been pointless). Spruha’s character definitely has enough screen time, yet it never feels like an essential character. It is never directly connected to the narrative. And even her own track isn’t really established.

Hrishikesh Joshi plays a real estate agent & for no particular reason he is close to the Mahajan family. Closer to their residence there’s an Irani hotel where he sets up his office every day. One day all of a sudden his customers visit the Mahajan home (as they think the property that their agent is selling them is this). Mrs. Mahajan for no particular reason readily lets them see their home. By the time the whole confusion is cleared Mrs. Mahajan knows the price of her house! As they live in prime place like Dadar, Mumbai the number is big! This leads to the start of the narrative with the conflict to whether sell their house & shift to a cheaper but more modern & spacious flat somewhere else far from the main city.

The problem is that the above scene is an important plot point that kick starts the narrative, but it feels so artificially created. After that the film has different ways of going round & round the same conflict. By the middle of the second half the narrative starts feeling tedius. The resolution of this conflict never really resolves the conflict. It just takes everything to the starting point. The problem isn’t that, the problem is the audiences can’t make out what exactly does the film wants to say? Yet the last 15-20 minutes work on a different level of giving some kind of emotional impact. The emotion is obviously connected to the idea of home, the whole nostalgia that surrounds a house where a family has lived a major portion of their lives!

Mohan Joshi & Reema’s performances are another huge positive of the film. Reema’s voice in the film is dubbed by Nirmiti Sawant. And her voice acting matches Reema perfectly. Hrishikesh Joshi has a very weak characterization for himself, his personal track was there to show the societal difference between his & the Mahajan family & also to infuse some humour, but none of that works well. Sumeet Raghvan & Mrunal Kulkarni’s cameo is a part of the climax that as said earlier works well on emotional grounds, & so does their performances.

Overall:

Hrishikesh Joshi’s debut as a director is nowhere near his reputation yet he manages to make a decent family friendly film, that even with it’s flaws is worthy of at least one watch on the big screen!

The post Home Sweet Home Movie Review: Well Acted but A Problematic Narrative appeared first on MarathiStars.

Actor Sumeet Raghavan & actress Mrunal Kulkarni have won audience’s hearts through their performances over the years in different mediums from T.V to films & theatre. But these two actors have never worked together. This rare feat is achieved by upcoming Marathi film ‘Home Sweet Home’ presented by ‘Proactive’ & produced by ‘Frames Productions Pvt. Ltd.’.

Mrinal Kulkarni has been a part of the evolution of the entertainment mediums in both Hindi & Marathi that includes both films & T.V. While Sumeet Raghavan begin his journey from theatre & has come a long way since then. His performances in Hindi serials have become a part of our pop culture history! It would be a treat for the audiences to watch the chemistry getting unfolded between these two seasoned actors.

‘Home Sweet Home’ is a unique subtle family drama directed by actor turned director Hrishikesh Joshi & it also stars Late Reema, Mohan Joshi, Spruha Joshi, Vibhawri Deshpande, Kshiti Jog, Prasad Oak, & Hrishikesh Joshi in important roles. ‘Home Sweet Home’ releases in theatres from 28th Spetember!

The post Sumeet Raghavan & Mrunal Kulkarni Together for the First Time : Home Sweet Home appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Home Sweet Home (2018) | होम स्वीट होम
• Producer : Hemant Ruprel and Ranjeet Thakur
• Director : Hrishikesh Joshi
• Studio : Frames Production Company Pvt Ltd and ProAktive
• Star Cast :
  • Reema Lagoo
  • Mohan Joshi
  • Spruha Joshi
  • Prasad Oak
  • Sumeet Raghavan
  • Hrishikesh Joshi
  • Mrinal Kulkarni
  • VIbhavari Deshpande
• Writer : Hrishikesh Joshi, Vaibhav Joshi and Mugdha Godbole
• Dialogues : NA
• Singer : NA
• Lyrics : NA
• Music : Narendra Bhide and Santosh Mulekar
• Sound Design : NA
• Background Score : NA
• Cinematography (DOP) : Riju Das
• Editor : Jayant Jathar
• Art Director : NA
• Costume : NA
• Make-up : NA
• Executive Producer : Nitin Prakash Vaidya
• Presenter : Akash Pendharkar and Vinod Satav
• Choreoghraphy : NA
• Publicity Design : Loki’s Studios
• Visual Promotions : Varun Narvekar and Vishal Bate
• Digital Marketing : Be Birbal
• Marketing : Sachin Narkar and Vikas Pawar
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 28th October 2018

Synopsis : Home Sweet Home is a Marathi movie starring Spruha Joshi and Reema Lagoo in prominent roles. It is a drama directed by Hrishikesh Joshi.

Home Sweet Home Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Home Sweet Home Marathi Movie Teaser/Trailer :

The post Home Sweet Home (2018) – Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

The much-awaited trailer of the multi-starrer film, ‘Home Sweet Home’ directed by actor turned director Hrishikesh Joshi is finally out! The film stars Mohan Joshi, Spruha Joshi, Prasad Oak, Vibhavari Deshpande, Mrinal Kulkarni, Sumeet Raghavan & the late senior actress Reema. This film is also special because it will be the last film of the legendary actress, even after her death she is all set to entertain us through her work!

One important aspect one can observe from this trailer is that the film is very subtle in dealing with the ‘drama’ part of the ‘family drama’. Avoiding the loud presentation makes this film standout straight from its trailer itself. Senior actor Mohan Joshi always had a great chemistry with Reema in many of their works together, their chemistry can be experienced for the one last time that too in theatres.

‘Home Sweet Home’ also deals with the dilemma of whether a family is connected to their home! Will selling the house to change anything in the family? These questions are asked in a very subtle way, & the audiences will surely get their answers when the watch the film in theatres. ‘Home Sweet Home’ releases in theatres from 28th September!

The post Home Sweet Home Trailer: A Subtle Family Drama appeared first on MarathiStars.

Hrishikesh Joshi is an highly talented actor & writer & his talent well known to the audiences! Now he is all set to take the next step in his creative reach with his directorial debut ‘Home Sweet Home’. The first look teaser of the film was recently revealed on social media. And the teaser is refreshingly unique in every way.

Vaibhav Joshi a popular poet & lyricist has made a poem that defines the film & it has been used in his own voice in this teaser. We could say that this beautiful poem represents the romantic idea of ‘home’, one that is present in our dreams! This idea itself is soothing & brings a sense of belonging to the audiences.

The film stars Mohan Joshi, Hrishikesh Joshi, Spruha Joshi & late Reema. It would be pleasing to see our favorite mother Reema one last time on the big screen. Releasing on 28th September the film promises to give us good old family entertainment!

The post Home Sweet Home Teaser: The Romantic Idea of ‘Home’! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review : Deva – Ek Atrangi
• Producer : Pradeep Chakravorty
• Director : Murali Nallappa
• Star Cast : Ankush Chaudhari, Tejaswini Pandit, Spruha Joshi, Dr. Mohan Agashe, Vaibhav Mangle, Pandharinath Kamble & Reema Lagoo
• Story & Screenplay : Unni R. , Martin Prakkat
• Review By : Abhay Salvi

Deva – Ek Atrangi Marathi Movie Review:

Ankush Chaudhari is without a doubt an actor of great calibre. He has a knack of playing underplayed performances with subtle perfection. He started the year 2017 on that note with his performance in ‘Ti Saddhya Kay Karte’. But every now & then Ankush is a part of a film that has been forcefully made to be a ‘commercial entertainer’ & then Ankush becomes a strangely different actor! All his subtle charm goes away instead we see his laughable antics to project himself as a ‘hero’.

That’s exactly the case with the much awaited ‘Deva – Ek Atrangi’. Ankush’s performance in the film is as tasteless & spineless as the overall film. I haven’t seen the original Malayalam film ‘Charlie’ of which ‘Deva’ is an official remake. So I can’t judge ‘Deva’ on any other terms other than its own. To me the basic plot itself is so basic & lacking the possibility of giving birth to an entire film based on it. But again there are films that have poor plots but their treatments interest us. In case of ‘Deva’ the treatment too is as horrible as the plot.

So the film starts with introduction of a famous travel blogger turned book writer (by simply compiling her travel blogs together) ‘The Maya Deshmukh’ (as one of her “fans” call her). So ‘The Maya’ (Tejaswini Pandit) has become a sensation in the world of literature (but wait didn’t she simply write ‘travel blogs’? who cares!) every publishing house wants her to write for them. But she cannot find a subject for her new book. One of her friend says come with me to ‘Konkan’ you’ll find you’re subject. A writer going places to find a subject for her book! (who does that?)

Now Maya is staying in a house of an artist who doesn’t visit his home that often. An artist who is never shown in the film creating any of his art forms, yes its ‘Deva’. He paints he sculpts but never in front of the camera. I guess he is camera shy. So in that house ‘Maya’ finds a freshly crafted ‘graphic novel’ of sorts! One that shows how Deva befriends a thief who comes at his house at night & later goes on an adventure to rob other homes with him! (why? Because he is an ‘Atrangi’!)

Slowly Maya starts finding out ‘Deva’ helps random strangers from a beggar on the streets to a doctor (Spruha Joshi) attempting suicide! Just before the interval Maya finds out that Deva is at a lodge nearby again saving a little girl from something bad happening to her. Maya runs behind him & Deva (who knows her too) looks into the mirror smiles but doesn’t stop his jeep (why?).

Post interval the film becomes completely stationary as the plot is completely focused now at an old age home of sorts made by Deva. All characters are here & they are bonding over to create some kind of drama in the film, one that never works. But Deva isn’t present. We get it ‘Deva’ is like the dumbest metaphor for ‘God’. Who loves everyone helps everyone but doesn’t belong to any one person.

But the root this film has taken to present this metaphor is an illogical mess. Every character’s action is never powered by reason. It’s simply done to add to the legacy of ‘Deva’. We are never explained why ‘Deva’ is the way he is. What is it that made him such a person? Maybe again that would be because he is a metaphor for ‘god’. But for god’s sake god needs better metaphors & better plots revolving them.

Overall:

‘Deva’ is one of Ankush Chaudhari’s worst films till date. His performance too is plainly single toned. Even if you’re his fan it would be really difficult to like this film! Though you can still try if you want to!

The post Deva Movie Review: One of Ankush Chaudhari’s Worst Films Till Date! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Deva – Ek Atrangee(2017) | देवा – एक अतरंगी
• Producer : Pradeep Chakravorty
• Directer : Murali Nallappa
• Studio : Innovative Films, Pramod Films
• Star Cast :
  • Ankush Chaudhari as Deva
  • Tejaswini Pandit as Maya
  • Spruha Joshi
  • Dr. Mohan Agashe
  • Vaibhav Mangale
  • Pandharinath Kamble
  • Mayur Pawar
  • Reema Lagoo
  • Jaywant Wadkar
  • Vaibhav Mangle
• Story : Unni R.
• Screenplay : Unni R. , Martin Prakkat
• Dialogues : Ashwini Shende
• Lyrics : Guru Thakur, Kshitij Patwardhan
• Music : Amitraj
• Background Score : Amitraj
• Cinematography (DOP) : Vijay Mishra, Bharat R. Parthasarathy
• Editor : Sanjay Sankla
• Art Director : Naushan Menon, Subhajyoti Datta
• Costume Stylist : Prianca Jhaveri, Rohini Salekar
• Vfx : Chadan kar
• Visual Promotions : Just Right Studios
• Line Producer : Amit Kulkarni
• Creative Producer : Pratik Chakravorty
• Executive Producer : Shruti Nallappa
• Associate Producer : Nikhil Nerurkar
• Genre  : Drama
• Release Date : 22 December 2017

Synopsis : Maya Deshmukh, a new age writer, who escapes to the Konkan region to write her next novel, finds herself being drawn to the colorful story of Deva. As she sets out to explore the story of Deva, her initial intrigue soon turns into an obsession.

Deva Marathi Movie Poster / Still Photos

Deva Marathi MovieTrailer

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Zee Talkies will be showcasing 2016 blockbuster Jaun Dya Na Balasaheb on 23 April at 12 noon and 6 pm. The light hearted comedy stars Girish Kulkarni in the lead role. Dilip Prabhavalkar, Mohan Joshi, Reema Lagoo, Sai Tamhankar, Manva Naik, Bhau Kadam, Kishor Chaugule also plays the important roles in this film.

The film is based in a village, where a politician wants to make sure his son succeeds his power. However, things does not go as planned and the son becomes a rebel. What happens next will be seen in the film.

The post Jaun Dya Na Balasaheb on Zee Talkies on 23 April appeared first on MarathiStars.

The highly awaited Marathi movie post Sairat has released all over Maharashtra today. The magic of Ajay- Atul & the solid backing of Zee Studios will definitely give rise to a deserving Superstar. And that Superstar is Girish Kulkarni, the writer, director & main actor of “Jaundya Na Balasaheb”. The music of this film has already created tremendous buzz among the audiences & that will definitely result into more & more houseful shows for the film!

Jaundya Na Balasaheb intends to entertain the audience but also by telling a story & giving an important message through it. The main focus of this film is on those fake powerful individuals who are present in every village of Maharashtra. These people have no authorship whatsoever yet they keep believing that they are big stalwarts & heroes of their village or district. The character of Balasaheb is somewhat based on such people, however Balasaheb has a golden heart so he manages to break these boundaries & becomes one with people from all religions & castes.

Jaundya Na Balasaheb gives an essential message on inter & intra religious tolerance. It also shows that no matter what it’s never too late to achieve your dreams. The path to success however can be filled with obstacles & hence one needs to give away all the prejudices & be ready to face the problems on their own merit. This philosophy too has been imbibed in this film.

We are pretty sure that along with being entertained the audience will be inspired by this film positively. Jaundya Na Balasaheb is one film that can be enjoyed with the entire family & it doesn’t matter if you are from rural area or cities, it will appeal to you in any situation.

The performances of Sai Tamhankar, Mohan Joshi, Reema lagoo, Shrikant Yadav, Nandkishore Choughule, Savita Prabhune& Bhau Kadam are all fantastic & they all will make you laugh as well cry. So if you haven’t booked the tickets for Jaundya Na Balasaheb make sure you do right now!

The post Whole Maharashtra is Shouting Jaundya Na Balasaheb! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review : Jaundya Na Balasaheb (2016)
• Producer : Ajay-Atul, Poonam Shende, Vinay Ganu, Prashant Pethe and Umesh Kulkarni.
• Directer : Girish Kulkarni
• Star Cast : Girish Kulkarni, Sai Tamhankar, Mohan Joshi, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Reema, Manava Naik, Bhau Kadam, Srikant Yadav, Spruha Joshi, Kishore Chaugule, Savita Prabhune
• Writer : Girish Kulkarni
• Music : Ajay-Atul
• Genre  : Comedy, Political sattire
• Review By : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 2.5/5

Jaundya Na Balasaheb Marathi Movie Review :

No matter what it’s impossible to unlearn things you’ve already learnt. And what we learnt is that Girish Kulkarni is one of the rarest artists to have ever worked in Marathi Cinema or even Indian Cinema. As an writer-actor his filmography ranges from good, great to outstanding& nothing less than that. Sadly his directorial debut is far away from such adjectives. “Is it because Umesh took a backseat & half of Girish’s writing magic vanished?” This would be a truly idiotic question! Anyways the point is that Jaundya Na Balasaheb had tones of expectations from cinephiles like you & me. The 18 minute “Pishi” (Press Conference) got around 1 lakh views & hinted that Jaundya Na Balasaheb is going to be one hell of a ride, prominently a political satire!

Our memories are still fresh with two of Girish’s marvelous satires “Valu” & “Deool” & we start watching the film expecting Girish to outdo himself (as there is hardly anyone else in Marathi who can compete against his writing skills). We are welcomed by a truly rocking, sharply written DJ song & we start anticipating the joy ride. The film goes on smoothly as we see a depressed Balasaheb (Girish) who visits a doctor who prescribes a few medicines for Balasaheb’s heart-break. Yes Balasaheb’s wedding was called off at the very last moment (due to political reasons). Two years have gone by but he hasn’t been over it. Things move at a much slower pace than what the introductory song suggested. But the film becomes indulgent with its protagonist & allows us to enter his little world. At this moment we are enjoying it, we are expecting something larger than life in the second half. It’s tilting towards two prominent genres ‘Coming of Age’ & ‘Political Satire’ & we don’t mind.

Meanwhile a different track has been established in the first half, I don’t wish to write about it in detail as it really felt out of sync & the main cause of errors in the second half. It’s about theatre, stage, plays! Yes Balasaheb’s outlet of expression becomes theatre though a little unwillingly! Till a point we are fine with watching those rehearsals & stuff but after a while we find ourselves uneasy & restless in our seats. In this whole exercise of using theatre as a leveling medium for people from castes & religions the original theme vanishes. Everything becomes single faced & straightforwardly preachy. The climax scene in a different context or in a different film could have been genuinely hilarious but here it just depresses us.

The film has a number of cliché characters performed efficiently by good actors. To start with Mohan Joshi, Sai Tamhankar, Reema Lagoo, Nandkishore Choughule, Shrikant Yadav & the epitome is Manava Naik’s character. The film doesn’t permit anyone including Girish himself to rise above the mediocrity of the second half. The over hyped Bhau Kadam performance is probably the most forgettable in the lot. The only character that manages to create some kind of novelty factor is Savita Prabhune’s as a 35 something married woman who once dreamt to be a dancer & finally lives her dream to some extent. Nandkishore Choughule’s Jeevan (the only true literate in the group who belongs to a lower caste) could have well been utilized to much deeper impact but gets wasted.

Having said that the second half might please a huge group of audience provided they are not bored by the self-indulgent (in a good sense) first half. This was exactly the same group of audience who found Sairat’s second half (apart from the climax) ineffective. In the beginning of this year we had Sameer Patil’s Poshter Girl which had a similar (to some extent) scenario in the second half though it had much more logical plot holes it was certain about its intent throughout. In Jaundya Na Balasaheb the intent might be clear on their part but might hardly reach the commoners even if they have simplified it & have forcibly tried to give it an emotional context.

The Ajay-Atul factor has done its job (except one song titled Mona Darling) but only time will tell whether it will be sufficient to get Balasaheb through at the box office. The takeout scene of Balasaheb justifies all the problems we have had with this film, & i.e. Girish Kulkarni served us an out & out hero centric film (with a message) as main course & the rest was just added as accompaniments.

Overall:

Jaundya Na Balasaheb might appeal to a certain lot but the lot that has romanticized Girish & Umesh’s previous works will be disappointed at many levels. What this lot needs to do is still watch the film to study the uncertainty of this beautiful medium called Cinema!

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