Review: Bhaai – Vyakti Ki Valli (Part 2)
Cast: Sagar Deshmukh, Irawati Harshe, Shubhangi Damle, Vijay Kenkre, Swanand Kirkire, Ajay Purkar, Padmanabh Bind, Veena Jamkar, Sarang Sathaye, Vikram Gaikwad, Girish Kulkarni, Sunil Barve, Neena Kulkarni, Deepti Lele & others.
Director: Mahesh Manjrekar
Screenplay: Ganesh Matkari
Dialogues: Ratnakar Matkari

Quick Viewpoint: Bhaai Part 2 maintains a similar tone to the first part & overall feels like a soothing emotionally subtle take on the journey of Maharashtra’s most loved writer & a great icon.

What Works? 

• Just like in the first part Sagar Deshmukh & Irawati Harshe excel in their parts as Pu La & Sunita Bai respectively. But the standout performer of this film is Shubhangi Damle who plays the older version of Sunita Bai. She doesn’t simply look very similar to the real Sunita Bai but also creates a direct emotional connect through her subtle performance. Of course some credit in her performance also goes to Irawati Harshe as her voice has been used throughout for Sunita Bai’s character.
• The cameos are less here compared to the first part but they are even more long lasting in our mind. The most effective ones being of Neena Kulkarni as Vijaya Mehta & Vikram Gaikwad as Vijay Tendulkar. Vijay Tendulkar being an equally great writer, his sensibilities were completely opposite to that of Pu La’s & yet the film manages to understand & respect both the sides without making a competition out of it!
• Pu La’s equation with Baba Amte & his work tells us who Pu La really was as a human being. In one of the crucial moments of the film we see Sunita Bai arguing with Pu La on her decision of not having a child. The film uses the already established traits of Pu La’s character to join dots in this scene, to make us understand Pu La & Sunita Bai in an emotionally logical way!
• The musical ‘Maiphil’ that was the highlight of the first part also has a beautiful rendition in this part. Kumar Gandharva played by Swanand Kirkire is the main element in this ‘Maiphil’ & Swanand Kirkire manages to make us believe that Kumar Ji has become weaker in his old age & yet in spirit has the same passion for music & his friends.
• Balasaheb Thackeray’s ‘dictatorial’ persona has been carry forwarded from his biopic to this film! But the film knowingly presents Pu La’s side to the actual incident that happened between the two (when Pu La was awarded Maharashtra Bhushan). This & another incident with another politician visiting Pu La has been used effectively to show why Pu La was considered a socially aware writer who called a spade a spade!
• The flow of the film is again very smooth as the first part. The film shouldn’t be judged as a story oriented film because it’s more about the little moments that the film displays & while doing so it paints a very believable picture of Pu La Deshpande & the life he lived.

What Fails? 

• Girish Kulkarni’s cameo as ‘Barkya’ a character similar to ‘Babdu’ from Pu La’s ‘Vyakti Ani Valli’ just doesn’t make the necessary emotional connect with a character that originally had a very powerful & disturbing impact. Girish Kulkarni usually a very brilliant actor, here seems to be caricaturing his own self seen in some of his recent roles in films like ‘Jaundya Na Balasaheb’, ‘Faster Fene’ or the cameo in ‘Boys 2’.

Final Verdict: ‘Bhaai – Vyakti Ki Valli’ part 1 & 2 altogether stand out in the crowd of many biopic films in both Hindi & Marathi for it’s light hearted & emotionally subtle approach that both entertains & enthrals the audiences.

Rating: 4/5

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The first part of the Pu La Deshpande biopic ‘Bhaai – Vyakti Kee Valli‘ entertained the audiences thoroughly! Giving them a fun light-hearted entertainer! The second part that releases on 8th February seems more emotional as it seems to cover many serious events that happened in Pu La’s life.

The trailer also puts light on how Pu La became familiar with theatre in a big way. This was the phase where Pu La changed the history of Marathi theatre with his one man show! He is also known to be the first stand up comedian in Marathi! Though his style of stand up comedy was different than what we see now.

Along with the many legends that Pu La met in his life as shown in the first film. Here too we are introduced to many such legends like the great writer Vijay Tendulkar (Vikram Gaikwad), Bhakti Barve (Deepti Lele) & Vijaya Mehta (Madhura Velankar-Satam). Just like the first part this film too has beautiful music! Along with Sagar Deshmukh & Irawati Harshe Pu La & Sunita Bai are also played by Vijay Kendre & Shubhangi Damle in the final act of their life!

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Review: Bhaai – Vyakti Kee Valli (Purvardh)
Cast: Sagar Deshmukh, Irawati Harshe, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Padmanabh Bind, Ajay Purkar, Swanand Kirkire, Veena Jamkar, Sunil Barve, Satish Alekar, Sarang Sathaye, Deepti Lele, Sagar Talashikar, Vidyadhar Joshi & Mahesh Manjrekar
Director: Mahesh Manjrekar
Writer: Ganesh Matkari & Ratnakar Matkari

Quick Viewpoint: Bhaai – Purvardh is a refreshingly simplistic biopic. It needs to be judged in totality after the second part comes out, but as of now the first part makes us fall in love with Pu La – the human being all over again!

What Works?

• It doesn’t follow a set pattern of the three act structure & hence it ends up being very unique on narrative level. It strongly believes that no artificially added drama is required for this film, & designs itself considering the full of life personality of Pu La!
• Sagar Deshmukh is perfectly casted as Pu La & his natural sweetness makes the performance even more authentic & lovable. Irawati Harshe as Sunita Bai too is equally perfect! The actual age difference between the two actors is never evident on screen.
• Even if there isn’t any artificially created drama, there’s one emotionally solid sequence in the film that humanizes (to errr is human) the character of Bhaai as seen from Sunita Bai’s perspective.
• Mahesh Manjrekar is a brand of its own. His films usually have certain traits that have his directorial style imprinted on it. But in ‘Bhaai’ the director is invisible in a good way. The content seems to dictate the style of the film more than the director imposing his own style.
• ‘Bhaai’ has a sweet light hearted romance (of course between Pu La and Sunita Bai) like the way we used to see in the old Hrishikesh Mukherjee – Basu Chatterjee movies!
• ‘Bhaai’ focuses less on the professional career of Pu La as a writer & artist & more on his personal life & the people in his life, hence for those unfamiliar (say the non-regional audiences) with Pu La’s works it might not work as a informative film about the writer! Yet the viewer would instantly connect with the character & get interested in his antics!

What Fails?

• Not really a failure but there’s a long song where we see Kumar Gandharva (played by Swanand Kirkire), Vasantrao Deshpande (Padmanabh Bind), Bhimsen Joshi (Ajay Purkar) & Pu La performing ‘Savare Ay Jaiyyo’ & ‘Kanada Raja Pandharicha’ in an intimate personal ‘Mehfil’. This song comes by the end of the film. As audiences we are completely blown away by it, it feels like a real concert & hence it makes the narrative (before in the second half) slightly fade away from our memory. We forget we were watching a film!

Final Verdict: The second part of the film releases in February, which seems to capture the phenomenon of Pu La the famous ‘artist’ more specifically, this first part is more about Pu La – the human & his way of life. The film captures his human essence exactly in the way his humor used to be, full of life loving sweetness!

Rating: 4/5 

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• Movie : Bhaai – Vyakti Kee Valli (2019) | भाई – व्यक्ती की वल्ली
• Producer : Mahesh Manjrekar, Avinash Ahaley, Vaibhav Pandit, Mahesh Patel and Virendra Upadhye
• Directer : Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar
• Studio :Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Mahesh Manjrekar Movies
• Star Cast :
  • Sagar Deshmukh as Pu La Deshpande
  • Iravati Harshe
  • Mrunmayee Deshpande
  • Sachin Khedekar
  • Deepti Lele
  • Dalip Tahil
  • Saksham Kulkarni
• Story : NA
• Screenplay : Ganesh Matkari
• Dialogues : Ratnakar Matkari
• Music : Ajit Parab
• Lyrics : NA
• Singers : NA
• Background Music : Sameer Mhatre
• Cinematography (DOP) : Karan B. Rawat
• Editor : Abhijeet Deshpande
• Art Director : Prashant Rane
• Action Director : NA
• Costume : Prutha Manjrekar
• Make-Up : Vikram Gaikwad
• Choreography : NA
• DI and Sound : Vikrant Studios Pvt Ltd
• Mixing Engineer (Vikrant Studios) : S. K. Agarwal
• DI Colorist (Vikrant Studios) : Nirmal Sharma
• Visual Promotion : Just Right Studioz NX
• Creative Producer : Amol Parchure
• Associate Director : Sudesh Manjrekar
• Group CEO and Managing Director (Viacom18 Motion Pictures) : Sudhanshu Vats
• COO (Viacom18 Motion Pictures) : Ajit Andhare
• Business Head (Viacom18 Motion Pictures) : Nikhil Sane
• Sales and Distribution (Viacom18 Motion Pictures) : Neeraj Goswamy
• Revenues International (Viacom18 Motion Pictures) : Gayatri Gulati
• Executive Producer (Viacom18 Motion Pictures) : Vishakha Joshi
• Marketing (Viacom18 Motion Pictures) : Kishor Varma, Sneha Shrikant
• Genre  : Drama
• Release Date : 4th January 2019

Synopsis : The film is based on the life of Purushottam Lakshman Deshpande popularly known by his initials “Pu. La.” or as P. L. Deshpande, a Marathi writer and humorist from Maharashtra, India. The film chronicles the multifaceted life of the stalwart Marathi writer with unparalleled talent and ability to connect with the common man through his narrative style Katha Kathan.

Bhaai – Vyakti Kee Valli Marathi Movie Poster / Still Photos

Bhaai – Vyakti Kee Valli Marathi Movie Teaser 1 :

Bhaai – Vyakti Kee Valli Marathi Movie Teaser 2 :

Bhaai – Vyakti Kee Valli Marathi Movie Trailer :

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Bhai – Vyakti Kee Valli, the Pu La Deshpande biopic directed by Mahesh Manjrekar has created a new record even before hitting the theatres! While we have had sequels in Marathi cinema, but it’s the first time in Marathi cinema that a film will be releasing in two parts in the same time period. The first part of ‘Bhai – Vyakti Kee Valli’ – Purvardh will be releasing on 4th January 2019 & the next part will release after a month on 8th February!

Popular film critic turned screenwriter Ganesh Matkari who has written the screenplay of ‘Bhaai..’ revealed that it wasn’t decided from the beginning that the film will release in two parts but they had the idea that the length of the film would be longer. Later the decision of releasing the film in two parts was taken by the team of the film that also includes the production house ‘Viacom 18 Motion Pictures’ who are presenting the film.

Interestingly the last Indian film that was released in two parts ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ was also presented by ‘Viacom 18 Motion Pictures’! The makers took this decision as they didn’t want to omit any chapter from Pu La’s life! Pu La fans too will be treated with two films on Pu La that too back to back within the period of one month!

Along with that ‘Bhaai..’ is also the first Indian ‘biopic’ film to be released in two parts! With this decision one thing can be said about Marathi cinema that it believes in it’s content so much that it can break general norms associated with the genre of that film! Sagar Deshmukh will be seen playing Pu La in the film & there are many other actors in important roles in the film.

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Maharashtra’s most loved writer, a cultural icon Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, aka Pu La Deshpande aka P.L. Deshpande aka Bhaai will soon be re-appearing on the silver screen! Just like his so many names Pu La had many talents! From being a writer, humorist, actor, dramatist, musician & beyond all an individual full of joy who brought joy to everyone who came in contact with him!

The Pu La Deshpande biopic is now all set to hit theatres this new year in 2019 on 4th Jan! Written by Ratnakar Matkari & Ganesh Matkari, directed by Mahesh Manjrekar & starring Sagar Deshmukh as Pu La along with a brigade of 70 other actors from Iravati Harshe, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Sachin Khedekar, Deepti Lele, Dalip Tahil, Saksham Kulkarni & others.

The interesting news is that this biopic will be released in two parts! The first part ‘Bhaai – Vyakti Kee Valli – Purvardh‘ is releasing on 4th of Jan 2019 & the second part will be releasing on 8th February! The trailer of the first part suggests us that the journey from Pu La’s childhood, to his younger days & the time when he got married would be covered in this!

The highlight of this trailer is the relationship between Pu La & Sunita Bai! While Sunita Bai is known as the lifelong partner of Pu La, there’s some complexity in Pu La’s married life as evident in the trailer! Not many people must be knowing about it & hence it would be interesting to see it unfold in the film!

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• Review : Ziprya
• Producer : Ranjeet Darekar
• Director : Kedar Vaidya
• Screenplay : Kedar Vaidya
• Star Cast : Chinmay Kambli, Amruta Subhash, Prathamesh Parab, Hansraj Jagtap, Saksham Kulkarni & Praveen Tarde
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 2/5

Ziprya Review (Marathi Movie):

Based on a novel of an acclaimed Marathi writer ‘Arun Sadhu’, ‘Ziprya’ is a film that manages to only give little glimpses of the actual world the story was set in. Firstly the film has no understanding of a cinematic structure in the screenplay. It feels abrupt from the beginning & ends on even more abrupt note.

There’s something inherently connectable about films that manage to capture the essence of Mumbai’s actual heart. It all started with one of the finest films ever made anywhere, Mira Nair’s ‘Salaam Bombay’ to the recent Rajnikant epic ‘Kaala’ & many films in between. But then by default these films don’t become great just because of the subject! There’s a whole lot of expertise required to be perfected especially in this genre.

One of it is acting. Acting is not just connected to the talent of an actor but also to the choices they make along with the director, the choice of casting & finally the overall effect of all of it on the backdrop of the film. There’s just not enough coherence here in the overall effect. Amruta Subhash as ‘Leela’ looks a straight miscast playing the elder sister of ‘Ziprya’. Some scenes seem so serial-like & never remind us of the harsher reality on which they are based.

The original novel was published in 1990 but was set in the late 70s to early 80s. Now this film is clearly set in today’s times. But still we see a Amitabh Bachchan fanboy (Aslam played by Prathamesh Parab) reciting dialogues from ‘Deewar’ (1975). While on the other hand he also mentions Salman Khan! None of the main characters behave like they belong in today’s times. We see the kids selling mobile covers, but we never see them using a mobile!

Ziprya (Chinmay Kambli) and his boot polish gang do not create any emotional connection with the audiences, mainly because they never seem like real characters. The background score & the songs don’t help here, instead keep us even more distant from them. Still the only clear positive of the film is the locations where the film is shot. This is unfiltered Mumbai! If the makers managed to shoot at such real locations, more work on the script could have easily made ‘Ziprya’ an effective experience.

The performances in the film are not bad when looked individually but as said earlier the effect isn’t coherent in the context of the overall film. Prathamesh Parab’s ‘Aslam’ is made the centre of attention by the end of the film, for no real reason. Maybe the only logical explanation to this is that since Aslam was played by the most popular actor in the cast! Throughout it’s Parab’s performance that irritates us the most, we have seen him do the same thing so many times now!

Chinmay Kambli who plays Ziprya was earlier seen in the extremely effective feel good film about ‘farmer suicides’, ‘Jhing Chik Jhing’. He was very effective back then as a child artist, not now. Saksham Kulkarni’s performance is the only one that makes some impact on us, but sadly his character is left in between the film, & then suddenly brought back later.

It has been proved countless times before, that a highly relevant subject doesn’t process itself into a highly relevant film by default & it’s proved again. It needs better cinematic understanding & an approach to get precise performances from the cast.

Overall:

It’s an easier choice to make between ‘Ziprya’ the novel & ‘Ziprya’ the film for the audiences who really are excited by the idea & premise of this story.

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Some writers have such a great following that their works represent a complete generation of our culture. Arun Sadhu was one such writer in Marathi literature. His novels like ‘Sinhasan’, ‘Mumbai Dinank’ & ‘Ziprya’ have become immortal in Marathi culture. So ever since the news of a film based on ‘Ziprya’ novel was out audiences were excited.

Now the trailer is out & the film looks like a good enough adaptation of the novel. While the original story was based in Mumbai a few decades earlier, this film seems to have converted it to today’s times. Sadly even now the state of Mumbai is no different. In fact, the story has become even more relevant in today’s times, as the people living in slums & on the footpaths have only increased in number.

The film stars known faces like Amruta Subhash, Prathamesh Parab & Pravin Tarde along with other new actors too, who look convincing in their part. The film is set to release in theatres on 22^nd June in theatres all over Maharashtra. After a long time, we will see a film in theatres which showcases the reality of Mumbai & tells the story of the poor & the downtrodden.

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• Movie : Ziprya (2018) | झिपऱ्या
• Producer : Ranjeet Darekar
• Director : Kedar Vaidya
• Studio : Deevas Productions and A R D Productions
• Star Cast :
  • Prathamesh Parab
  • Amruta Subhash
  • Chinmay Kambli
  • Saksham Kulkarni
  • Hansraj Jagtap
  • Aman Attar
  • Devansh Deshmukh
  • Nachiket Purnapatre
  • Vimal Mhatre
  • Deepak Karanjikar
  • Pravin Tarde
• Story : Arun Sadhu
• Screenplay and Dialogue : Kedar Vaidya
• Singer : Divya Kumar and Shekhar Ravjiani
• Lyrics : Abhishekh Khankar and Sameer Samant
• Music : Sameer Saptiskar and Troy-Arif
• Background Music : Taufiq Qureshi
• Cinematography (DOP) : Rajesh Nadone
• Editor : Devendra Murdeshwar
• Art Director : Vinayak Katkar
• Sound Design : Anmol Bhave
• Make-up : Vidyadhar Bhatte
• Co-Producer : Atharva Pawar Creations
• Presenter : Ashwini Ranjeet Darekar
• Choreography : Umesh Jadhav
• Action : Abbas Ali Moghal
• Project Head : Hemant Bankar
• Creative Director : Hemant Bankar and Ashwini Darekar
• DI : Prasad Film Labs
• Publicity Design : Sachin Gurav
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 22nd June 2018

Synopsis : This film seems to have converted it to today’s times. Sadly even now the state of Mumbai is no different. In fact, the story has become even more relevant in today’s times, as the people living in slums & on the footpaths have only increased in number.

Ziprya Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Ziprya Marathi Movie Teaser/Trailer :

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Teaser of the upcoming movie Ziprya was released recently to a great response. The film, based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by celebrated Marathi writer Ziprya, has been directed by Jedar Vaidya. It has been produced by RD Productions and Divas Production and presented by Ashwini Ranjit Darekar.

You might have spotted little children polishing boots outside railway stations. These kids who should have ideally been in school, work day in and day out just to buy food enough to satisfy their hunger. The film has attempted to draw up an empathetic picture of these unfortunate lot.

Well, the film isn’t all cry, though. There’s also a joyful song in which they gaily sing, ‘Hum Woh Jute Hain, Jo Zameen Pe Hote Hain, Par Taare Choote Hain’.

The screenplay has been adapted from the novel by the director Kedar Vaidya. Chinmay Kambli, Prathamesh Parab, Saksham Kulkarni, Amruta Subhash, Aman Attar, Devansh Deshmukh, Nachiket Purnapatre will be seen in prominent roles in the film. Samir Saptiskar and Troy – Arif have composed music for the film and Samir Samant have penned the lyrics. The camera department has been helmed by Rajesh Nadane and Umesh Jadhav has choreographed the dances.

Meanwhile, Jhiprya has been honoured with 3 awards at the Maharashtra State Awards for Editing (Devendra Murdeshwar), Art Direction (Vinayak Katkar) and Make-up (Prakash Nimkar).

The film will be releasing all over Maharashtra on 22nd June.

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