• Review :  FU – Friendship Unlimited (2017)
• Producer : Mahesh Manjrekar
• Director : Mahesh Manjrekar
• Star Cast :
• Aakash Thosar, Satya Manjrekar, Shubham Kirodian, Mayuresh Pem, Pawandeep, Vaidehi Parshurami, Sanskruti Balgude, Isha Koppikar, Boman Irani, Mahesh Manjrekar, Medha Manjrekar, Chetan Hansraj, Kashmira Shah, Anand Ingle, Bharti Achrekar, Madhav Deochake, Sharad Ponkshe, Sachin Khedekar, Ashwini Ekbote, Radhika Vidyasagar
• Writer : Abhijeet deshpande
• Music : Vishal Mishra & Sameer Saptiskar
• Review By : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 1/5

FU Marathi Movie Review :

That frame from Sairat where our hero ‘Parshya’ jumps straight into the water from the boat to catch a glimpse of ‘Aarchi’ gave us goosebumps! We couldn’t stop ourselves from whistling in the theatre! And rightfully so! Nagraj Manjule introduced us to this new form of ‘Hero’ who post the success of Sairat became an icon! Aakash Thosar became an household name. His second film too was hugely anticipated. But director Mahesh Manjrekar’s attempt to present Aakash in a brand new urban dude avatar has failed miserably in ‘FU’. 

Not once but countless times his English dialogues in the film sound forced & unnatural. And most importantly they keep inducing unintentional humour. However it doesn’t mean this is FU’s biggest flaw. It’s one of the many flaws that this film possess. FU suffers from the very basic stage of having a connective plot that uses the story & screenplay elements to give us the feel of an interlinked collection of situations & incidents, the basic form of a film! 

The first half is a pointless collage of shameless gimmicks. For example there’s this specific ‘Gachhi’ scene which seems to be forcefully added to justify the ‘Gachhi’ song sung by Salman Khan. This scene is so pitiful that even a Kashmera Shah’s body exposure feels tragic, out of place & outright disgusting. Many such scenes must have been made to induce humour but all they manage to induce is boredom.  

The Songs of FU are a different topic altogether. The audience loves songs? Don’t they? So they’ve forcefully included around 12-14 songs in the film! But not even a single manages to please us. It’s not necessary for a film that calls itself a “Musical” so many songs & that too when there aren’t any situations in the film to have so many songs. Films like Sairat, Jogwa have been called musicals with the presence of mere 4-5 songs. 

Now let’s move towards the most unfortunate, miserable part of FU, the conflict. There three basic plots that involve three male characters from the film. But the problem is that none of the plots appear to be the main cobflict, they all appear like side plots. One is Aakash’s love story with Vaidehi Parashurami, another is Satya Manjrekar’s’s infatuation with his professor Isha Koppikar & the third belongs to the character ‘Mak’ played by Shubham Kirodian. Aakash & Vaidehi’s love story is pointless from the word go. Satya’s conflict is even worse, where at a point the film crosses all boundaries of sanity & romanticizes hooliganism with a terrifying sound design & background score. The third involving ‘Mak’ did have a possibility to make sense. Sanskruti Balgude plays Mak’s girlfriend, one who secretly only uses Mak but loves someone else. But then Sanskruti realizes her mistake & the whole plot excersise becomes pointless. 

None of the above mentioned actors shine whatsoever though Vaidehi Parashurami holds her ground to some extent, but her character is so underdeveloped & logic defying that most of it goes in vain. Apart from this Mayuresh Pem stands out among the male cast for his sheer talent of performing well no matter what the plot-scene-dialogues are! 

Mahesh Manjrekar is one of the most respected filmmakers in Marathi. And even beyond Marathi, the man that gave an era defining film like ‘Vaastav’. It’s both shocking & sad to see a film like ‘FU’ from him at this stage of his career. 

Overall:

FU is a film that takes its audience from granted, & in today’s times it’s a unforgivable sin.

The post FU Movie Review: FU takes the Audience for Granted appeared first on MarathiStars.

Thank God! That’s what we said after watching FU Trailer (Friendship Unlimited trailer). First of all, it is not a love story of school-going kids. Second, the story is set in current era and not in the backdrop of 70s or 80s. The film has huge expectations since beginning as it stars Sairat star Akash Thosar in the lead role. The trailer is very fresh and not unlike many Marathi films. If Sairat was all about rural youth, FU takes a completely different turn and defines urban youth in a playful way.

Akash looks very convincing as an urban college youth. His look brings out a stylish yet simple persona very charmingly. As the name suggests it is a story of college friends who think nothing can set them apart. Apart from Akash and Satya, the gang of friends includes Mayuresh Pem, Pawandeep and Shubham Kirodian. The film has a definitely very big star cast including Sharad Ponkshe, Sachin Khedekar, Boman Irani, Madhav Deochakke, Bharati Achrekar, Anand Ingle, Isha Koppikar, Chetan Hasraj and Mahesh Manjrekar. The female lead has been taken care by glamorous girls like Sanskruti Balgude and Vaidehi Parshurami. The film also has sizzling diva Kashmira Shah in a very important role.

The trailer is very colorful and very smartly edited. It gives us a glimpse of the story, at the same time makes some interesting points about the film. The music by Sameer Saptiskar and Vishal Mishra is already topping the charts.

The film promises us a complete entertainer with some cracking performances by the lead cast. Do  not forget to watch this college romance comedy in the theatres on 2 June all over Maharashtra.

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Salman Khan has sung a Gachhi Marathi song for Mahesh Manjrekar’s new youth-centric film “FU (Friendship Unlimited)” The song is composed by Sameer Saptiskar and along with Salman Khan, Vishal Mishra has lent his vocals for the song. The tune of the song is very much similar to old classic song “Pancchi Banoo Udti Firoo”. Salman Khan’s voice is very great to listen!

However, the song has some witty and double-meaning lyrics. Sachin Pathak has given some catchy lines for the song. The song has been picturized on Akash Thosar, Satya Manjrekar, Vaidehi Parshurami, Sanskruti Balgude and Kashmira Shah. Kashmira looks absolutely gorgeous in this song. The dance moves are very simple and Akash and Satya follow them perfectly. We loved glamerous look of Vaidehi and Sanskruti. Girls are already waiting for this film as this will be second film of Akash. Akash was last seen in Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat as male lead Parashya.

The film is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and produced by T-Series.

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The success of Bahubali films has redefined the whole of Indian cinema. Suddenly regional cinema is getting ready to create big budget films that can be enjoyed all around the nation. Even Sairat was a similar film that had an impact all around India.

Now after Bahubali, another warrior king is getting a film that’ll be made on a huge budget of over 225 Crores! Yes and that warrior king is Maharashtra Great King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj! We all have been anticipating Riteish Deshmukh & Ravi Jadhav’s collaboration for this film from a long time.

Bollywood filmmaker & a dear friend of Riteish Deshmukh, Ram Gopal Varma recently tweeted about this 225 Crores budget news! In a series of tweets ‘Satya’ & ‘Sarkar’ fame director explains why he thinks this film on the great Shivaji Maharaj will be even bigger & better than Bahubali.

“Shivaji’s story has more heroism and drama than Bahubali and he was real unlike Bahubali which will make it a more thrilling experience.”

– Ram Gopa lVarma

However nothing official has been confirmed by Riteish Deshmukh or Ravi Jadhav. But, if the film is released on a big scale by dubbing in Hindi & other languages then possibility of such a huge budget cannot be ruled out.

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Yes Salman Khan is currently on the ‘Gachhi’ & he is waiting for someone to come up. No it’s not his new film as an actor, but an iconic Marathi song that he sang in the Marathi musical ‘FU – Friendship Unlimited‘. Samir Saptiskar who previously had a college group band called ‘SAY’ that had created this song ‘Gachhi’ along with many other songs like ‘Breakup Ke Baad’ which became hugely popular among the young audiences back then.

Now Samir has reprised his iconic ‘Gachhi’ song for ‘FU’ with none other than Salman Khan. Ever since the news came out that Salman has sung a song in FU’s album everyone was curious & excited. Finally the song is out & it’s a treat to listen Salman’s version of ‘Gachhi’.

Aakash Thosar starrer & Mahesh Manjrekar directorial ‘FU’ has a wholesome & a diverse soundtrack, songs of different genres & their different version which include different Marathi & Hindi version. Two different jukeboxes are out on YouTube. Some of the songs are composed by Vishal Mishra & some by Samir Saptiskar. Singers include Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Avdhoot Gupte, Prajakta Shukre, Benny Dayal, Sukhwinder Singh, Neeti Mohan & Jonita Gandhi, Mahesh Manjrekar & of course Salman Khan. Moreover Salman Khan’s friend Iulia Vantur has sang a song too.

Salman’s ‘Gachhi’ song is included in the Jukebox 2 of FU’s music album on Youtube.

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• Review : Dhyanimani (2017)
• Producer : Aniruddha Deshpande & Medha Manjrekar
• Director : Chandrakant Kulkarni
• Star Cast : Mahesh Manjrekar, Ashvini Bhave, Abhijeet Khandekar, Mrunmayee Deshpande
• Writer : Prashant Dalvi
• Music : Ajit Parab
• Review By : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 2.5/5

Dhyanimani Marathi Movie Review :

In the 70s & 80s Marathi theatre scene flourished like never before or after. Vijay Tendulkar was the pioneer of this change. The commercial stage did exist (before 70s) just as merrily as it has been throughout, but Tendulkar & a few others brought realism & experimental theatre in the mainstream specifically in that era. Some of these playwrights functioned till the 90s but most of them didn’t. The golden era diminished more sooner than expected. But then entered Prashant Dalvi in the early 90s, Dalvi was probably the most important playwright of the 90s who announced himself both on the commercial & experimental theatre scene. ‘Dhyanimani’ directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni was one such play of Dalvi. One of his most successful commercial play, a play that was readily accepted by the conventional audiences too.

So when today the film is being promoted as strictly for “serious” audiences it makes us curious. To put it this way, this film would still appeal more impactfully to the conventional Marathi audiences then specifically “serious” audiences. Today in the Internet era the serious audiences are getting exposed to cinema of all kind from all over the globe. An eyebrow raising “bold” moment in a film might no longer be the shock element. A serious audience demands more unique cinematic discoveries rather than just an impactful story. Rather the treatment is the king today more excitingly than the story. Dhyanimani doesn’t really succeed in providing us that!  

But thanks to the original soul infused by Prashant Dalvi ‘Dhyanimani’ is a decent watch. The performances too by Mahesh Manjrekar & Ashwini Bhave are good enough to make the film compelling. The story is simple; a middle aged couple, not blessed with a child, figure out other ways to live a happily married & complete life. The first half introduces us to the suspenceful other ways. The film expects us to really be shocked by it, needlessly by using loud suspenseful background music. 

Throughout the promotions the ‘Dhyanimani’ team has been stressing that it’s difficult to categorize this film to a specific genre. It’s true in one way because just after the interval comes a moment where we are pleasantly in an awkward “what now?” mind space. Sadly the happenings that follow aren’t strong enough to really give us that mental stimulation. Having said that for theatre lovers ‘Dhyanimani’ can just be the right film, while some of them would argue that this should have stayed a play. 

Prashant Dalvi’s three important plays; ‘Chahool’, ‘Charchoughi’ & of course ‘Dhyanimani’ belonged to the changing times of urban India. They do have subtle remarks on our societal incompetence to match up with these changes. In a play, many of these subtle remarks can be given away symbolically but in a film they needed a different treatment. We all know how ‘personal’ can transform into ‘universal’ if it connects with the audience. Unfortunately the personal trauma that this middle aged couple are going through couldn’t be transformed into universal.

The climax of this film is a major error. Trying to make ‘sense’ out of it on moral grounds is a real test of our interpretative & analytical skills. Even after investing that much effort do we come up with an acceptable justification? Not really. Though Chandrakant Kulkarni is a true-hearted director, he could have worked harder on the visual appeal of the film. Mahesh Manjrekar has given us a few intense moments but in some scenes he is unintentionally funny. And well Ashwini Bhave has essayed her most challenging role that we are aware of. She is decent but not quite haunting as her character wanted her to be.

Overall:

Serious or not if you belong to a group of audiences who love a bit melodramatic suspenseful Marathi entertainment. And yes if you’re not expecting a song & dance film, you should definitely go for ‘Dhyanimani’!

The post Dhyanimani Review: Thought Provoking but Mistreated & Loud! appeared first on MarathiStars.

On the occasion of an upcoming release ‘Dhyanimani’ we got the opportunity to ask one of India’s boldest filmmaker & a free spirited soul Mahesh Manjrekar a few questions regarding acting, directing & everything in between!

What drives you to choose a project as an actor/producer?

Well to talk about this (Dhyanimani) subject specifically, I actually wanted to direct it. Even while producing this play (in 1993) I thought of it as a film. So when I entered the film line I always wanted to make this film & I also wrote the screenplay for it. I decided at some point I’ll ask Chandu (Chandrakant Kulkarni) & Prashant (Dalvi) about it. But then they said, they’ve written the screenplay & they want to do it themselves. I said fine. Anyhow, I wanted this film to be made. The subject itself is so off-beat that it’s difficult to categorize it in a specific genre. In a way it’s a thriller, a suspense film & has an emotional impact but beyond that it has its own USP, a shock element to it.

From ‘Kshitij’ A Doordarshan serial to ‘Rege’ many of your roles have become immortal. How would you specify your approach to acting? Are you a method actor?

When I did ‘Kshitij’ the stigma of ‘Leprosy’ was huge. One spot of Leprosy could destroy a man’s life. Actually, one type of Leprosy was curable (the other type wasn’t). But otherwise too it wasn’t infectious. That was a very important serial in my life, I was also the writer of it. I was extremely proud of it & I felt it was ahead of its time.

Even your performance in ‘Kaante’ was ahead of its time.

In case of ‘Kaante’ all others were heroes & I got to play a guy who’s a drug peddler. So I did my homework. I asked the director if he’s using sync sound. So when he said yes. I decided to use the ‘stammer’ & the director agreed. I still feel that everyone performed really well but I stood out because of my ‘stammer’. I did it because I felt that suited the madness of that character.

This role (in Dhyanimani) seems to be a difficult role to play, emotionally. Does it affect you personally?

I never take my role home. I am not a “Method Actor”. I don’t have that much patience. When the director says ‘Action’ I am into the role & the moment he says ‘Cut’ I am out of it!

Many Marathi plays are being adapted for the screen. What about other Marathi literature?

Look, there’s a reason to it. It’s a simple human psychology. In case of other literature one needs to read & create the images on his own. A filmmaker is subconsciously lured by plays because he’s already seen it. Now ‘Kakpsarsh’ was based on a work of literature. But for that Girish Joshi worked hard on it & gave it a visual form which helped me as a director.

So do we need more professional screenwriters?

I feel we have very few good screenwriters. Every day I get phone calls that they’ve written Oscar-winning scripts! If you read them they are pathetic, but in their own mind, it’s a masterpiece. Film line is the most abused line. If you can’t do anything in your life, you decide to be a director! All these so called writers & directors are in plenty today, whereas a good writer has no value. I think the most well-paid profession should be of writers.

You’ve implied a bold “Baghu Naka” marketing strategy for Dhyanimani. This should inspire others.

I don’t know about others. But I’ll tell you why I did this. See I am also doing another song & dance film. So I would readily invite the audience who likes that kind of cinema. In that case, if you’re expecting something thought provoking you should avoid it. I trust the audience. If you give anything good it has its own audience. There’s a song & dance audience & there’s serious film’s audience. But when the song & dance film lovers come to watch a serious film, they ridicule it. This results in negative word of mouth which is unfair to the film. These audiences might even distract (the popcorn & stuff) the serious film watchers watching the film.

What is your equation working with Chandu Sir (Chandrakant Kulkarni)? Does the director in you come in between your work as an actor?

Never, but I can discuss with Chandu since he has done theater. In other cases, I prefer the ‘supply according to demand’ philosophy. I am being paid to do exactly what the director wants me to do. I never think too much of it. But with Chandu it’s a different scenario. I share my vision with him. There’s scope for discussion & we come to common grounds. However the last word will always belong to Chandrakant Kulkarni. Actually if we observe there’s no other director around who works with his actors so wonderfully.

Nana Patekar said in an interview that he wants to play ‘Sakharam Binder’ in a film directed by you. What are your thoughts?

I said this to Nana that actually I am not convinced about it. Nothing against ‘Sakharam Binder’, it’s definitely a milestone play written by Vijay Tendulkar. The problem is I can’t see Nana as ‘Sakharam Binder’. I don’t doubt his acting skills, we all know he can absolutely smash it as an actor. The problem is his godly image in the hearts of the people. With his recent works as ‘Dr. Prakash Amte’, ‘Natsamrat’ & his actual work for ‘NAM Foundation’ he has reached an iconic status. His image will affect the film. I don’t think the audiences would like Nana playing a womanizer. They respect him a lot. However, I would definitely want to work on a different film with Nana. As a director, I am obviously greedy to work with a great actor like Nana Patekar again. That film has to be eye popping but it shouldn’t be something in which people won’t accept Nana in.

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Dhyanimani, a film starring Ashwini Bhave in the lead role will be releasing on 10 February. The film has started an innovative marketing campaign where celebrities are requesting the audience to not to watch the film. This is a new strategy by the makers of the film as it creates an anticipation and curiosity about the film.

The celebrities like Amitabh Bacchan and Salman Khan have already tweeted urging audience not to watch Dhyani mani. Marathi film industry actors like Jitendra Joshi, Subodh Bhave, Priya Bapat, Pushkar Shroitri Sachin Khedekar, Bhau Kadam, Amruta Khanvilkar, Sanjay Jadhav, Sandeep Pathak, Anand Ingle, Sanskruti Balgude, Vaidehe Parshurami, Pooja Sawant and Akash Thosar have published a video saying to watch this film. Such negative publicity will help to create awareness of the film and will make audience to know more about the film, said the publicity experts. Here are these videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vk2otqHOI
The film is produced by Mahesh Majrekar and directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni. The film stars Ashwini BHave, Mahesh Manjrekar, Abhijeet Khandekar and Mrunmayee Deshpande.

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Yes! You read it right! There is a film happening on the most loved king of Maharashtra – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. And the biggest star of Bollywood currently – Salman Khan – will be playing a role in it. It is not going to be just a guest appearance but a role of significant length. In a recent interaction with the media, Salman said that he has shot for a good 4-5 days for the film.

Also See : Ravi Jadhav to direct Riteish Deshmukh’s ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji’

Riteish Deshmukh would be producing the film. It is going to be a big budget film and no compromises are going to be made in anyway. The star director of Marathi cinema – Ravi Jadhav – would be directing it.

Salman had recently mentioned that he is interested in acting in Marathi films and was waiting for a suitable role. Now, with his role in the Shivaji film being confirmed, Salman has lived up to his word!

Needless to mention, this news has caused ripples in the film world. Salman’s fans would be waiting with bated breath for the first look of the film now!

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‘Chala Hawa Yeu Dya’ is undoubtedly the most popular program on Marathi TV. The concept, the writing and the brilliant performances has the whole of Maharashtra rolling with laughter.

It has grown from strength to strength and the biggest indication of its popularity has been that it is the chosen mode of promotion for Bollywood, now, as well. Even King Khan has chosen to come on the show to promote his film Fan. Others from Bollywood like John Abraham and Sonam Kapoor have also turned up on the show to plug their films.

Now, Salman Khan – the Bollywood star with the biggest pull to the cinema halls – has also found it necessary to market his film on Chala Hawa Yeu Dya. He will be seen promoting his upcoming Eid release Sultan at the fictional ‘Thukratwadi’ on 4th and 5th July at 9:30pm.

‘Maine Try Kiya’
Salman Khan debuted in Hindi cinema with the hit film Maine Pyaar Kiya. As is the custom of the villagers of Thukratwadi, the film has been hilariously parodied in a skit called Maine Try Kiya. Bhau Kadam has played Prem and Shreya Bugde has played the character Suman. Salman Khan was in splits after seeing this skit.

‘Baap Ki Adaalat’
Salman was made to stand as an accused in Thukratwadi’s Baap Ki Adaalat and many comic accusations were made on him. Salman, too, was up to it and answered all the accusations to hilarious effect. The entry of Kushal Badrike as the lawyer had every one rolling on the floor with laughter.

Salman & Sultan

Many funny incidents from the sets of the film were shared by Salman. He also threw some light on the condition of the sport of wrestling on which the film is based on. The hardwork he took for preparing himself for the role of a wrestler, the direction and screenplay of the film, was what he spoke about.

Salman’s Marathi Avatar
The biggest attraction of the show has to be the marathi Salman spoke in the show. His mother is a Maharashtrian and he follows Marathi almost completely. He has tried his best to speak in Marathi as far as possible. Salman also shook a leg on the party anthem of this year ‘Zingaat’ and ‘Shantabai’ on the insistence of the artistes.

With Salman in full form the episode is going to be one of the most entertaining one. It will be telecast on the coming Monday and Tuesday at 9:30pm on Zee Marathi.

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