• Review : Ubuntu (2017) 
• Producer : Pushkar Sudhakar Shrotri
• Director : Pushkar Sudhakar Shrotri
• Star Cast : Shashank Shendye, Sarang Sathaye as Mastar
• Umesh Jagtap, Bhagyashree Shankpal, Kanha Bhave, Atharva Padhye, Arati More, Shubham Pawa, Arya Hadkar
• Original Story : Bhalchandra Kubal
• Story : Pushkar Shrotri
• Music : Kaushal Inamdar
• Review By : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 2/5

Ubuntu Marathi Movie Review :

‘Ubuntu’ is a difficult film to review. It’s technically well crafted, it has good actors in important roles, a universal theme, & an equally universal title but! And this ‘but’ is very disheartening. There are many inter-connected, disconnected issues that altogether add up to become this ‘but’. I’ll try to justify a few of them.

Number one; the relevance of this story in today’s time! Yes it’s understandable that even today many villages in Maharashtra don’t have schools within their village. Yes children still travel a few kms everyday. But here’s the point, in today’s times ‘8 km’ is not really that far. Especially when the film has already established that the village is well connected with public transport. So why is it portrayed as a disastrous scenario for these kids to travel that much distance to a different village, when their school shuts down?

Number two; There are about 15-18 children who are regularly attending this school, all of them belonging to different age-groups! Yes not even different ages but age-groups! Fine, but how does the teacher deal with that? The first half tries to get into the smallest of details while teaching ‘Geography’ but doesn’t feel the need to explain, why is the teacher (Sarang Sathaye) teaching the very same thing to kids of different ages? (I mean different age-groups.) Later one of the elder girls (Bhagyashree Shankpal) talks about her wish to appear for SSC next year! How can she be prepared for it? If she’s still learning what kids half her age are learning? I am almost convinced that saving this school is pointless! These kids need to be educating in a bigger school!

Number three; the bad guys! In all there are two important baddies here! One is of course the ‘Sarpanch’ (Shashank Shende) of the village. There was a time when it was impossible to even think of making a Marathi film without an evil ‘Sarpanch’ but most of the times it was fun to watch Nilu Bhau (Phule) in all his glory doing such roles! The thing is, that ‘Sarpanch’ used to be evil throughout! He wasn’t a spineless character who can change in a fraction of seconds (literally) at the end of the film & become a completely different man! Here he does! This sudden change also occurs in a converse way (I mean from good to bad) with our second baddie! Abdul’s ‘Mama’ (Umesh Jagtap) (Abdul is this very very bright kid, around whom the whole second half revolves). And this change is not even showed or explained to us! Maybe the film believes that some characters change, just because you don’t give them enough screen time! 

Number four; is it all about Abdul? The title of our review! The second half is like a bagful of countless little flaws which are almost impossible to remember. But overall the whole existence of this second half is a basic flaw! I shouldn’t reveal the plot here. But let’s say that saving this school relies completely on this one kid Abdul (Atharva Padhye)! Abdul due to some circumstances had to leave this school & shift to Sangli (a city). And then the elder girl (Shankpal) & the youngest kid (Kanha Subodh Bhave) travel to Sangli to bring him back! Well because he’s the smartest kid! And the rest of the kids can’t..(that would be a spoiler). But let’s just consider this, the film does imply that he’s the only smart kid in this school. Then what is the point for the rest of the kids to still continue learning in this very school? Again isn’t it pointless to save the school?

You might think this review is a bit harsh on the film. But try to understand that the setting was really good, the craft was even better! Then why shouldn’t the makers (Pushkar Shrotri & his team) consider basic logical reasoning before making such a passion project?

Overall:

Anyways I still feel that there might be a fair number of audiences who can forgive all these logical errors (rather they might not recognize them at all) & enjoy a bit of school nostalgia & come out of the theatres averagely satisfied! If you think you’re one of them do watch the film!

The post Ubuntu Review: Suffers From the ‘Bad Second Half Syndrome’! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Pushkar Shrotri is one of the most talented actors who’s been working in Marathi industry from a long time. Ever since he announced that he is turning a director with ‘Ubuntu‘ we all have been excited. Now the trailer of this film is finally out. The film stars Sarang Sathaye & a bunch of talented kids that also includes ‘Balak Palak’ fame Bhagyashree Shankpal.

The first thing we notice in this trailer is the exception work done by the technical team of this film. Both visuals & sound seem to be high class & helps us in making the world in the film very authentic. Sarang Sathaye is a talented actor who hasn’t been utilised much before, ‘Ubuntu’would turn up to be an important film for him.

The importance of education seems to be the basic conflict of the film. But the way this trailer introduces us to learning seems very fun, subjects like Science & Geography could well be thought in this fun way is new for all of us! But what exactly does ‘Ubuntu’ mean? For that we have to wait for the film’s release!

The post Ubuntu Trailer (Marathi Movie): A Film That Propagates The Essentiality of ‘Education for All’! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Ubuntu (2017) | उबुंटू
• Producer : Pushkar Sudhakar Shrotri
• Director : Pushkar Sudhakar Shrotri
• Studio : Anjaneya Sathe Entertainment
• Star Cast :
  • Shashank Shendye as Sarpanch
  • Sarang Sathaye as Mastar
  • Umesh Jagtap as Razzak
  • Bhagyashree Shankpal as Gauri
  • Kanha Bhave as Sanket
  • Atharva Padhye as Abdul
  • Arati More as Salma
  • Shubham Pawar as Vikas
  • Arya Hadkar as Chandu
  • Purvesh Kotian as Madhav
  • Chaitrali Gadkari as Ankita
  • Arya Saudagar as Manju
  • Balkrushna Raul as Balkrushna
  • Yogini Pophale as Gauri’s Mother
  • Smruti Patkar as Sarpanch’s Wife
  • Kalpana Jagtap as Abdul’s Mother
  • Satish Joshi as Villager
• Original Story : Bhalchandra Kubal
• Story : Pushkar Shrotri
• Screenplay : Pratima Kulkarni
• Dialogues : Pushkar Shrotri, Arvind Jagtap, Parag Oza
• Music :  Kaushal Inamdar
• Background Score : Narendra Bhide
• Sound Recording : Mandar Kamalapurkar
  Sound Designer: Anmol Bhave, Mandar Kamalapurkar
• Cinematography (DOP) :  NA
• Editor :  Ashish Mhatre, Apurva Motivale-Sahai
• Art Director : Santosh Phutane
• Costumes : Santosh Gawde
• Assistant Directors : Amol Gharat, Vishal Pol, Shivani Sapale
• Executive-producer : Ratnakar Jagtap
• Production Designer : Anand Gaikwad, Milind Shingte
• Genre :  Drama
• Duration : 118 Mins
• Release Date : 15 September 2017

Synopsis : 

Ubuntu Marathi Movie Photos, Poster :

Ubuntu Marathi Movie Photos, Poster :

The post Ubuntu (2017) – Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

Actor Shreyas Talpade was present at the special screening of Marathi film ‘Siddhant’ and was completely floored by the film. The emotional drama features an adolescent boy played by Archit Dewadhar, his struggle with mathematics and other close relationships.

Shreyas told media, “I love watching good films and Siddhant is a great film combined with amazing performances.”

One of the pivotal characters of the grandfather is played by legendary actor across Marathi and Hindi films, Vikram Gokhale. An ardent fan of Gokhale since childhood, Shreyas said, “I don’t have the right to comment on a legend like Gokhale’s performance. We’ve grown up watching him in plays, television and films and as usual he is fantastic in Siddhant.”

Shreyas was particularly impressed with the subject of the movie. He explains, “It’s a combination of various relationships, one is of a grandfather-grandson relationship and another about brother bonding. In a way, it is also an underdog story. The manner in which the makers have given closure to the subject is something we should all learn from.”

The film has been selected as Official Film at prestigious festivals IFFSA Toronto, New York Film Festival and Mumbai Film Festival. It is directed by Vivek Wagh and the makers were previously associated with critically acclaimed films, Fandry and Shala. Madhavi Soman, Sarang Sathaye and Swati Chitnis among others play crucial roles.

The post Marathi film Siddhant impresses Shreyas Talpade appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Siddhant (2015)
• Producer : Nilesh Navalakha, Vivek Kajaria & Amit Ahirrao
• Directer : Vivek Wagh
• Studio : Navalakha Arts & Holy Basil Productions and Virtue Entertainment
• Star Cast : Vikram Gokhale, Swati Chitnis, Ganesh Yadav, Madhavi Soman, Sarang Sathaye, Archit Devadhar, Neha Mahajan, Chandrakant Kulkarni, Prashant Tapasvi, Suraj Satav, Baba Aphale and Kanchan Jadhav.
• Writer : Shekhar Dhavlikar
• Music : Shailendra Barve
• Lyrics : Kishor Kadam (Soumitra)
• Cinematography & Editor : Mayur M Hardas
  
• Production Designer : Sidharth Tatoskar
  
• Costume : Nakshatra
  
• Makeup : Vikram Gaikwad
  
• Executive Producer : Kapil Sharma
• Genre : NA
• Release Date : May 29, 2015

Synopsis:
The movie revolves around Appa Thosar (Vikram Gokhle) and his grandson Vakratund Thosar (Archit Dewadhar) and their bonding with a thread of Mathematics. The movie has beautifully bloomed with various emotions of love, relations, family, principles and faith. Each elements enacted by the actors in this movie are beyond words and limit.

Siddhant Marathi Movie Poster :

Siddhant Marathi Movie Official Trailer:

The post Siddhant (2015) | Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

Watch Official Trailer of upcoming Marathi film “Siddhant” starring Vikram Gokhle, Swati Chitnis, Ganesh Yadav, Archit Deodhar, Kishore Kadam, Sarang Sathaye, Neha Mahajan and Madhavi Soman.

Produced by Nilesh Navalakha, Vivek Kajaria and Amit Ahirrrao.

Releasing in theaters 29th May 2015

The post Siddhant (Marathi Movie) Trailer appeared first on MarathiStars.

Today Marathi industry is going through a golden phase and a lot of good content driven subjects are being made like ‘Fandry‘ ‘Shala’, and ‘Anumati‘ which were brought to you by the house of Navlakha Arts and Media Entertainment headed by Nilesh Navlakha and Holy Basil Productions Pvt Ltd headed by Vivek Kajaria is adding one more good subject driven film to its oeuvre but this time Virtue Entertainment headed by Amit Ahirrao is co-producing ‘Siddhant’ which is a slice of life film about how to lead a principled life and the mathematical representation of life and how we lead lives by subjecting ourselves to it.

The grand music launch function of ‘Siddhant’ was recently held amidst the august gathering of actors Vikram Gokhale, Swati Chitnis, Kishor Kadam, Ganesh Yadav, Sarang Sathaye, Neha Mahajan, Madhavi Soman, Chandrashekhar Kulkarni, Prashant Tapasvi, Suraj Satav, Baba Afle, and Kanchan Jadhav. The evening was regaled by the singing of Shankar Mahadevan and Makarand Deshpande with lyrics like ‘Thodese Guntlele’ ani Ghatt Kahi Sutle’ written by Soumitra aka Kishore Kadam and composed by Shailendra Barve and both the singers confessed that the songs were the soul of the film. And the film is making waves on foreign shores like the selection for Toronto International Film Festival of South America (IFFSA) and the New York Film Festival .

The film revolves around a grandson Vakratund Deodhar played Archit Devdhar and his grandfather Appa Thosar played by Vikram Gokhale and the thin thread of relationship between them and their performances are the crowning glory of the film. The director Vivek Wagh thanked the cast and the producers for showing confidence and implicit trust in a debutante director like him . Vivek who till now has been the Executive Producer in many successful films like Ringa Ringaa, Checkmate, Ajinkya, Shala, Fandry , expressed that direction has given him a different sensibility from producing which has really touched him. Producer Kajaria said that film is a medium of social change and the mirror of society and it is their endevour to present a film which gives out a message to society and Siddhanth has done precisely that and the entire team is responsible for taking this film to a glorious high.

This sensitive tale releases May 29 all over Maharashtra.

The post Melodious Music revs up ‘Siddhant’ film! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Siddhant, a Vivek Wagh directorial debut is set to release on 22 May all over Maharashtra. The film has already generated buzz among audience due to its unusual plot. The movie revolves around Appa Thosar (Vikram Gokhle) and his grandson Vakratund Thosar (Archit Dewadhar) and their bonding with a thread of Mathematics.

Navalakha Arts and Holy Basil, a headed by Vivek Kajaria and Nilesh Navalakha have once again joined hands with Amit Ahirrao, Virtue Entertainment and adds to their milestone of quality cinemas ‘Siddhanth’. The film also stars Swati Chitnis, Kishor Kadam, Ganesh Yadav, Sarang Sathaye, Neha Mahajan, Madhavi Soman, Chandrashekhar Kulkarni, Prashant Tapasvi, Suraj Satav, Baba Aphale and Kanchan Jadhav. Though this if first directorial by Vivek Wagh, he as already years of experience as Executive Producer for the movies ‘Checkmate’, Ringa-Ringa’, ‘Shala’, ‘Ajinkya‘, and ‘Fandry‘.

“Being in production for long gave me the idea and perspective beyond direction. I’m sure when you watch the movie those small detailing will be seen by the audience. We’ve lived with the emotions shown in the movie.” said director Vivek Wagh.

“We always believed marathi movies are content driven. Therefore we always wanted to offer our audience quality marathi cinema. Hope with Siddhanth we’ll again be able to touch the hearts of the audience.” said producer Nilesh Navalakha.

Audience is really curious to know about how principles of Maths can be used in real life emotional situation- the film’s basic plot. Well, we all have to wait till May 22 to quench our curiosity, isn’t it?

The post Siddhant – A movie based on the principles of Mathematics in real life appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Mhadu Ek Mithak (2014)
• Producer : Sandesh Bhandare
• Director : Sandesh Bhandare
• Studio : Sandesh Bhandare Production
• Star Cast  : Sarang Sathye, Amol Dhongde, Rajkumar Tangde, Veena Jamkar, Kailas Waghmare, Padmanabh Bind, Praveen Tarde, Shashank Shende, Devika Daftaradar, Vikas Patil, Ramchandra Dhumal and Atula Pethe
• Screenplay : Sandesh Bhandare
• Lyrics : Ajay Kandar and Nitin Kulkarni
• Music : Swanand Rajaram
• Dialogues: Rajkumar Tangde and Pramid Kale.
• Singers :  Suresh Wadkar, Shaunak Abhisheki, Kshitij Apte,Devki Pandit and Sambhaji Bhagar
• Cinematography : Pintu Chaudhary and Dhanesh Potdar
• Release Date : 6th June 2014

Story : Mhadu, a Korku youth, is smuggled into Mumbai in a state of emaciation by a doctor couple looking for international fame through an experiment they intend to perform on a starved tribel. Dr Deepak Apte, a committed doctor, who has spent time and written about malnutrition among the Korkus of Melghat, is sceptical about this experiment.

The film uses flashback to throw light on the issue of hunger deaths among tribals. It traces back their story to the imperial system of extortion that held India in an almost continuous state of starvation throughout the latter half of 19th century, beginning with the building of the railway network in the sub-continent.

Dr Apte realises the folly of the globalised development model and tries to expose the exploitation of tribals by politicians, bureaucrats and contractors, but ends up paying the price; he is bundled out of Melghat by the NGO he is working for.
Mhadu begins to respond to the modern treatment called ‘sole nutrition drip.’But the triumph is short-lived as his hunger gains monstrous proportions threatening everything around him in India’s financial capital.His hunger is unleashed upon Mumbai as originally depicted in Mahasweta Devi’s “Mhadu”, which inspired this film.

Hu Tu Tu (2014) Marathi Movie Official Trailer:

The post Mhadu Ek Mithak (2014) appeared first on MarathiStars.

A Every person is in search of blissful ending, but for that one has to write their own script. `Samhita’ is all about that . MarathiStars Reader Ruturaj Vaidya writes about Samhita The Script. Check out his view –

• Review : Samhita – The Script  (संहिता)
• Produced By : Mukta Arts, Ashokk Films
• Directed By : Sumitra Bhave – Sunil Sukthankar
• Written By : Sumitra Bhave
• Screenplay By : Sumitra Bhave
• Starring : Milind Soman, Devika Daftardar, Rajeshwari Sachdeva, Uttara Baokar, Jyoti Subhash, Sarang Sathye, Ashwini Giri, Dr. Sharad Bhutadia, Dr. Shekhar Kulkarni, Neha Mahajan

सुमित्रा भावे आणि सुनिल सुकथनकर या जोडगोळीचा आणखीन एक अप्रतिम सिनेमा म्हणजेच संहिता. संहिता म्हणजेच सिनेमाची स्क्रिप्ट; एका सिनेमाच्या स्क्रिप्ट च्या भोवताली आणि त्यात गुंतलेल्या तीन चार कथा किंवा कुटुंबं. बर्याचदा किंबहुना कायमच आपण एखादी घटना किंवा गोष्ट वाचतो, ऐकतो आणि त्या घटनेला स्वत:भोवती गुंफत जातो जणू ती आपली स्वतःचीच गोष्ट आहे. संहिता सुद्धा अशीच एक गोष्ट आहे जिच्यामध्ये नायिका स्वत:ला आणि तिच्या आजूबाजूच्यांना सामावून कथेत घेत जाते.

रेवती साठे (देविका दफ्तरदार), राष्ट्रीय पुरस्कार विजेती शॉर्टफिल्म मेकर जी एकआजच्या युगातली धडाडीची स्त्रीआहे जीला स्व:ताची ओळख आहे, जीला स्व:ताचे करिअर अजून मोठे बनवायचे आहे. पण त्याचबरोबर तिचं संसारिक जीवन याच कारणामुळे बिघडलं आहे ते इतकं, कि तिचा आणि तिचा बिझनेसमन नवरा रनवीर (मिलिंद सोमण) हे घटस्फोटाच्या उंबरठ्यावर आहेत. शिरीन (ज्योती सुभाष) एका नामांकित फिल्ममेकर (डॉ. शरद भुताडिया) ची बायको, तिला आपल्या अंथरुणाला खिळलेल्या नवर्याचा ड्रीम प्रोजेक्ट आणि शेवटची इच्छा असलेल्या कथेवरजी तारा देऊस्कर (उत्तरा बावकर) यांनी लिहिली आहे त्यावर चित्रपट बनवायचा आहे. त्यासाठी शिरीन, रेवती ची दिग्दर्शिका तसेच संहिता लेखक म्हणून आणि नायिका म्हणून एक प्रसिध्द नायिका हेमांगीनीची (राजेश्वरी सचदेवा) निवड करते. शिरीनला वरवर हि कथा आठवतेय आणि तिच्या मते हि एक समर्पणाची गोष्ट आहे, तर मूळ कथा लेखिका तारा देऊस्करांना वाटते कि हि एका शोषणाची कथा आहे. या दोघींच्या दृष्टीकोनातून आणि लेखीकेसोबत काही काळ हि कथा जिथे घडली त्या राजवाड्यात जाऊन रेवती हि संहिता गुंफू लागते ती स्वतःभोवतीच. रेवती, शिरीन, तारा, हेमांगिनी मग बनतात रेवतीच्या संहितेमधल्या राणी मालविका, रैनाबी, मोठ्या आऊसाहेब, आणि स्वर्गीय गळ्याची रागिणी, आणि रागीणीच्या स्वराच्या आणि सौंदर्याच्या प्रेमात पडतात ते महाराज म्हणजेच रेवतीचा नवरा रणवीर! रेवती आणि तिच्या नवर्याचे तणावाचे सबंध, शिरीनची नवर्याला वाचवण्याची धडपड तर हेमांगिनीची तिच्या प्रियकराच्या मुलीला सामावून आणि समजून घेण्याची कसरत आणि मूळ कथा अशा एकाचवेळी अनेक पठड्यावर चित्रपट सरकत राहतो.पण मूळ पठडी न सोडता बाकीच्या कथा गुंफण्यात दिग्दर्शिका सुमित्रा भावे आपल्या हातखंड्याने यशस्वी झाल्या आहेत.

एकमेकात गुंफणारी नाती आणि त्यांच्या वेगवेगळ्या तर्हा दिग्दर्शिकेने अशा सहजरित्याएकत्रित केल्या आहेत कि चित्रपट कुठेच आपला ट्रॅक सोडत नाही. दिग्दर्शानासोबातच तांत्रिक बाजूमध्येसुद्धा चित्रपट उठावदार आहे, राजे-महाराजे आणि राण्यांचे वेश, चाल, अदब आणि चित्रपटाचे सेट्स, वाहने, इ. मध्ये राजपण अगदी तंतोतंत आणण्यात सुमित्रा भावे यशस्वी. दरबारी संगीत ज्यापायी एक राजा वेडा होतो ते संगीत साधण्यात शैलेंद्र बर्वे यशस्वी झालाय. परंतु त्या सांगितला खरा साज चढवलाय तो आरती अंकलीकर यांनी. आरती अंकलीकारांच्या स्वर्गीय आवाजाने खरंच जादू केली आहे. चित्रपटाचे मुख्य शिलेदार म्हणजेच सगळे कलाकार दोन दोन भूमिका निभावून त्यांनी आपल्या अभिनय क्षमतेची चुणूक दाखवली आहे. मुख्य नायिका देविका दफ्तरदारच्या दिग्दर्शिका आणि राणी मालविका दोन्ही वेगवेगळ्या भूमिका अप्रतिम, मिलिंद सोमणचा व्यथित लग्न वाचवणारा नवरा आणि रुबाबदार राजेशाही आणि संगीत, प्रेमात बुडालेला राजा खरंच राजबिंडा तर राजेश्वरी सचदेवाची समंजस प्रभावी हेमांगिनी आणि सौंदर्यवती, लहेजा घेऊन गाणारी राजदरबारी गायिका सुरेखच, सोबत ज्योती सुभाष आणि उत्तरा बावकर यांचाही उत्तम दोन्ही आघाड्यावर उत्तम अभिनय चित्रपटाला एक नवी उंची देतो.

काही खटकण्यासारख्या गोष्टी म्हणजे राजेश्वरी आणि मिलिंद सोमण चे जाणवून येणारे वय. खासकरून राजेश्वरीच्या चेहऱ्यावर सुरकुत्या दिसत असताना वारंवार क्लोजअप शॉटस घेण्याचा मोह का केलाय हे कळत नाही. पण राजेश्वरी ने तिच्या सुंदर अभिनयाने तो झाकोळून टाकण्याचा केलेला प्रयत्नही वाखाणण्याजोगा. तर असा हा राजेशाही आणि त्यासोबतच आजच्या घडीच्या कौटुंबिक जीवनांवर प्रकाश टाकणारा संहिता न चुकाविण्यासारखा सिनेमा आहे. असे सिनेमे रोज घडत नाहीत.

Ruturaj Vaidya is movie fanatic, critic, technology expert, nature enthusiast, traveller and blogs at Flirtingwithmovies .You can check MarathiStars.com’s review here – Samhita – The Script Review.

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