Review: Kaagar
Cast: Rinku Rajguru, Shubhankar Tawde, Shashank Shende, Suhas Palshikar & Umesh Jagtap
Director: Makarand Mane

Viewpoint: ‘Kaagar’ succeeds on a directorial level where it builds an exciting atmosphere of a fast paced political thriller that is stylized on many levels including the background score & the way film is edited. But ‘Kaagar’ is also weak in the writing department, both in  screenplay & in dialogues.

What Works? 

• Up until the first half ‘Kaagar’ is completely engaging & it sucks us into the world it creates. A world that is based on actual villages in Maharashtra & how the politics is connected with the sugar cane farming. The film instantly connects us with it’s subject.
• The two lead characters of ‘Rani’ (Rinku Rajguru) & ‘Yuvraj’ (Shubhankar Tawde) have been created well, we understand their behaviour & their motives especially in the first half. Rinku’s ‘Rani’ character is distinctly different from the ‘Archi’ character of ‘Sairat’ & in the most parts of the film she plays her character convincingly.
• As said above the film is very stylized technically. Even though there are glimpses of ‘Sairat’ here & there, the background score in particular gives ‘Kaagar’ a style of it’s own!
• The pre-interval scene of the film is a major highlight of the film’s plot. It’s a twist that arrives unexpectedly & works really well in keeping us intrigued for the next half. Though what happens in the second half is a different story!

What Fails? 

• The trailer of the film was a major spoiler. It gave away the entire plot of the film! For example we see a major character dying in the trailer & then while we are watching the film we expect that to happen early in the film since it has been revealed in the trailer, but that’s not the case & hence the shock factor of that incident happening doesn’t exist! Ideally the film should have been promoted as a love story based in a political backdrop & not the other way round.
• The film shies away from giving a grey shade to one major character especially when the situation demands it, instead it chooses a safer way by making things happen on it’s own.
• The overall second half of the film doesn’t live up to the first half. There are many plot-holes & some of the important characters in the film are treated wrongly, undermining characteristics of the character & ideally how it should have acted in the situations that have been created.
• Shashank Shende’s ‘Guruji’ was a ‘Krishna’ like figure in this political ‘Mahabharat’ but eventually the way it shapes up takes away all the fun from the character. The actual complexity in today’s politics could have been explored through his character but the makes miss that chance!

Final Verdict: ‘Kaagar’ overall is an engaging & effective political thriller. We as a society are always politically driven & especially currently when it’s the election season going on! Hence ‘Kaagar’ definitely deserves one watch! Not to forget fans of Rinku Rajguru will be pleased by her presence & performance.

Rating: 3/5

The post Kaagar Movie Review: An Effective Political Thriller! appeared first on MarathiStars.

Maharashtra is a state where everyone is interested in politics and has a political opinion, sometimes even without voting in the elections! However, this obsession in our culture has hardly been seen in our films. Sparring a few classics like ‘Samna’ & ‘Sinhasan’ we have hardly had any films related to politics. Hence Rinku Rajguru starrer ‘Kaagar‘ is a rare & precious film to be excited for!

While the teaser of the film established the Rinku’s character & the overall theme of the film, the trailer which is out now going in further details about the overall tone of the film. From the trailer, one can say nothing can be taken on face value! Every character seems to be more in a grey shade than black or white!

This film is directed by Makarand Mane who has bagged a national award for his debut film ‘Ringan’. Alike ‘Ringan’ & his second film ‘Youngraad’, Shashank Shende also stars in ‘Kaagar‘ in an important role! Rinku Rajguru looks absolutely perfect in her part in this twisted political thriller where she also stands out being an alone lady in the midst of all men!

The post Kaagar Movie Trailer: A Twisted Political Thriller appeared first on MarathiStars.

The much-awaited teaser of Rinku Rajguru’s second Marathi film was released online & the first impression of the film ‘Kaagar‘ is of a stylistic political drama. Rinku’s character looks very dynamic & suits her public persona which was created after her character of ‘Archi’ in ‘Sairat‘.

Written & directed by national award-winning filmmaker Makarand Mane ‘Kaagar’ looks to be a journey of a young girl who comes from a humble background but after getting married to a politician’s son gets involved in politics. A major plot point of the film has been revealed in the teaser, that of the girl’s husband dying!

It would be interesting to see how ‘Kaagar’ rediscovers the actress within Rinku. Moreover, this film also seems to be the first Marathi film that is exploring the rise of a young politician. Many audiences would also be drawing parallels to real life female politicians in Maharashtra & would be searching for inspirations from real life or incidents in the film!

‘Kaagar‘ is being presented by Viacom 18 & is releasing in theatres on 26th of April!

The post Kaagar Teaser: Rinku Rajguru Seems Perfect in a Stylistic Political Drama appeared first on MarathiStars.

Rinku Rajguru became Maharashtra’s most loved actress post the success of ‘Sairat‘. She achieved superstardom overnight at a very young age! Now she is all set to prove her versatility as an actress in her second Marathi film ‘Kagar’ which is directed by national award winning director Makarand Mane.

The first official poster of the film was recently revealed & one can easily make out that ‘Kaagar‘ is a film about politics! There have also been rumors that Rinku’s character in the film is based on an actual female politician! But nothing has been revealed of that sort by the makers of the film! Who do you think would be that politician?

The film also stars gifted actor Shashank Shende who has been previously part of ‘Ringan’ & ‘Youngraad‘ also made by director Makarand Mane. Fans of Rinku would be all geared up for ‘Kagar’ & moreover since there are waves of elections all around the country & Maharashtra the subject of politics will surely be of excitement for the audiences!

The post Rinku Rajguru Plays Which Female Politician in ‘Kaagar’? appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Kaagar (2019) | कागर
• Producer : Sudhir Kolte and Vikas Hande Ajit Andhare, NikhilSane
• Director : Makarand Mane
• Studio : Udaharanarth Nirmit, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
• Star Cast :
  • Rinku Rajguru
  • Shashank Shende
  • Shantanu Gangane
• Story : NA
• Screenplay and Dialogues : NA
• Lyrics : NA
• Sound : NA
• Sound Design : NA
• Music : NA
• Background Music : NA
• Cinematography (DOP) : NA
• Editor : NA
• Art Director : NA
• Costume : NA
• Hair Stylist : NA
• Make-up : NA
• Presenter : NA
• Choreography : NA
• Co-Producer : NA
• Visual Promotions : NA
• Digital Promotions : NA
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : Coming Soon

Synopsis : KaaGaR is a Marathi movie starring Rinku Rajguru and Shashank Shende in prominent roles. The movie also stars Shantanu Gangane. It is a drama directed by Makrand Mane.

Kaagar Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

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• Movie : Adham (2019) | अधम
• Producer : Sachin Anil Khandge and Tushar Anil Khandge
• Director : Abhishek Kelkar
• Studio : Shree Natraj Pictures
• Star Cast :
  • Santosh Juvekar as Vicky
  • Gauri Nalawade as Nandini
  • Kishor Kadam as Anna Bhosale
  • Shashank Shende as Datta Bhau
  • Suhas Palshikar as Deshpande Sir
  • Suhas Shirsat as Ranjeet
  • Umesh Jagtap as Mane
  • Padmanabh Bind as Sameer
• Story : Abhishek Kelkar
• Screenplay : Abhishek Kelkar
• Dialogues : Abhishek Kelkar
• Lyrics : Vaibhav Deshmukh and Vaibhav Joshi
• Sound : NA
• Sound Design/Recording Mixer : NA
• Music : Rohit Nagbhide
• Background Music : NA
• Cinematography (DOP) : Dhanesh Potdar
• Editor : Santosh Gothoskar
• Art Director : Padmanabh Damle
• Costume : Sayali Soman
• Make-up : Girish Shinde
• Presenter : NA
• Choreography : Siddesh Dalvi & Subhas Nakashe
• Executive Producer : Sudhanwa Panase
• Co-Producer : Dattatraya Baburao Bhadale and Suresh Baburao Bhadale
• Visual Promotions : NA
• Digital Promotions : NA
• DI Colorist : NA
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 17th May 2019

Synopsis : Adham is a Marathi movie starring Santosh Juvekar and Gauri Nalawade in prominent roles. It is a drama directed by Abhishek Kelkar.

Adham Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Adham Marathi Movie Trailer :

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Review: Luckee
Cast: Abhay Mahajan, Deepti Sati, Mayur More, Shubhangi Tambale, Shashank Shende & others.
Director: Sanjay Jadhav
Writer: Arvind Jagtap

Viewpoint: Sanjay Jadhav again reinvented himself with ‘Ye Re Ye Re Paisa’ around one year ago, & he is absolutely exploiting the craft of cinema in every way! He carry forwards the same style here in ‘Luckee’. I mean again the cinematographer is over doing his cinematography, the background composer is overdoing the background score, the editor is completely going nuts with the pace of the film, the writer is overwriting, & the actors too are over acting! Everyone is doing their work with steroid injected over excitement, except the audiences! Who are bored & clueless.

What Works? 

• Probably the songs, but then one doesn’t need to visit the theatre for it! A Wifi connection or a data pack will do.

What Fails? 

• The plot of the film is mindlessly silly, though it still could have worked with a better screenplay as it had today’s sensibilities. The trailer of the film might suggest us it’s an adult comedy. But not really! It is more of an underdog story where the film tries to captivate on the drawbacks of it’s protagonist. But the film fails to create any connect between the audience & the protagonist (even after the in your face first person narration).
• One of film’s biggest failure is that it has the most uninteresting supporting characters who are given tremendous importance in the story as they drive our protagonist to do things. None of them make any connect again. Plus they all are cardboard cut out stereotypes.
• The film is basically about the moral conflict between love & lust. Which is really a good topic to base a film on, but in the attempt of making every thing entertaining it takes it’s hero on a foolishly exaggerated journey making him appear like a horny teenager who can do anything to get laid! The journey turns into a misadventure for him for outlandishly foolish reasons. The majority of the film is all about this misadventure making us wonder will the film ever get over it & start with the actual film!
• The editing of the film especially before the misadventures begin is frustratingly fast paced. The amount of information that is compressed into the film shot by shot never really gets the chance to be presented in a sober (non-steroid injected) way that can create some kind of communication from the film towards the audiences. This is another reason why the audiences are disconnected with the film from the very beginning.
• Over ambitiously the film keeps an open ending where nothing really resolves, (even if the conflict was resolved it wouldn’t have saved the film) & that would make some audiences feel cheated. One could also say that it has multiple endings. Though none of the endings have the impact to undo the mess the film has already been throughout the run time.

Final Verdict: When simply looked as a story, Lucky truly had the potential to be a terrific entertainer with lots of social commentary, but overall the film is a chaotic mess because of it’s stylistic choices. Sanjay Jadhav again proves that he has potential but again he throws everything away with his obsession to overdo everything.

Rating: 2/5

The post Luckee Movie Review: The Misadventures of an Unlucky Horny Teenager appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Luckee (2019) | लकी
• Producer : Sanjay Kukreja, Suraj Singh & Deepak Pandurang Rane
• Director : Sanjay Jadhav
• Studio : Blive Productions, Dreaming Twenty Four 7
• Star Cast :
  • Abhay Mahajan as Luckee
  • Deepti Sati as Jiya
  • Shashank Shende
  • Chetan Dalvi
  • Sanika Ghaises as Prachi
  • Mehul Jangli as Gaurav
  • Rutuja Kulkarni as Rutuja
  • Mayur More as Sanket
  • Shubhangi Tambale as Shruti
  • Atul Todankar
  • Ramesh Wani
• Story : Arvind Jagtap
• Screenplay : Arvind Jagtap
• Dialogues : Arvind Jagtap, Sanjay Jadhav
• Lyrics : Sachin Pathak
• Sound Design/Recording Mixer : Manoj Mochemadkar
• Music : Amitraj, Pankaj Padghan
• Background Music :
• Cinematography (DOP) : Vijay Soni
• Editor : Apurva Motiwale Sahai, Ashish Mhatre
• Art Director : Mahesh Salgaonkar
• Costume : Sonniya Lele Sahasrabuddhe
• Make-up : Saurabh Shinde
• Chief Assistant Director :
• Choreography : Umesh Jadhav
• Action : Manohar Verma
• VFX : Shrikant Jadhav
• Visual Promotions : Tigger Happy
• DI Colorist : RedChillies.Color
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 7 February 2019

Synopsis : An emotional journey of an innocent guy, Luckee who manages to win the heart of his biggest crush.

Luckee Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Luckee Marathi Movie Trailer :

The post Luckee (2019) – Marathi Movie appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review : Youngraad (2018)
• Producer : Vitthal Patil, Gautam Gupta, Gaurav Gupta and Madhu Mantena
• Director : Makarand Mane
• Screenplay : Makarand Mane, Shashank Shende and Aziz Madari
• Star Cast : Chaitanya Devre, Saurabh Padvi, Shiv Wagh, Jeevan Karalkar, Shashank Shende, Savita Prabhune & Sharad Kelkar
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 3/5

Youngraad Review (Marathi Movie):

Directed by Makarand Mane of ‘Ringan’ fame & backed by ‘Phantom Films’ the iconic indie film studio of Bollywood (& Overall Indian cinema), ‘Youngraad’ is a film that is solid on many levels starting from the casting, to the use of craft (technical), use of background score & the overall direction of the film. What it also manages to do well is inhibiting the ‘Sairat’ influence in a positive way. But the film has issues with the narrative, which hamper the overall takeout for the audiences.

The film begins with a flashback clarifying the protagonist of the film as someone who has got over a dreadful phase in his life & has now grown to be a wiser person. The problem with this device is that it takes away some of the ‘thrill’ in a film that had some traits of a crime thriller. The story revolves around four school going mid teenagers living in the city of Nasik. The first half mostly depicts their friendship through different incidents & the romantic track of the main hero of the film!

The romantic track clearly has a ‘Sairat’ influence but in a very healthy way. It makes us believe whatever it depicts. This in fact is Youngraad’s biggest strength. It never takes away the believability. Except a jail sequence in the second half which also stars Sharad Kelkar in an unnecessarily filmy mode.

As the trailer reveals these four friends start working for a local goon who is soon venturing into politics. This transition of normal fun loving kids to goons of an aspiring politician is almost very easy but still convincing. Then due to some circumstances they decide to leave all this & become clean. This conflict of the film arrives almost at the interval point. The second half then takes a completely new turn. Now this transition both from the narrative point of view & the character transitions aren’t smooth. The film develops quite a few problems in the second half. The biggest being the track of our protagonist in prison. The believability suffers here. However, even in these moments the performance of the lead actor keeps us interested.

Once the protagonist is out from prison the film deals with the aftermath in a bit formulaic way. But it let’s the protagonist dwell around the proceedings deliberately purposeless. We see him roaming around the sub-urban city clueless & with a grim on his face. These little sad moments involving the protagonist & his friends make the second half interesting. There are many errors & plot points left abruptly in the second half, but because of the film’s emotional connect we are affected by the film.

After ‘Ringan’ director Makarand Mane approached a completely new story & partially succeeded in creating another moving film experience. But more work on the writing of the film could’ve taken ‘Youngraad’ to similar heights of ‘Ringan’. However one could easily notice that as a director Mane has still improved his craft, especially the way he has used visual language in ‘Youngraad’. The young actors of the film have given good performances especially the lead actor. Shashank Shende & Savita Prabhune are probably the only well versed actors in the cast & they too have given superb performances. Savita Prabhune has been seen in very few films but she is impressive in all of them, last she was seen in ‘Jaudya Na Balasaheb’.

Overall:

In terms of the commercial value ‘Youngraad’ has everything that today’s youth Marathi audiences would connect with. Including humor & beautifully composed & shot songs. It shouldn’t go unnoticed just because it hasn’t been promoted well!

The post Youngraad Review: A Problematic Second Half Taints an Otherwise Impactful Film appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Youngraad (2018) | यंग्राड
• Producer : Vitthal Patil, Gautam Gupta, Gaurav Gupta and Madhu Mantena
• Director : Makarand Mane
• Studio : Phantom Films, Vitthal Patil Productions and Futureworks
• Star Cast :
  • Chaitanya Devre
  • Saurabh Padvi
  • Shiv Wagh
  • Jeevan Karalkar
  • Shashank Shende
  • Vitthal Patil
  • Shantanu Gangane
  • Savita Prabhune
  • Sharad Kelkar
• Story : Makarand Mane
• Screenplay : Makarand Mane, Shashank Shende and Aziz Madari
• Dialogues : Bhushan Patil
• Lyrics : Kshitij Patwardhan, Datta Patil and Maghlub
• Music Composer : Hriday Gattani and Gandhar
• Sound Design : Arvind Vijaykumar
• Re-Recording Mixer : Rhitwik Raj Pathak
• Original Score : Mannan Munjal
• Cinematography (DOP) : Hari Nair
• Editor : Aashay Gatade
• Art Director : Prasad Arun Rahane
• Costume : Mausami Shaikh
• Make-Up : Santosh Sambhaji Gilbile
• Choreography : Vitthal Patil
• Executive Producer : Shantanu Gangane
• Visual Promotion : Just Right Studioz
• Publicity Design : Sachin Suresh Gurav
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 6th July 2018

Synopsis : Four best friends from Nashik always have each other’s backs be it getting into fights or setting up a friend with his dream girl. But having a wrong idol in such impressionable years lands them into a web of troubles that drastically affects their lives and brings them to a point where everything that they thought they knew about life disappears into oblivion and forces them to embark on a journey to redefine who they are.

Youngraad Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Youngraad Marathi Movie Teaser/Trailer :

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