• Review: Dhappa (2019)
• Cast: Akash Kamble, Sharavi Kulkarni, Akshay Yadav, Sharv Vadhavekar, Shrihari Abhyankar, Dipali Borkar, Abhijit Shinde, Neel Deshpande, Vrushali Kulkarni, Iravati Harshe, Sunil Barve, Girish Kulkarni, Shrikant Yadav, Umesh Jagtap, Jyoti Subhash & Chandrakant Kale.
• Director: Nipun Dharmadhikari
• Writer: Girish Kulkarni

Quick Viewpoint: On Paper ‘Dhappa’ might sound like a bland message driven film. While in reality too the film has a very vital message to give, but beyond that it has built it’s own little world so beautifully & playfully that we are throughout hooked with it’s sweetness that lasts longer even after the film is over.

What Works? 

• Nipun Dharmadhikari the director of the film, whose first released film was ‘Baapjanma‘ actually made his debut as a film director with ‘Dhappa’. He has been directing plays for many years & that experience must have certainly shaped even the film director in him. The reason for pointing out all of this is the fact that the whole ensemble of children in this film are so masterfully directed! None of the kids ever appear fake on camera even for a moment! Even the adult renown actors in the film are functioning at a different wavelength here than their usual performances, a wavelength which matches the tone of the film which doesn’t believe in any extremities!
• As said earlier the film succeeds mainly because of it’s world, which is so directly connected to the real world & yet it is distant from it. In a way it thinks a bit wishfully while dealing with real world conflicts! This approach is what sets this film apart from films that could be similar in structure.
• In ‘Baapjanma’ there was a major sequence of an dying old man capturing moments from his son & daughter living in his house through secretly fitted hidden cameras. Here you see someone documenting the little moments that happen when children & their teacher set up a play & perform in front of their colony. The point is that Nipun’s fascination with capturing life in an unassumingly unpolished yet intimate way is evident! There’s something so positively unartistic about it in a non-pretentious way that makes us call it ‘simplistic’!
• Girish Kulkarni’s writing is also totally different from other films produced under the banner of ‘Arbhaat’. Many a times Girish Kulkarni & Umesh Kulkarni’s films can be slightly inaccessible to the general audiences. ‘Dhappa‘ isn’t that film! It would appeal to varied audiences in an equally effective way!
• Finally last but not the least the message! The message doesn’t separate itself like the ‘moral’ of the story is easily separated from a children’s story. The film can’t happen without the message being underlined & that defines how it is essentially the film itself! But what exactly is it? I would recommend you watch the film for it! But yes I could say the message is extremely timely when thought about our current social & political situation.

What Fails?

• Nothing really fails in ‘Dhappa’ but either consciously or unconsciously the structure of the film is similar to ‘Chillar Party’. But then one can say even Chillar Party’s structure wasn’t completely original.

Final Verdict: ‘Dhappa‘ won a national award for the best film on ‘National Integration’ a value that has been slightly on the backseat in our society & in our mainstream films! For rediscovering that alone, ‘Dhappa’ is a must watch!

Rating: 4/5

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• Movie : Dhappa (2019) | धप्पा
• Producer : Sumatilal Shah
• Director : Nipun Dharmadhikari
• Studio : Wishberry Films and Ink Tales
• Star Cast :
  • Akash Kamble as Suhrad Sharangpani
  • Sharavi Kulkarni as Sharavi
  • Akshay Yadav as Chetan Patil
  • Sharv Vadhavekar as Mihir
  • Shrihari Abhyankar as Rutvik
  • Dipali Borkar as Dipali
  • Abhijit Shinde as Dasharath Suryvanshi
  • Neel Deshpande as Aditya
  • Vrushali Kulkarni as Anuradha Devdhar
  • Iravati Harshe as Vrunda Sharangpani
  • Sunil Barve as Makarand Devdhar
  • Girish Kulkarni as Prabhakar Sharangpani
  • Shrikant Yadav as Patil
  • Umesh Jagtap as Bhau
  • Jyoti Subhash as Mohite Aaji
  • Chadrakant Kale as Soman Kaka
• Story : Girish Pandurang Kulkarni
• Screenplay and Dialogues :
• Singers : Avani Bhat, Rugvaed Inamdar, SHalmali Kholgade and Lakshya Bhatanagar
• Lyrics : Vaibhav Joshi
• Sound Recordist : Anil Radhakrishnan
• Sound Design : Anthony B Jayaruban
• Music : Gandhaar
• Background Music : Gandhaar
• Cinematography (DOP) : Swapnil Sonawane
• Editor : Suchitra Sathe
• Costume : Kalyani Kulkarni-Gugle
• Presenter : Arbhaat Films
• Production Design : Satyajit Deshpande
• Co-Producer : Girish Pandurang Kulkarni and Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
• Visual Promotions : Just Right Studioz NX
• Stills : Abhijeet Chaudhari
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 1st February 2019

Synopsis : A motley bunch of children living in an urban housing society join hands to rise beyond discrimination and religious bigotry to do what is right. Winner of the National Award for Best Film on National Integration, Dhappa is an uplifting tale that is of great relevance in contemporary times.

Dhappa Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Dhappa Marathi Movie Trailer :

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Review: Mauli (2018)
Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Jitendra Joshi, Siddharth Jadhav, Saiyami Kher, Girija Oak Godbole & Shrikant Yadav
Director: Aditya Sarpotdar
Writer: Kshitij Patwardhan

Quick Viewpoint: Mauli doesn’t match the expectations that we had from a very reputed team who had recently given us ‘Faster Fene’. Yet the film should be looked as an honest attempt (though a failed attempt) to push the envelope of a template style commercial cinema.

What Fails? 

• The principal conflict of the film lacks logic especially in the first half. The film stereotypes a liquor bar as the most evil thing that can happen to a small village. And never does it feel to explain itself. Is the liquor bar illegal? If yes then why doesn’t the film spend some screen time to investigate what can be done legally to shut it down? Usual civic sense seems to be completely given a toss!
• Then the owner of the liquor bar, Nana (Jitendra Joshi) the evil villain with a scar on a his face, has a personal history against the temple that is just opposite to the bar & he has pledged that the locked temple will never be freed again! (If Pravin Tarde is reading, here’s the plot for Deool Band 2!) If Nana is mainly a greedy, money minded man, why doesn’t he ever realize that there’s probably more money in the spiritual field than the liquor field?
• The reasons of the above flaws is that, the film is least bothered about the actual narrative, it only wishes to use it as a template. The main moto is to give you a larger than life hero & his journey to become the saviour of this village!
• Saiyami Kher making her debut in Marathi cinema, sadly never manages to appear like her character. Her character itself feels like a poor man’s ‘Basanti’ (from Sholay) but without any fun aspect to it. Her Marathi is definitely problematic but beyond that too her performance feels fake.
• The action scenes have an overdose of slow motion. That is actually something that is common in masala action films made all over India right now! What happens is that we never really feel the actual rush of an action sequence if the slow mo is overused.
• It might be lesser important but the first 10 minutes or so have almost nothing to do with the actual film. First there’s this huge title sequence with a song which shows some beautifully captured moments of the Pandharpur Waari, just after that we see an action scene set probably in Pandharpur to introduce the principal character of the film, then follows the ‘Holi’ song! No matter what reasons they must have, but this is just not done! 10 minutes or more in a film’s run time should either be a part of the film or just shouldn’t be there!

What Works? 

• By the end of the first half there’s a twist in the story that turns the table on its head. An exact opposite turn to the story when compared to the prequel or other films like Rowdy Rathore of this type. At that point we are intrigued about the second half! And comparatively the second half of the film starts pretty well! Mainly because of the twist!
• The internal conflict of Riteish Deshmukh’s Mauli (can’t reveal much) with himself is far more interesting than the rest of the film.
• Kshitij Patwardhan’s dialogues sometimes fall flat & feel too ambitious for a template driven film, but sometimes they work! And when they work they make us linger over them!
• Amalendu Choudhary’s camera work! No matter how hard you try to be disinterested in the action scenes of the film, it’s the cinematography that keeps you there!

Final Verdict: I see ‘Mauli’ as a missed opportunity towards redefining the age old masala action genre. Yet there’s hope for this genre to be some day redefined by maybe the same people who are a part of this team!

Rating: 2.5/5

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Ever since the announcement of the ‘Lai Bhari’ sequel the audiences have been eagerly awaiting for ‘Mauli‘. With even more excitement this time as the Riteish Deshmukh starrer is written & directed by the team which gave us the superhit film ‘Faster Fene‘! Writer Kshitij Patwardhan & director Aditya Sarpotdar have collaborated again & the trailer promises that ‘Mauli’ would break many box office records!

Along with Riteish the film stars Saiyami Kher who is making her Marathi film debut after her performance in the Hindi film ‘Mirzya’! ‘Mauli’ also stars Jitendra Joshi in a negative role! After his stints as a villain in ‘Duniyadari’ & ‘Baji’, our beloved Jitu is again exploring the villainous side to him! The film also stars Siddharth Jadhav & Girija Oak Godbole among others.

‘Mauli’ seems to have the right blend of action, drama, comedy & strong ‘Marathiness’ in it. It doesn’t seem inspired from south Indian action film or Bollywood action films it presents the Marathi culture imbibing it into the framework of an old school commercial film with a rural backdrop! ‘Mauli‘ hits theatres on 14th of December!

The post Mauli Trailer: Riteish Deshmukh All Set To Set The Silver Screen on Fire appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Mauli (2018) | माउली
• Producer : Genelia Deshmukh
• Directer : Aditya Sarpotdar
• Studio : Mumbai Film Company and Hindustan Talkies
• Star Cast :
  • Riteish Deshmukh as Mauli Sarjerao Deshmukh
  • Saiyami Kher as Renuka
  • Jitendra Joshi
  • Siddharth Jadhav
  • Girija Oak
  • Mayur Khandge
  • Shrikant Yadav
• Writer : Kshitij Patwardhan
• Screenplay : NA
• Dialogues : NA
• Singer : NA
• Lyrics : Guru Thakur and Ajay Gogawale
• Sound Design : Arun Nambiar
• Music : Ajay-Atul
• Background Score : Troy – Arif
• Cinematography (DOP) : Amalendu Choudhary
• Editor : Snajay Sankla
• Art Director : NA
• Costume : Karishma Gulati and Sachin Lovalekar
• Make-up : NA
• Executive Producer : Sanjay Mehta
• Supervising Producer : Rajkumar Tiwari
• Action Director : Ravi Varma
• Presenter : Jio Studios
• Choreography : Bosco-Caesar and Ranju Varghese
• Co-Producer : Pankaj Razdan, Ashish Chowdhary, Deepa Pardasany and Ravi Walia
• Line Producer : Vinay Chaukar
• Creative Producer : Sandeep Patil
• VFX : NA
• VFX Artist : NA
• Production Design : Santosh Phutane
• Visual Promotions : Just Right Studioz NX
• Publicity Design : Marching Ants
• Marketing Consultant : NA
• Digital Promotions : Digi Osmosis
• DI : Prime Focus Ltd
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 14th December 2018

Synopsis : Mauli is the sequel to the Marathi blockbuster Lai Bhaari, where Riteish Deshmukh’s character was called Mauli. The sequel is directed by Aditya Sarpotdar.

Mauli Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Mauli Marathi Movie Teaser :

Mauli Marathi Movie Trailer :

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Zee Studio has further solidified its reputation as a studio that not only belts out one massive hit film after another but also supports meaningful and artistic ventures like its latest movie Nude. The Ravi Jadhav film, which has already won high praise in India, has now even bagged top honors at the prestigious New York Indian Film Festival by bagging the Best Film and Best Actress (Kalyanee Mulay) there.

Kalyanee Mulay’s performance as the mother who poses as a nude model for students of an art college, to fund her son’s education has been universally acclaimed. Critics have also praised the film’s message of giving dignity to the profession of nude modeling. The breathtaking visuals, mellifluous background score and performances by the rest of the cast are the other aspects for which the film received applause. And to top it all, Nude is also a success at the box office.

On this occasion, a rather pleased and satisfied business head of Zee Studios, Mangesh Kulkarni, said,“We are ecstatic with the kind of response our film Nude got to post it’s screening at NYIFF and especially proud for it to have bagged both Best Film and Best Actress awards. The award does not belong only to Nude but to everyone who dares to tell extraordinary stories through cinema”.

Director Ravi Jadhav, who was elated on winning the two big awards, said, “The film has always stood tall against all odds and there is a remarkably rugged renaissance across Marathi cinema. It is a triumph of an art”.

The post Nude bags topmost awards at New York Indian International Film Festival appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Review : Nude (Chitra) (2018)
• Producer : Zee Studios
• Director : Ravi Jadhav
• Screenplay & Dialogues : Ravi Jadhav & Sachin Kundalkar
• Star Cast : Kalyanee Mulye, Chhaya Kadam, Madan Deodhar & Naseeruddin Shah
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 4/5

Nude (Chitra) Movie Review:

Nude is a film that needs to be understood in two ways. One that is the ‘literal’ way which is about a middle aged woman ‘Yamuna’ (Kalyanee Mulye) who after being betrayed by her husband lands up in Mumbai with her son & ends up being a nude model for fine art students at J.J. School of Arts (an iconic art college of our country). The other way is more within the lines. The alternate title used smartly in the promotions of the film ‘Chitra’ is a sign for this other allegory. An artist at the college (Om Bhutkar) who becomes a silent companion of Yamuna throughout her journey discovers ‘Chitra’. ‘Chitra’ represents the art work that he creates with the help of Yamuna & also the hidden meaning of ‘Nude’.

‘Chitra’ also represents ‘art’ in totality. ‘Art’ that means different things to different people. An exact same painting could evoke different emotions from beings of the same species. These emotions could bring out the inner most desires of that being. A painting of a woman without clothes would represent the ‘soul’ of humanity to some & to some it would seem sexually explicit. It’s sadly ironic that one couldn’t resist associating the famous Rabindranath Tagore quote told to us by our beloved Pu La Deshpande with ‘Nude’.

Tagore said, every painter watches the sunrise in a different way. Hence there are never too many sunrise portraits, there’s always room for more. In a scene (from Nude) when we first see 5-6 fine art students painting the same woman sitting in front of them, we could associate her with the sun. But then later we could also associate this ‘difference of perspective’ theory on people who get violently offended or sexually excited by ‘art’!

From the very first frame of ‘Nude’ we are enticed by the visuals. It’s like Ravi Jadhav & his marvellous technical team (the cinematographer, editors, & even sound artists) announcing to us loud & clear that their film is about ‘paintings’! Lively moving images (paintings) where the reality is not treated that stark to pull us out from the visual artistry. Yes the film establishes it’s world with great detailing, but makes sure that the film isn’t about the world.

The major portion being based in Mumbai & that too in Mumbai slums the film doesn’t focus on it. The focus is very much intimate. We are with ‘Yamuna’ all the time. Her son (Madan Deodhar) & her aunty (Chhaya Kadam) are important to Yamuna & hence to us. Yet their interaction with us is as much it is with Yamuna. Her aunt is the driving force in Yamuna’s life in the beginning of the film but soon Yamuna is in her own control. Her son is not a completely developed character on it’s own, & has a few logical errors in his arc, yet he delivers the final ‘kick’ in the film. Yes Nude has a fantastically hard hitting climax or a ‘takeout’ scene.

Kalyanee Mulye as Yamuna in the first few scenes appears to be putting up a show. Her mannerisms even appear strangely fake. But soon we ‘get’ her. We accept her rendition of ‘Yamuna’. Those mannerisms no longer feel strange, they feel very real. She gives a sublime performance in all aspects of acting. Her command over a unique rural dialect, her mannerisms, her body language & the way she emotes her inner trauma all of it is outstanding! Chhaya Kadam plays a character similar to what she played in ‘Sairat’ but does it with perfection. Other performances in the film are decent too.

The real heroes of ‘Nude’ (Chitra) are Ravi Jadhav, his technical team & even Sachin Kundalkar who has contributed in the screenplay & dialogues of the film. The long journey for ‘Nude’ is known to us all, but our long wait has been rewarded in every way. ‘Nude’ is a film that pleases our senses & yet gives us a bit unpleasant food for thought. It affects us in a way ‘art’ is supposed to affect!

Overall:

‘Nude’ (Chitra) deserves a watch from every creative soul & from those who adore ‘art’, understand it & imbibe it as a way of life.

The post Nude (Chitra) Review: A Poignant Allegory of ‘Art’ with Breathtaking Visuals! appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Nude (2018) | न्युड
• Producer : Zee Studios and Meghana Jadhav (Athaansh Communicaions)
• Director : Ravi Jadhav
• Studio : Zee Studios and Athaansh Communicaions
• Star Cast :
  • Kalyanee Mulay
  • Madan Deodhar as Laxman
  • Shrikant Yadav as Bassappa
  • Neha Joshi as Maanik
  • Chhaya Kadam
  • Om Bhutkar
  • Kishor Kadam as Dean
  • Naseeruddin Shah
• Story : Ravi Jadhav
• Screenplay and Dialogues : Sachin Kundalkar and Ravi Jadhav
• Singers : Vidya Rao (Yeh Tan Thaat Tambure Sa) and Cyli Khare (Dis Yeti)
• Lyrics : Cyli Khare (Dis Yeti)
• Sound Design : Anmol Bhave
• Background Music : Saurabh Bhalerao
• Music Arranged by : Chinar and Mahesh (Dis Yeti)
• Mixed At : Dawn Studios
• Cinematography (DOP) : Amalendu Chaudhary
• Editor : Abhijeet Deshpande
• Art Director : Santosh Suresh Phutane
• Costume : Meghana Jadhav
• Make-Up : Santosh Gayke
• Executive Producer : Rohan Godambe (Athaansh Communicaions)
• Production Manager : Vinod Choudhary and Ganesh Landge
• Distribution : Sadik Chitalikar (Zee Studios)
• Colourist : Makarand Surte
• Color By : RedChillies.Color
• Overseas Distribution Head : Vibhav Chopra (Zee Studios)
• Finance : Vinay Agrawal (Zee Studios)
• Chief Assistant Director : Shivkumar Parthasarathy
• Associate Editor : Sourabh Prabhudesai
• Associate Art Director : Mahesh Mohan Salgaokar
• Post Production Supervisor : Takshit Pradhan (Athaansh Communicaions)
• On Location Sound Recordist : Rashi Butte
• Dubbing Supervsor : Mandar Kamlapurkar
• Publicity Design : Athaansh Communicaions
• VFX : Yogesh Dixit
• Visual Promotions : Just Right Studioz
• Online Promotions : Vizual Junkies
• Genre :
• Release Date : 27th April 2018

Synopsis :

Nude Marathi Movie Poster/Photos :

Nude Marathi Movie Teaser/Trailer :

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• Movie : Barayan
• Producer : Daivata Patil and Deepak Patil
• Director : Deepak Patil
• Studio : Onjal Arts Productions
• Star Cast :
  • Anurag Worlikar (Protagonist)
  • Nandu Madhav (Father)
  • Pratiksha Lonkar (Mother)
  • Sanjay Mone (Neighbour)
  • Vandana Gupte (Atya)
  • Om Bhutkar (Final year student)
  • Kushal Badrike (Mechanic)
  • Uday Sabnis (Headmaster)
  • Sameer Chougule (Teacher)
  • Prabhakar More (Teacher)
  • Prasad Pandit (college professor)
  • Nipun Dharmadhikari (Ex-student)
  • Shrikant Yadav (Mama)
  • Rohan Gujar (Neighbour’s son)
  • Prarthana Behere (Pschyologist, special appearance)
  • Nandu Patil
  • Swapnil Rajshekhar
  • Umesh Bolke
  • Rajendra Jadhav
  • Vidhi Chitalia
  • Anil Gawade
• Story : Deepak Patil
• Screenplay and Dialogues : Nilesh Upadhye
• Music : Pankaj Padghan
• Lyrics : Valay, Guru Thakur, Kshitij Patwardhan
• Singers : Alka Yagnik, Nandini Sreekar, Saurabh Salunkhe, Rohit Raut
• Sound Design : Rohit Pradhan and Mandar Wadkar (Ajivasan sounds)
• Cinematography (DOP) : Marzy Pagdiwala
• Editor : Rakesh Mhadnak
• Art Director : Trupti Chavan and Pratik Chaudhari
• Supervising Producer : Santosh Shendye and Subhash Chavan
• Re-recording Mixer : Justin Jose (Futureworks)
• DI Colorist : Pramod Patil (After Studios)
• Visual Promotions : Onjal Arts Promos
• Publicity Design and Digital Marketing : Visual Junkies
• PR and Marketing : Lead Media
• Distribution : Sunshine Studio  
• Genre : Drama
• Duration : 2 hrs 10 mins
• Release Date : 12th January 2018

Synopsis : This is a Marathi feature film titled ‘Barayan’. 

As the title suggests it is a story or rather ‘Ramayan’ that revolves around the year Baravi (12th Standard).

Most of us in our school life are threatened by this number i.e. 12th standard board examination. The social surrounding of our society these days has given lot of importance to the board examination thereby resulting in unnecessary burden on the student and putting performance pressure on him/her. Parent’s knowingly or unknowingly go with the flow and expect the same from their children putting unrealistic burden on the student. The overall education scenario has become very commercial. If the student does not perform in his 12th than he cannot do anything good with his/her life is a general perception of parents in particular and the society in general. 12th has become a turning point year. If one does not perform in this year than that’s the end of his/her career. Traditional mindset of the society is that Medical or Engineering are the only two major options. The film has subtly but in an ‘entertaining manner’ tried to highlight this aspect of our educational system and how we are becoming part of this. 

The story of the film revolves around incidents based on this one year in the life of our protagonist and his journey to engineering college after that. A story that unfolds various experiences of our protagonist, his learning during the process of him seeking education and identifying his ultimate interest. How his social surrounding is enabling him to grow as a person. The protagonist of the film represents today’s student and the challenges faced by him to understand his passion. 

The story of the film is set in a serene and calm town of Konkan, surrounded by mesmerizing seashore and beautiful fort. It is purely a family drama.

 Barayan Marathi Movie Photos, Poster :

 Barayan Marathi Movie Trailer:

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

Lot of Marathi films have been made in recent times involving a teenager as the main protagonist. But most of the times these films have been love stories. Other films which do involve the scenario of exam pressure where not dealing with this subject with a serious perspective. But ‘Barayan’ looks distinct from all those films. The trailer itself projects the serious perspective towards 12^th Board exams & the confusion towards choosing a stream after the exams.

But the serious subject seems to be given a perfectly relatable treatment by the makers. The film seems like a complete entertainer. ‘Barayan’ stars many seasoned actors like Sanjay Mone, Nandu Madhav, Pratiksha Lonkar, Om Bhutkar, Vandana Gupte & in the lead a familiar child artist Anurag Worlikar.

Marathi cinema at this stage need films like ‘Barayan’ which can mix & match commercial cinema with socially relevant subjects. The film releases on 12^th January all over Maharashtra & should not be missed!

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