• Review : Mantra (2018)
• Producer : Sanjay Katkar
• Director : Harshawardhan
• Writer : Harshwardhan
• Star Cast : Saurabh Gogate, Deepti Devi, Manoj Joshi, Pushkaraj Chirputkar, Shubhankar Ekbote
• Review by : Abhay Salvi

Rating : 3/5

Mantra Movie Review:

Mantra is a film that is weaker in craft & technique at many instances but the lasting impression it makes purely on what it wants to say & how clearly & confidently it says it overpowers it’s weakness when looked in totality, having said that the message or the philosophy that the film abides by could have been organically imbibed into the screenplay of the film.

The film begins with flashback hinting us that something drastic has happened in the life of the protagonist. While in most of recent Marathi films the use of flashback isn’t really justified, here it makes sense & makes us connect with the protagonist. Niranjan (Saurabh Gogate) belonging to a ‘purohit’ family is all set for his CA preparations, his father (Manoj Joshi) & his elder brother (Pushkaraj Chirputkar) aren’t unhappy with his decision of not taking up the ‘purohit’ work. But soon an opportunity lands up in the family which requires one of the priests from within the family (which also includes Niranjan’s uncle) to shift to Germany at a temple that requires a priest.

The elder brother has an inferiority complex about English or any foreign language & culture, he isn’t ready to move to Germany. This uncle is already interested but then Niranjan shows interest & since the requirement was of a young (& a physically fit person to adapt easily to the climate) priest, Niranjan’s father Shridhar Pant approves him! But only after confronting him about his sudden change of plan!

Now majority of the film’s ‘point’ relies on the characterization of ‘Shridhar Pant’ his values, his calmness & his studios nature about religion & spirituality. He is almost a ‘Gandhi-like’ figure of this field. Is he believable? To me he was! No matter how rare, there are people like him in all facets of life! People who are honest in their work & who search for ‘satisfaction’ in every little deed they do. Manoj Joshi gets to play an exact opposite version of a priest from what he played in ‘Dashkriya’! And he is very much effective here!

Moving onto Niranjan, he has enrolled into a German speaking class every evening accompanied by his best friend ‘Sunny’ (Shubhankar Ekbote), son of a politician. In the morning under his father’s guidance Niranjan is learning all the rituals which he needs to be aware of to function as a priest in Germany. Now enters the female lead of the film, Antara Joshi played by Deepti Devi, (she too is in the German speaking class) a hardcore atheist who has just got over a break up. Now Antara is a progressive modern day woman who smokes cigarettes, & has blacklisted every religion, religious practices, etc as she had been through a tragedy! Well, Antara is just as cliché as she could be, yet there’s a moment in the film in the climax where she becomes more than just a caricature & makes a healthy contribution in making the ‘point’ of the film.

While I can’t reveal what the film says about theism vs atheism or what it’s point is regarding ‘religion’ & the people who practice it professionally like the mentioned priests, I would still say that the film says something very fundamental! The purpose of religion & the idea of god had a fundamental purpose in our lives, one that gives us inner peace & is very much personal. But does the film say that religion is irreplaceable? Or it says that it’s all up to us? That’s for you to know!

Overall:

‘Mantra’ could have trimmed it’s length a bit, avoiding few scenes set in the German speaking class or from the Niranjan-Sunny track. The film could have been dubbed better. At many instances it’s evident that we are not hearing the actual voice from the scene. Sparing these flaws ‘Mantra’ needs to be seen in today’s religiously polluted atmosphere to find some clarity about the subject & it’s practical influence on our lives.

The post Mantra Review: Clarity of Thought – About God & Spirituality appeared first on MarathiStars.

Produced by ‘Dreambook Prductions’, ‘Vedarth Creations’ & written-directed by Harshwardhan upcoming Marathi film ‘Mantra’ is soon releasing in theatres. The film’s music & teaser launch event was successfully held in Mumbai recently.

This film deals with a unique subject of a young man who becomes a priest by default following his father’s footsteps but when a girl enters his life who doesn’t believe in all this, the hero too starts questioning himself. A unique spiritual conflict is handled in ‘Mantra’. The film stars Saurabh Gogate & Deepti Devi in lead & along with them it also stars Pushkaraj Chirputkar, Manoj Joshi, Siddheshwar Zadbuke, Sunil Abhyankar, Dhiresh Joshi, Rajesh Katkar, & others.

The music for ‘Mantra’ is composed by Avinash-Vishwajeet. The film has three songs in Sanskrit poetry! Popular singers like Ajay Gogavale, Avadhoot Gupte, Rohit Raut, Dhawal Chandwadkar & Vishwajeet Joshi have sung for the film. ‘Mantra’ is set to release all over Maharashtra on 13^th April!

The post Deepti Devi Starrer ‘Mantr’ Music & Teaser Launched appeared first on MarathiStars.

• Movie : Mantr (2018) | मंत्र
• Producer : Sanjay Katkar
• Directer : Devendra Shinde (Harshwardhan)
• Studio : Dreambook Productions in association with Vedarth Creations
• StarCast :
  • Saurabh Gogate as Niranjan
  • Deepti Devi as Antara
  • Manoj Joshi as Shridhar Pant
  • Pushkaraj Churputkar as Kashinath
  • Siddheshwar Zadbuke as Ambavane
  • Shubhankar Ekbote as Sunny
  • Sujay Jadhav as David
  • Vrushali Katkar as Niranjan’s Aai
  • Dhiresh Joshi as Rangnath kaka
  • Sunil Abhyankar as Mrdamle. Nadkarni
  • Anuradha Marathe as Niranjan’s Aaji
  • Shubhangi Damle as Antara’s Aaji
  • Amruta Joshi as Antara’s Sister
  • Vishwajit Joshi as Mr. Raste
• Story and Screenplay : Devendra Shinde (Harshwardhan)
• Music : Avinash-Vishwajeet
• Lyrics : Vishwajeet Joshi
• Cinematography : Pran Shirodkar
• Art and Executive Producer : Rajneesh Kalawant
• Production Manager : Supriya Tamhane and Chetan Birla
• Editor and VFX : Sachin Pandit
• Costumes : Jui Suhas
• Distribution : AP Communications
• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : 13th April 2018

Synopsis :    A young boy from a family of Purohits (Preacher) is not keen to take up the family profession, but due to friend’s advice, he accepts purohit’s job in Germany. Here, his brain dominates the heart and mind which later in the story meets him in a German language class as Antara. Antara, hates Purohits, religious/spiritual leaders for a valid reason. The boy thinks that she is an atheist and hides his real identity as he starts loving her. She proves him that the God is created to threaten people and Purohits do not have anything substantial to sell to their clients. His friends play a role in the story proving how religion is made for politics and his uncle is also a reason for him to believe that the temples are just means of earnings for Purohits. Then his father, a very honest believer, is the only person who can help the boy complete the journey of realisation by answering questions about God, religion and temples. The explanation of his father is decoded for the boy through the experience created by Antara.

Mantr Marathi Poster/Photos :

Mantr Marathi Movie Teaser/Trailer :

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• Movie  : 1909
• Producer : Abhay Kambli,Ajay Kambli
• Director/Writer/Editor : Abhay Kambli
• StarCast : Akshay Shimpi,Rohan Pednekar,Shrikant Bhide,Shrinivas Joshi,Shubhankar Ekbote,Chetan Sharma,Amit Vaze
• Co–Producer : Dilip Allam
• Music : Pradip Vaidya
• Make – up : Vijay Dhere
• Singers : Charudatta Aaphale,Jaideep Vaidya,Amruta Subhash,Savani Shende,Prathamesh Laghate
• Genre : History
• Release Date : 10 Jan 2014

Synopsis : On 21st December 1909, at the Vijayanand Theatre located at Nasik, Anant Kanhere gave a seriously threatening blow to the awesome British Empire, when he bravely assassinated Jackson, the then Collector of Nasik. Assassination of Jackson was not merely a stray event that sparked off in a single day. After giving a due consideration to many facets this significant chapter of the Indian Movement of Independence, such as why was Jackson assassinated, the circumstantial reasons of this, the logistics of this brave act & most important of all, the mindset of the revolutionaries. We are presenting a Marathi Feature Film, ‘1909’ before all of you. It is our humble desire to portray on silver screen, the sacred memories of Anant Kanhere, Krushnaji Karve (Anna), Vinayak Deshpande & many others.

1909 Marathi Movie Poster/Still Photos :

1909 Marathi Movie Promo/official trailer :

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बरोब्बर १०४ वर्षांपूर्वी नाशिकच्या विजयानंद थिएटरमध्ये इतिहास घडला होता. बालगंधर्वांचे नाटक ऐन रंगात आलेले असतानाच अवघ्या १७ वर्षांच्या अनंत कान्हेरे या तरुण क्रांतिकारकाने नाशिकचे तत्कालीन कलेक्टर जॅक्सन यांच्यावर गोळ्या झाडून त्यांचा वध केला आणि भारतीय स्वातंत्र्ययुद्धातील सशस्त्र क्रांतिपर्वाला नवी दिशा दिली. आता बरोब्बर १०४ वर्षांनी, त्याच विजयानंद थिएटरमध्ये, त्याच दिवशी, येत्या २१ डिसेंबर रोजी कान्हेरेंचा हा इतिहास जिवंत होणार आहे. निर्माते अजय कांबळी आणि त्यांचे दिग्दर्शक बंधू अभय कांबळी यांनी कान्हेरेंच्या आयुष्यावर बनवलेल्या ‘१९०९’ या चित्रपटाचा प्रीमिअर नाशिकच्या विजयानंद थिएटरमध्ये होणार आहे. हा चित्रपट १० जानेवारी २०१४ रोजी प्रेक्षकांच्या भेटीसाठी येतोय.

भारताचे कॅनडातील माजी उच्चायुक्त व परराष्ट्र सेवा विभागातील ज्येष्ठ निवृत्त अधिकारी शिवशंकर गवई यांच्या हस्ते ‘१९०९’च्या फर्स्ट लुकचे अनावरण नुकतेच मोठ्या थाटात करण्यात आले. गवई यांचे आजोबा नानासाहेब गवई हे अभिनव भारतचे सदस्य होते, तसेच स्वातंत्र्यवीर सावरकरांचे निकटचे सहकारी होते. जक्सन वध प्रकरणातच सावरकरांना काळ्या पाण्याची शिक्षा झाली होती. त्यामुळेच शिवशंकर गवई यांच्या हस्ते फर्स्ट लुकचे अनावरण केल्याचे निर्माते अजय कांबळी यांनी सांगितले. याप्रसंगी ‘ऑगमेंटेड रिअॅलिटी’ या आगळ्यावेगळ्या तंत्रज्ञानाच्या सहाय्याने ‘१९०९’ या चित्रपटातील एका नाट्यमय प्रसंगाची झलकही दाखवण्यात आली. पाहणाऱ्याला घटनेच्या केंद्रस्थानी असल्याची अनुभूती देणाऱ्या या तंत्रज्ञानाचा वापर प्रथमच मराठी चित्रपटाच्या प्रसिद्धीसाठी ‘१९०९’च्या निमित्ताने होणार आहे.

स्वातंत्र्यलढ्यावर आजवर अनेक चित्रपट आले. मात्र, स्वातंत्र्यलढ्याचे अनेक पैलू आजही दुर्लक्षित आहेत. मिसरूडही न फुटलेल्या असंख्य तरुणांनी ब्रिटीशांच्या जुलमी राजवटीविरोधात सशस्त्र क्रांतीचा मार्ग चोखाळत स्वातंत्र्यवेदीवर आपल्या प्राणांची आहुती दिली. असेच तीन तरुण म्हणजे अनंत लक्ष्मण कान्हेरे, कृष्णाजी गोपाळ कर्वे आणि विनायक नारायण देशपांडे. वयाची विशीही न गाठलेल्या या तरुणांनी २१ डिसेंबर १९०९ रोजी नाशिकचे तत्कालीन कलेक्टर जॅक्सन यांची गोळी झाडून हत्या केली आणि नंतर तिघेही हसत हसत फासावर गेले. त्याकाळी अवघ्या देशभरात खळबळ माजवणाऱ्या या तीन क्रांतीवीरांची शौर्यगाथा पडद्यावर मांडण्यास ‘१९०९’ हा चित्रपट सज्ज झाला आहे.

निर्माते अजय कांबळी यांनी ‘१९०९’ या चित्रपटाची निर्मिती केली आहे. लेखन आणि दिग्दर्शन अभय कांबळी यांचे असून दिलीप अल्लम हे सहनिर्माते आहेत. अक्षय शिंपी, रोहन पेडणेकर, श्रीकांत भिडे, श्रीनिवास जोशी, शुभंकर एकबोटे, चेतन शर्मा, अमित वझे आदि अनेक उमदे कलाकार ‘१९०९’ मधून रुपेरी पडद्यावर पदार्पण करत आहेत.

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Several revolutionaries sacrificed their lives during the independence struggle of India. It was an inspiring era to forego all the material pleasures and joys their lives may offer them otherwise to wage a war against the British Empire of the colonial rulers. Scores of such revolutionaries went about setting up number of glorious pages of inspiring sacrifices by bequeathing even their lives during the battle against the British for the noble cause of winning the independence. A significant and yet ignored young revolutionary martyr among these committed youths was a dashing Marathi radical called Anant Laxman Kanhere.

On 21st December, 1909, at his tender age of nineteen, Anant Kanhere gave a serious blow to the British rule in India by successfully assassinating Jackson, the District Collector of Nasik, at the Vijayanand Theatre located there. This was not just a happening of a single day. The factors like why was Jackson targeted, the reasons of his elimination, the preparations made for achieving the objective and above all the psychology of all those who designed that conspiracy were extremely important. That entire realm of time in itself was tremendously charged with a passionate love for the motherland and a Marathi feature film, ‘1909’, that unravels the details of that sensational era is coming soon.

The film ‘1909’ has been produced by Shree Venkateshwara Movies International in order to acquaint the next generations with the significance of the sacrifices made by the revolutionaries of those times and to preserve the lasting memory of the great sons of this motherland like Anant Kanhere, Krishnaji Karve and Vinayak Deshpande. Producers Ajay Kambli and Abhay Kambli have produced this film. A remarkable aspect of this film is that all the characters portrayed in it are acted by deserving but unknown actors instead of deploying a fleet of the experienced and proven actors who already make headlines. Dileep Allam is a co-producer of this film.

So far, the character of Anant Kanhere remained confined to the textbooks of children or the works of history. The challenge of bringing before the newer generation, the spirited defiance shown by Anant Kanhere in assassinating a high-level British officer at the young age of nineteen, has been met successfully by the director of the film, Abhay Kambli. Anant Kanhere was inspired by the legacy of Sawarkar brothers and Madanlal Dhingra. The entire sequence of events related with how he successfully carried out the conspiracy to kill Jackson with the help of two of his other associates viz. Krishnaji Karve and Vinayak Deshpande for which all these three revolutionaries were hanged till death on 19th April, 1910 shall be brought before the audiences through the upcoming Marathi feature film, ‘1909’.

Art director of the film is Ashwin Vanjare whereas Music has been composed by Pradeep Vaidya. Cinematography has been handled by Ram Allam whereas his associate has been Imtiaz Bargir and the costumes have been designed by Vijay Dhere. New and unknown actors like Akshay Shimpi, Shrikant Bhide, Rohan Pednekar, Shreenivas Joshi, Shubhankar Ekbote, Chetan Sharma, Amit Vaze and Sushil Inamdar have played the roles in this film which is soon expected to be released for the Marathi audiences.

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