• Review: Welcome Home (2019)
• Director: Sumitra Bhave & Sunil Sukthankar
• Star Cast: Mrunal Kulkarni, Sumeet Raghavan, Dr. Mohan Agashe, Uttara Baokar, Spruha Joshi, Siddharth Menon, Deepa Shriram, Prasad Oak, Sarang Sathaye, Irawati Harshe, Jitendra Joshi, Subodh Bhave & child artist: Pranjali Shrikant
• Screenplay: Sumitra Bhave
• Producer: Abhishek Sunil Phadtare, Vinay Bele, Ashwini Sidhwani & Deepak Kumar Bhagat

Quick Viewpoint: Certain films avoid being ‘certain’ in many ways. Welcome Home’s uncertainty is it’s biggest strength. It’s like a breeze of fresh air but air that has a conscience of it’s own.

What Works? 

• The singular most important aspect one needs to address here is how essential good actors are in this film. As usual though in a Bhave-Sukthankar film! These filmmakers use their actors so organically that the whole set up of the film never feels like a set up, it just feels like an actually existing world. Mrunal Kulkarni under Bhave-Sukthankar feels completely at ease, it’s like we always knew there was this intense (at the same time subtle) actor waiting to explode out of her! It won’t be exaggeration to call this her career defining performance!
  
• Story telling in films usually manipulates the time factor. Sometimes certain films do not skip or jump time as normally most of the films do. They linger over it, they let you go through the suffocated routine of the time passing. Smallest of things are amplified to their actual size in life. It’s like being trapped with those characters in a very specific time frame of their life. All of this results into a very lively experience of human existence & ‘Welcome Home’ does exactly that!
• ‘Welcome Home’ gets deeper into our upper middle class society’s skin. It tries to experiment and find what if so & so happens & our people are made to instantaneously react to it! What if an independent middle aged woman suddenly decides to leave her husband’s house & come back to her previous home (or her parent’s home). The results of this experiment are not really demotivating! While going through this the film stumbles upon it’s main subject of research which is the idea of home! And how does a modern day independent woman explores it.
• Usually ‘coming of age’ is a genre trait that can be spotted in films mainly with teenage protagonists. But here Mrunal Kulkarni’s character comes off age in a very organic and gradual process! And again the time factor let’s us actually understand the process better & how & exactly what triggered the process! One of the main triggers is a charm of character played by Sumeet Raghavan!
• As said earlier uncertainty is Welcome Home’s biggest strength, by uncertainty I do not mean in terms of the narrative and what would happen next in their life, but in terms of what exactly do we interpret from the proceedings. And it’s something that viewers need to experience on their own in a theatre! 

What Fails?

• Spruha Joshi though has given a much smoother performance when compared to her recent filmography but the only flaw of the film rests on her little track in the film. Her presence within the ‘home’ is quite essential in the film, but the point film wished to make through the rest of her track doesn’t quite gel in the scheme of things and doesn’t feel essential to the film. Moreover the track had a really irritating song.

Final Verdict: In the rich & diverse filmography of filmmakers Sumitra Bhave & Sunil Sukthankar, ‘Welcome Home’ is a welcome entry! Like in most of their films they have again explored our societal patterns through the case study of family dynamics in a well educated, cultured upper middle class! 

The post Welcome Home Review: A Film that Meditates on Womanhood & the Idea of Home appeared first on MarathiStars.

The modernization & technical advancement of today’s times also has affected the worker class around the world. Along with that every skill & the attachment with the tools that these workers used are all disappearing in time. This is a constant process. Mangesh Joshi directorial ‘Lathe Joshi’ tells the story of one such worker who is at the center of this change.

Amol Kagne & Lakshman Kagne are presenting this film under their banner ‘Amol Kagne Studios’ & the film is produced by ‘Pravah Productions’ & ‘Don Studios’. The film stars Chittaranjan Giri, Ashwini Giri, Uttara Baokar, Om Bhutkar in lead roles. The poster of the film was recently revealed & since then the excitement for the film among serious filmgoers is on the peak!

‘Lathe Joshi’ has been a part of around 20 International film festivals & has won 12 International awards at these festivals. The audiences have been awaiting this film from a long time ever since the positive reactions came out from Maharashtra’s premiere film festivals MAMI & PIFF. The film releases on 13^th July at a theatre near you!

The post Highly Awaited Lathe Joshi Poster Out; Releasing on 13th July 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.

The post Samhita – The Script – Reader’s View appeared first on MarathiStars.

• 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

Critic Rating : * * * ½

Rate This Movie :

[polldaddy rating=”7213476″]

Story Outline :

Revati Sathe (Devika Daftardar) is a documentary filmmaker, who is on the verge of being divorced from her businessman husband Ranveer (Milind Soman). Once, an aged lady Shirin (Jyoti Subhash) approaches her to make a feature film on a story by author Tara Deoskar (Uttara Baokar). Shirin’s husband was eager to make a film on it but unfortunately, he suffered a paralytic stroke. Hesitatingly, Revati agrees and gets submerged in the scripting. Slowly, she realizes that her life resembles the one narrated in the story.

Review :

There are two methods of storytelling in cinema: using dramatic dialogues or just letting the visual medium narrate the tale. The use of the latter is not seen much in Indian cinema. Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Mukhtankar’s Samhita – The Script is one such film that uses such a mode of storytelling by presenting a beautifully narrated journey that is amusing as well as moving.

First and foremost, it is very difficult for the writer and director to coincide tales of both the eras – Revati’s real-life story and the one being scripted in the movie. As that aspect is managed very well, more than half the battle is won. The result is a pleasurable cinematic experience. Even the normal day-to-day realistic conversations are intriguing and appealing. The scene where visuals from both stories are mixed while presenting a conversation between Revati and her aunt takes the cake.

The film appears as a love story between the king and the performer or between Revati and Ranveer. But there are various other layers attached with it, especially the issue of feminism. Without becoming preachy whatsoever, it manages to show the chauvinistic nature of people even in today’s times.

But the overall length of the film falls under the minuses. Although it was necessary for the narration to be unhurried, telling the story in 137 minutes is just too high for such a film. Half a star from the rating is reduced due to this issue.
One gets to hear some high quality classical songs that perfectly blend with the nature of the film. It’s just that the duration of some of them should have been shortened.
The film demanded outstanding work from the technical department and that is exactly what is delivered. The camerawork shows the true meaning of being artistic. It makes for a pleasurable viewing. The background score too deserves equal praise. A wide range of impressive tunes are used as per the requirement
Devika Daftardar carries the film on her shoulders in a performance that can be described as outstanding! She plays two starkly opposite characters by displaying an example of perfect expressions and dialogue delivery. She deserves to be seen in many more films. Milind Soman returns to Marathi cinema with a mature act.
Rajeshwari Sachdeva doesn’t lag behind though. She too plays two different characters with ease by making her expression do the talking on most of the occasions. Jyoti Subhash and Uttara Baokar are excellent in their respective characters. Despite a small role, Neha Mahajan leaves a mark by playing a difficult character with honesty. Sarang Sathye and other supporting actors too play their parts well.

Overall :

Samhita – The Script  deserves a watch for its artistic brilliance in various departments. Due to the low key promotions and hype, the film will find it difficult to make a mark at the box office.

The post Samhita – The Script Marathi Movie Review appeared first on MarathiStars.

Movie : 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

Description : 
A woman filmmaker visualizing a story from princely state during the British Raj…
The story of a king, queen and a court-singer.
The story of love, detachment, surrender and passion.
The filmmaker’s personal life intermingled with her visualization.
A producer, a writer & an actor- three other women along-with the director in search of a blissful ending. In real life and in the story.

Photos / Posters :

“Samhita – The Script” Marathi Movie Official Promo :

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