Magnificent acting coupled with realistic story of rural backdrop

Prasad Namjoshi’s film has the rare quality of being not only as smart as its excellent actors like Makarand and Sandeep, but also it manages to succeed in handling one of the social issues in an admirable manner.   It is a combination of the superior screenplay, impatient emotions, cold responses by Govt officials in the beginning, humorous approaches of searching Bullock by Sandeep and Makarand. To sum it all, it is instinctively told the story of poor villagers who lost his two bullocks.  

If you grew up, as I did, watching old black-and-white movies on a local television channel and in the areas close to villages then you can relate more to the Movie Named “Ranga Patanga” and it will touch your heart further.

The protagonist is Jumman (Anaspure), a farmer who has lost his bullocks, Ranga-Patanga.  Jumman’s friend Popat plays a central role which is as important as Jumman and carries the half weight of the script with his magnificent acting. Jumman and his wife (Dhuri) loved them ( Bullocks)  like the kids they never had and suffered a horrendous loss. The film is an existing sarcasm against the environment of rural Maharashtra. Media and Government and entire electronic media politicize this situation and story of Ranga-Patanga become a much more realistic experience to your eyes.

I think, these days, a generation of innovative young Marathi directors have found the freedom to make movies about, and against, fundamental aspects of their society and make it humors. I am impressed by Prasad Namjoshi’s direction and his screenplay. His selection of actors, the way he managed to the pace of the story, even though first half and second half, both connects to the audience very well and you forget how two hours have passed. This is where Prasad and his two main leads ( Makarand and Sandeep) have managed to find a place in your eyes and heart.

Most of the films based on social message sometimes become ineffective as in any event there was nothing an individual could do. However, in Ranga-Patanga, the writer manages to avoid somehow this trap by focusing more Sandeep and Makarand in the first half and creating humor out of it. The entire society comes into the picture in second half. This brilliant division of the story by writer has helped actors and director enormously as the audience enjoys the humor and director remain the grip on the movie. This trick has keeping film individual focused till first half has supported a story that contains great emotional charge.

The art director, has done equally well where sets of the movie seem to have done quite well. His sets and backdrops reflect the changing seasons and draft and poor villages quite well. Two songs of the film are emotional and bind well with the movie. Selecting a Hindi lyrics is a good choice.

On the acting front, I am more impressed with Sandeep Pathak. I saw him around 94-95 as an actor and today when I look at him, it seems this boy has gone multiple levels high on acting front and will create a great place in Hindi film industry very soon. His dialogues, his uncanny knack to crack jokes and his ability to switch gears from humor scene to emotional scene has been magnificent. Also, the way he plays support to Makarand has been an excellent part of the movie. This has been one of the best that Sandeep has delivered in recent past. Makarand is known as great actor and nothing much to say about him as he presented another superb / bankable performance. Makarand reminds you he is a hero who carries various shades and not just humor.

Only one part of the story which I thought could have been different is a quick solution in the end. Also, when Jumman and Popat are not on screen and story slips into a prognostic zone where audience knows more before you tell them anything..! This could have been bit different I think.

It is a great film not because of its stunning elegance or visual cleverness, but because it is splendidly well-made. Here, we do not have to remember the story but we get dragged along behind it as we get to laugh at frequent intervals. I saw it with an audience that seemed to be involved in the movie and they looked very, very interested. It was well made and brilliantly acted by Sandeep Pathak and Makarand Anaspure. This is something which we call a” pure cinema”.

Name of the Film: Ranga Patanga

Director: Prasad Namjoshi

Music & background Music: Kaushal Inamdar

Artistes : Makarand Anaspure, Sandeep Pathak, 

Real-life air evacuation Story – Worth Watching !

Airlift is a noteworthy different kind of patriotic movie. It is, therefore, is a remarkable achievement by the director and actors. It contains hard-hitting combat footage, relentless and efficient. There is a story behind the film that is no less engrossing. It is about an event when Iraqi army attacked Kuwait and was attacking civilian lives.

Much of the movie is based on real-life story, punctuated by brief dialogue with a lot of sensitivity in the second half. We do not get to know the characters as individuals, they do not have personality traits, they have no back stories, they do not speak in colorful dialogue, and after the movie, you'd find yourself describing events but not people.

The Central plot of the story is about challenges faced by Indians after Saddam attacked the Kuwait.

The entire story itself has an enormous potential and scriptwriter was able to get most out of it by creating characters that are symbolic of the story. The Akshay Kumar’s character is the one who somehow finds the strength to keep going till the end, and he emerges as the savior of that 1 lac. 70 thousand people. Supporting characters manage to impress and touch your heart like the small roles done by external Affairs  joint secretary. Occasionally, you do feel Akshay Kumar driving the story, and other characters are provided the less weight however protagonist has to emerge stronger. Though, I definitely applaud the use of fewer songs in the movie with no masala.

The beauty of the story is that it is about “living life in extreme circumstances, about the dehumanizing effects of war, about human bonding, about human emotions when you see death in front of you. It is about any of those things that you choose and if you actually decide one direction, then you have to fight till the end in that direction, and you cannot leave the battle in between as death is the only option otherwise. Here, people have only one option, come back to India and nothing else.

It can also be said that the film contains significantly moving performances and that it is the most impressive blending of "commercial cinema” and “Real-life story.” Best scene in the movie when director succeeds to touch everyone’s heart when Indian flag goes up and civilians get ready to go to India. In the acting performances, Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur are above the mark and director manages to impress you in the second half. Cinematographer does well however he still could have done a lot better in war scenes.

The negative point which I could see certainly was a lack of intensity in the first half. Few scenes with soldieries could have been more effective and lack of appealing dialogues in the overall script.

What this movie means to Indian Cinema? Well, this success of Airlift Movie means a lot to Indian Cinema’s future. It clearly shows that if you direct well, then a patriotic cinema will find its audience and do excellent at the box office. More patriotic stories can be tried out in future with a right blend of sensitivity and with better technology and amazing star-cast. Indian freedom struggle has not been captured well to date apart from a movie named “Gandhi”, So huge space and great patriotic stories are yet to arrive.

You may have old all experiences of patriotic film experiences like “Kranti or Bhagat Singh movies or “Mangal Pandey “and all of those experiences are different from this one.  This is the entirely different type of patriotic film something which you may not have seen before. This movie gathers you up; it takes you along, and it does not let up.

In my view, it is one of the most genuinely made a different kind of patriotic film that any Indian has ever made.

Wazir – Average thriller with disappointing second half

In reality, it is an interesting exercise for a scriptwriter to express his vision in a story. However, it is very tough for him to implement the same in the film using dialogues. This movie is a prime example where scriptwriter fails in the second half and delivers a fragmented script. He also builds too many expectations of the audience at the end of first half and provides poor performance in second half.  The audience leaves the theater with the feeling that it could have been much better if these guys ( Director/Scriptwriter) could think little better about the handling the revenge drama.

This movie opens with wedding scene where boy looks at the beautiful girl. Beautiful romantic environment, blue sky above, the couple gets married, and camera moves slowly capturing everything in slow-motion much similar to that of contemporary cinema. Actually, it is excellent idea to run the initial part of the story via song and complete it in five minutes.  Story moves ahead with a couple growing in love and this and one day the tragedy hits the couple.  The main Protagonist meets an old man who is suffering from similar pain. And later, two wounded men coming together and taking on a powerful enemy.

What’s most striking about “Wazir”  is the first  half. In the first half,  “there are neither extraneous characters nor situations, and we’re not given much information outside of that which drives the story”. Our anchor who narrates the story to us is the “Chessboard”. We must applaud the writer for the use of the chessboard to build script. This is potential revenue drama which lacks the essentials of the great fight between the enemies. To develop the script further, writer uses dialogues like “Chess provides you second chance however life doesn't “. This dialogue was not much impressive to me but look like the one of the conceptual blocks of the script.

Also, this is one of the movies where the Law of Economy of Characters began to apply. The  law that says no actor is in a film unless his character is necessary and should not give any dialogues to any character unless it is absolutely essential. In this movie, the female character named “ Ruhana” has so fewer dialogues and her presence without dialogues has been used multiple times. This could have been treated otherwise.

There was a point in the movie when suddenly everything clicked in the second half;  Audience realizes the entire plot all of sudden which is big frustration in the second half. The reason I am disappointed with second half  is that scriptwriter has wasted a fantastic opportunity to create excellent thriller on top of a solid foundation of the first half. The movie becomes so predictable in the second half and ends with one fight which seems like the audience has been treated as less intelligent overall. This could have been far better where protagonist and antagonists are playing moves against each other and build the final fight.

Both lead actors ( Amitabh and Farhan ) are strong and determined, and the only flaw in their performance is that they don’t have great script supporting them in the second half.  Amitabh entertains with few of his lines, and  Farhan delivers reliable performances are the positive -points of the movie. Director does well overall but doesn’t demonstrate any use of advanced technology. The sets of the film appropriate with the story but nothing extraordinary in that segment as well.

Vidu Vinod Chopra often makes excellent movies. However, this time, he takes a day off, and his subordinates let him down in parts. There’s also a fine line between entertainment and being a bit too on-the-nose  kind of movie. This film is a mixture of two. Watch it on your own risk. 

Natsamart - Intense Emotional Drama

“Natsamart” is V. V. Shirwadkar’s most complex and, to my mind, the greatest Marathi Natak (drama) of all time. There are extreme feeling and meaning in it, and hence, it is tough to create a movie out of such intense drama. Moreover, to overcome difficulties of staging, director (Mahesh Manjerekar) has substituted his own cinematic decorations that have worked extremely well. I think, producing this movie was a very courageous idea, and producer-director must be applauded for that.

This is not a film but an emotional experience and a brave and impressive effort in its own right. Natsamart is a play about the total futility of things after the days of glory are gone. The old man stumbles ungracefully during his old age because, simply put; that is the way it goes for most of us. To search for meaning or philosophical consolation is to kid yourself when you do not have fame along with you and neither the money. “Natsamart” is a journey of an old legend who gets humiliated by his trusted family members and trying to cope with challenging reality.

One of the challenges that any director would face while adopting “Natsamart” drama are the big self-talks or monologues that are called “Swagat” in Marathi. Mahesh Manjekar had brilliantly distributed the swagat throughout the movie the established the right balance across the film. Overall, the script is emotional and with some laughter points in the first half.

The hero of “Natsamrat” is an impulsive old man, likable, easy to read. He is fluent, clear in his dialogue delivery and wins audience hearts with his flawless acting.  His wife loves him and believes in him. The script provides multiple opportunities to Nana to display various emotions, and he used all such opportunities and created some great emotional scene for the movie. This is definitely one of the best of the “Nana Patekar” performances.

This movie “Natsamrat” also grabs you with the charismatic presence of its two stars, Nana, and Vikram Gokhale.  Vikram Gokhale plays as Nana’s friend who is the mortal man walking beside him, worrying about him, lecturing him, wanting him to be better, telling him his weakness but a real friend at the heart. Vikram Gokhale has delivered a most flawless and impressive performance regardless of the length of the role. The audience will remember few of his scenes for long-time to come.

The opening scenes of “Nana” in the movie give a clear idea about the story of the film and audience gets ready for his post-retirement life. One of the best parts of the script is the use of negative words in the most entertaining fashion. All negative words bring the laughter and make the script more efficient.

I think this movie version of “Natsamrat” certainly more realistic and acceptable. There is” Sarkar (Medha Majrekar), the most touchingly sincere wife of Natasmart. Her love defines her Integrity as she unconditionally supports her man till the end. One of beautiful aspect of the script is that it gifts the hope at every stage of the movie. Here, the wife, in the worst of the situations, keeps telling her husband that they will go to their village home, and everything will be okay. Love looks more pure and beautiful at the old age as well when such a strong characters are shown.  Even though, everyone knows that it is just human mind’s ability to hope and doesn’t mean anything else in reality.

Mahesh Manjekar does brilliantly as a director as he mainly focuses on story and his charters and never does something foolish anywhere. For me, the script-writer is the main hero of the movie and then director –actor combinations has provided much needed competent performances.  Manjekar choice of actors has been remarkably well as even actors with small roles like Sunil Barve, and Sandeep Pathak has done extremely well.

 “Natsamrat” is a powerful experience. I am sure that some scenes will bring tears to many. This movie symbolizes new ideas for the adoption of Marathi drama and the hence movie should be a landmark in Marathi movie history. 

Bajirao Mastani - Marvelous Visual Classic - Worth Watching

 “Bajirao ” is a magnificently unique “Romantic Historic”  film.  Moreover, Bajirao is the definitive historic film of all time. It is hard to imagine that circumstances will ever again combine to make a more spectacular, expensive, and -- yes -- splendid movie. Bansali continues his reputation to deliver what is called “Frame Excellence.” Besides all of this, the only negative point of the movie is second half a little slow, and you may feel this could have been little different.

It is easy enough to praise director Sanjay Leela Bhansali for his thundering battle scenes, or his delicate love scenes, or the quality of his actors. However, these were almost to be expected. What is extraordinary about "Bajirao Mastani is that Bhansali was able to take the enormous bulk of  Marathi Novel named “Rau” and somehow transform it into this great portion of the film without losing control along the way. The trouble with a lot of long history films is that the makers cannot keep everything in hand, and film lose the hold on the audience. The movie focuses more on the BajirRao’s passion for Mastani, the beautiful and courageous half Rajput, and half-Muslim princess of Bundelkhand. 

The movie's opening sequence is as graphic as any war footage I've ever seen. The beauty of the screenplay is that writer is able to bring his epic events down to understandable scale without losing his sense to create an entertaining drama. Also, he delivers magnificent dialogues to portray how men with power behave and oppose the love of Bajirao and due to religion. It is possible to express even the most thoughtful ideas in the simplest words and actions, and that is what writer of Bajirao Mastani does. The film is doubly effective because every character communicates his ideas in feelings, not words. Consider dialogues when Bajirao names his second son as “Shamsher ” or even when he says, “ Bajirao ne Mastani se Mohabbat kiye hai, aiayshi nahi” All these dialogues are thoughtfully written which defiantly needs a lot of depth in understanding of history and thought the process of characters. Another impressive part is the use of “Rain”  and “Sky” to display the intensity of the situation and Bajirao’s inner battle and fight against his co-religionists.

My love for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's attention to detail is never-ending, and I am sure that you will never, ever, going to see anything to equal it. The scenes of battles, where all soldiers are in the same uniform, where it is “Brahmin Bhoj” or Classic Shanivarvada, Director and his cinematographer delivers the best.

All of the actors playing the men under Bajirao are effective, partly because director resists the temptation to make them crazy "characters" and makes them deliberately ordinary. If you want to make hero extraordinary then makes other characters ordinary then hero looks far taller. The performances are interesting throughout. All of the actors look a little larger and more heroic than life.  

About Mastani, she smiles. She is radiant. She is kind, gentle and sexy as well. Bajirao and Mastani are shown as characters in heat always. While she is performing, she displays the love and vibes, and he cares for her and smiles and offers her a meeting after that. They are in full view, but nobody ever seems to see them. They make each other very happy whenever they talk. Chemistry seems to the unconditional love of as Bajirao and Mastani, and it makes them unique and lovable.

Bhansali made happy choice of an actress of Deepika and Priyanka when he cast them.  Audiences applaud applauds both of them during “Pinga Dance”.  Deepika and Priyanka delivers a flawless performance in line with the script. Although, sometimes you may feel Priyanka has been able to steal the show in few lines even though she is not the lead. Forgive me, for my affection for Priyanka Chopra.!

All characters in the movie are strong presences, but for me, the key performance in the movie is by Bajirao mothers and that of “Nana” as the frightened little interpreters. Both of these is our entry into the reality because both of these sees it clearly that the marriage is not possible due to religion and their love for Kashibai. One major thing that needs to be applauded is that Bajirao stood for his love against the entire world, and such courage is very rare.

Despite its length, the movie is not too long. It is as spectacular as a movie can be, and yet it has a human fullness. Considering its cost and the vast effort that went into its making, such a film can be made only once in our time. The wonder, indeed, is that it was made at all.

Tamasha – Failed theatrical attempt of exploring love – Not for everyone

It is one of those annoying movies in which everything would be just fine if the director would have been able to convey his message and lead characters to talk to each peacefully in the simple manner that touches the audience. However, then, there would be no movie – although, in retrospect, that might not be such a bad thing, if this movie has not been created. This is a film in which the deep pain of the protagonist is constantly suggested but only spoken near the end of the story. “Tamasha” actors and locations look beautiful, thanks to the cinematography, but the sleek exteriors cannot make up for the shallow storytelling. I can only presume that there was something about this particular story that grabbed Imtiaz Ali and inspired him to make a movie, but whatever it was, he has utterly failed to convey the message and hold the audience.  Director does offer some artful touches and beautiful location and unassumingly beautiful Deepika with the flawed screenplay.

The whole point of "Tamasha”  is that if you are living a life that is completely different than what u truly like then u needs to change and listen your so called “inner voice.”  Such a brilliant concept but Imatiaz Ali’s writer lets him down by delivering the lowest ever performance and Ranvir, and Deepika’s acting will not be able to save this movie disaster.  Both main characters of the film meet at a beautiful location named “Corsica” where Ranbir is spending a holiday and behaves entirely different than his routine life. When they came back to India and mediocre daily life starts ..! This is not what our heroine wants.!

Imtiaz’s heroes are fundamentally different in all his movies. Whether it was Abhay deol in Socha Na Tha, Shahid Kapoor in Jab We Met, Randeep Hooda in Highway or Ranbir in Rockstar, these are not heroes that we see in “YashRaj or Rajshari productions or romantics chocolate hero. However, here Imatiaz comes with the more awkward hero of all time and who is bored with routine-life and nothing much to do than routine life and unable to stuck a chord with the audience.

Tamasha is a cheerless drama where the lead character is struggling to find his inner self.  The reason so many romantic movies fail is that they are micro-managed to the point of madness. Here, the director wants to see Ranbir’s inner battle with his behavior and those dance sequences and he fails completely. The audience wants something that should be like the light that makes them smile and not something makes them feel awkward and bored completely. Director does well in patches and Ranbir and Deepika’ s acting is the positive points for this movie.

Other points are screenplay consists of many sequences that are used to convey darkest emotions does not appeal audience neither it displays any creativity. There is a moment where the audience feels what is the director wants to convey? . Ranbir’s transition of his polite boy to his real inner self who is more outspoken and weird or naughty is tough to handle for the audience. A movie is a couple of hours of air conditioning experience in theater, nothing more. 

To be fair, there are a couple of funny lines here and there But for every sensitive element there are many others that are heavy-handed or cringe-inducing, including some painfully on-the-nose musical selections. Moreover, what a disgraceful waste of a potentially dynamic movie couples, ( Ranbir and Deepika) who actually offer the only reason to sit through such a subpar soapy affair. If you attend "Tamasha" despite these warnings, just be prepared to leave with a look of disdain.

This movie is mainly for deep thinkers and not for everyone who is just looking for pure entertainment and fun. 

Katyar Kaljat Ghusali (KKG) - Perfectly crafted, fascinating musical fiction

Katyar Kaljat Ghusali  (KKG) is an excellent Marathi movie adopted from a musical Marathi play named the same.  It is perfectly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted and fascinating experience. This is one of those films that changes the course way people think about adopting the Marathi drama. This is one of the most beautifully directed screenplay that grips you with an engaging storyline. Overall, you do not watch KKG, but you experience it.

I thought it is a film of big fictional ideas and remarkable discipline of characters. Good characters behave with values till the end, and evil character gives up only in the last few minutes. I am deeply impressed by Subodh Bhave’s work, even though this is his first film as director,  he manages to establish himself among the best filmmakers currently working at the top.

On the surface, this is a story between two musical giants or Gharanas during the British era when artists used to survive due to King’s support. Two musical maestros are played by Shankar Mahadevan and Sachin. While Shankar’s Panditji belongs to maharshtrian classic music Gharana. Sachin’s “Khansaheb” belongs to the Mughal Miraj Gharana. These two Gharanas are shown in a confrontation with each other. Khansaheb gets jealous after he loses 13 years continuously to Shankar Mahadevan. His wife plays a role in a conspiracy to get rid of the voice of Shankar Mahadevan and story goes forward and adds the flavor of revenge. Sakhi Tanwar plays as the wife of KhanSaheb and her first Marathi role, and she does her best. Subhod Bhave makes a late entry into the film before the interval but changes the course of the film. The message of the film is that music should be used to spread love, and it should not be used to gain power and positions. I am not reveling the plot as I want you to see the film.

The magnificent acting of Sachin, Shankar M., and Subodh Bhave binds the film together. The roles of daughters of both singers are played by Mrunmayee Deshpande and Amruta Khanvilkar, and they manage to create a most innocent bond that audience can believe.

The most vital factor is script and the adoption of Natya music. The songs are literate and beloved; some romantic, some comic, some surprisingly philosophical, every single one wonderful. The carefully drafted script and visually spectacular experience makes this movie as best Marathi movie in this year. The film as many songs but all songs is relative and takes the movie story forward. Even if you are not a classic music lover still music grips you with its lyrics.

In the last, in a heart-thumping sequence that reminds us Director Bhave, is one of the best in managing the emotional sequences with the support from his scriptwriter and actors.  Bhave and his cinematographer does some excellent callbacks like when fireflies come along listening to Shankar’s voice. The Graphics of “Kattyar where it goes into water and come-up” is new to Marathi films. Although this is a stellar adaptation in every respect,  filled with vibrant small roles for excellent character actors and instilling two love stories with their own very different feels. One is Subodh’s ( Character Name – Sadashiv)  love for music and his guru, and another is Mrunmayee’s love for Subodh. The fiction-based KKG  is a suspenseful yet thoughtful musical story, which holds the audience throughout.

This is very near to a perfect film. Apart from the wonders of its words and music, KKG is a visual triumph as well.

I strongly recommend this film to everyone and rate this as 4.5  out 5.