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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Entertainment News India Times (July 6 - July 12, 2024) July 12, 2024 26 Nach Ga Ghuma Underscores What Hindi Filmmakers Must Learn From Marathi Counterparts A fter watching several Marathi films like Baipan Bhaari Deva, Jhimma 2, Ole Aale and older ones like Jhimma and the Mumbai Pune Mum- bai franchise in the light genre and Mee Vasan- trao among others, I think seriously that Hindi film- makers must be made to learn from them the mantra of original, homespun, (of all kinds) audience-friendly entertainment. Most Hindi films, I know, recover money and even make profits through extra-theatrical busi- ness, which is what makes such filmmakers keep on unleashing weird / horrendous / dull movies in such dollops on viewers. But someone (read distributors and even OTT platforms) is losing money on them, and interest in theatrical cinema viewing is diminishing. Shouldn’t that matter too? Nach (pronounced as Naach) Ga Ghuma (Do dance, Ghuma) is the latest Marathi film off the griddle. Its con- cept is daisy-fresh: the chemistry—and fireworks!—be- tween an employer and her maid. The little friction, bouts of mutual affection and displays of emotions, with the household help being of vital importance for a working hausfrau, create this wonderful world that is quite real. In this relatable milieu, mothers and wives do not overburden their spouses or neglect their kids (as we saw in the pseudo Sharmajee Ki Beti a few days back), but struggle to find that ideal ‘soul-mate’ (!) among maids who can ensure that their homes run like the proverbial clockwork in their absence. Maids are thus a heated topic of discussion also with colleagues during office lunch- breaks, and we have entreaties for help in this matter from colleagues, housing society watchmen and other maids. And this picture is also not one-sided. Maids, bur- dened by their own personal lives’ issues, also need ‘satis- factory’ employers, who will care for them besides giving them apt wages. To create humor within this world and also leave a subterranean message to all is the feat that director and writer Paresh Mokashi (whose awesome re- sume includes the Oscar-nominated Harishchandraachi Factory and the outstanding Elizabeth Ekadashi, Chi Va Chi Sau Ka and Vaalvi) achieves effortlessly. Madhugand- ha Kulkarni, his co-writer in all except the first film, gives Mokashi brilliant company, also doubling as heroine Rani (Mukta Barve)’s colleague. Rani and her trusted (with limitations!) housemaid, Ashatai (Namrata Awate Sambherao) are at centerstage here. Rani is irritated by Asha’s perpetual late-coming that puts all her daily work schedules out of gear, even once leading to an outburst at her long-suffering boss (Sunil Abhyankar). Her school-going daughter, Sayali (Myra Vaikul) and loving husband, Anand (Sarang Sathaye) have to bear the brunt of Ashatai’s lack of punctuality. In a burst of pique, Rani throws Ashatai out when she lands late again on a crucial day. Ashatai is shocked beyond limits. But she has no option other than searching for another job, which of course she needs badly to support her son and a useless husband. Having acted on impulse, Rani hunts desperately for a suitable replacement, the operative word being ‘suitable’! A colleague suggests humoring Ashatai and weaning her back. But shortly afterwards, Rani has ‘reason’ to fire her again, this time by pushing her out of her home physical- ly! So what happens now? And yes, before I forget, Rani is also being harangued by her temporarily ‘resident’ mother (Sukanya Kulkarni) and mother-in-law (Su- priya Pathare) who are visiting the couple for their own reasons and have joined forces in taunting the already- hyper Rani! The climax of the film (in which Marathi film celebs like co-producer Swapnil Joshi, Kavita Lad and Lalit Prabhakar do cameos as themselves) maybe emotionally heartwarming, but comes across as the only ‘filmi’ touch in the movie. But that hardly detracts from the superb entertainment and small messages that the film offers seamlessly. Among the individual scenes that stand out are the ‘Jaanewalon zaraa’ song (from the Hindi 1964 film Dosti, in which Mokashi himself does a cameo) and the sequence where Rani goes to visit Ashatai at home for the first time. Yet another has Ashatai silently passing Rani after taking her daughter safely home. The office outburst by Rani too is really amusing. Namrata Awate Sambherao towers as Ashatai, the lovable bai who has her own limitations and knows that her employer cannot be really faulted. Mukta Barve as the no-nonsense Rani is in her element. A special mention must be made of the magnificent underplaying by Sarang Sathaye: as Rani’s husband Anand, he is plain fantastic. The two mothers and little Myra Vaikul are adorable and the supporting cast impressive. The songs are used very unusually and seem initially to be distractions but are pithily worded by Mokashi himself and add to the narrative flow. Do not miss this film, which is streaming on Prime Vid- eo. A valid point: the OTT platform seems to be partisan as many a time, Marathi movies that stream on it do not have the “X-Ray” on demand: a feature where the actor and the character he or she is playing are mentioned below the screen. Why this discrimination when Marathi (like South Indian) movies are looming tall vis-à-vis Hindi cinema? By RajivVijayakar Namrata Awate Sambherao, Mukta Barve and Sarang Sathaye in Nach Ga Ghuma, the new Marathi film. Photo:TrailerVideo Grab Kill: When Extreme Violence Actually Exhilarates A t least in Hindi cinema, I have never seen such brutal violence that goes on and on…and on! But do you know the best part? You are not repulsed, you do not recoil in disgust, you want the baddies to be terror- ized, slaughtered and destroyed because of their actions! And you want to cheer no end for the two soldiers who are relent- lessly taking on a gang of probably not less than 30 blackguards. By the time the film gets nearer its climax, you want the dude from our Armed Forces to butcher each one, though I personally felt that the kingpin, Fani (Raghav Juyal) gets too easy and quick an end! And was that a surprise! Yes, as I have always maintained, the latest time just last week when Kalki 2898 AD released, that you need strong sentiments or emo- tions to endorse action or violence. And I must congratulate the entire team of this film for metamorphosing this cinematic orgasm of violence into a celebration of the victory of good over evil. Or to put it in another way, of our soldiers winning against the nation’s internal enemies who are nothing less than violent sub-human creatures. The story is a one-liner: when army commando Amrit (Lakshya) finds out that his beloved Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) is being engaged and set to be married to someone else, he boards a Delhi-bound express with the determined will to ‘derail’ her union. By chance, four bogies of the train are terrorized that day by a ruthless gang with knives, led by Fani (Raghav Juyal) and also the old man Beni (Ashish Vidhyarthi), who boards the train with a few more gangsters strategically. Amrit is accompanied by Army buddy Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan). The two of them take on the entire gang and go on a brutal spree. And what happens to Tulika and her family, chiefly her uber-rich and influential father (Baldev Singh Thakur) who is found by chance by the gang to be on the train, and his younger daughter Aahna (Adrija Sinha)? Relentlessly savage, in that sense the film is one-of-a-kind for Hindi cinema, with the pitiless storminess emanating right from Amrit’s eyes. A highlight of the pre-climax is Feni asking Amrit how can he fight with such intensity, and it is an index of the mood set by the writer- director that the audience even laughs at this irony. On the day of the Indian press screening, a remake has actually been an- nounced in English, and I can’t wait for it! The negative characters are sharply- etched and distinct, played by a mot- ley group of truly well-auditioned and brilliantly-cast (Casting Bay) actors. Ash- ish Vidyarthi and Raghav Juyal, of course, form the cream with their seasoned work. Tanya Maniktala, Harsh Chhaya and Abhishek Chauhan are excellently in sync with their characters, while Adrija Sinha is alright, and so are the ladies who play a part of the Thakur family. A word about Lakshya: I have read that he trained for this role for almost a year and has a background of wrestling. With some further effort and determination, he can emerge as a major star who need not be typecast, a la a Vidyut Jammwal. For a debut, this youngster is phenomenal and he is perfect in the romantic sequences as well. If the action is completely convinc- ing, it is entirely thanks to this hunk, who has expressive eyes as well. And before I forget, a special cheer for Zuby Johal and Rajiv Subba of Dirty Hands Studio for the perfect prosthetics, the inte- rior design of the train by Mayur Sharma, the splendiferous (no other word, I think, fits!) action by Se-Yeong Oh and Parvez Shaikh, the stupendous VFX (Lavan & Kushan, Ashutosh Pandey), Rafey Mehm- ood’s cinematography and Ketan Sodha’s background score. But the songs and ‘Music Supervision’ are best ignored because, as is very com- mon now, this is the only sore point in a brilliantly–executed movie. I am no fan of unbridled violence on screen. But it is the sheer positive impact of this film that Kill, for me, will be a land- mark movie, and maybe even have repeat- watch value. By RajivVijayakar Photo:Hype PR Lakshya in Kill: a great new discovery.